# generaltranslation: General Translation Core SDK: Locales
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/docs/core/locales.mdx
---
title: Locales
description: What are locales and how are they used in the General Translation stack?
---

A locale is **a language or dialect**.
For example, `en-US` is a locale code that refers to English as spoken in the United States of America.

Locales can be general or specific. For example:

* `en` is English
* `en-US` is English as spoken in the United States of America
* `zh` is Chinese
* `zh-Hant` is Chinese, written using traditional characters
* `zh-Hant-HK` is Chinese, written using traditional characters, as spoken in Hong Kong

### Constructing locale codes

General Translation uses the [BCP 47 Language Tag](https://www.techonthenet.com/js/language_tags.php) standard to define locale codes.
BCP 47 Language Tags are the Internet Best Current Practices (BCP) standard for identifying languages in both spoken and written forms.
These tags provide a consistent way to specify languages, allowing GT to adapt content, formatting, and behaviour based on the user's locale.

Locale codes consist of one or more subtags separated by the `-` character. These subtags are:

* **Language code** (required): Represents the primary language, e.g. `en` for English, `es` for Spanish.
  Language codes follow [ISO-639](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639_language_codes).

* **Script code** (optional): Indicates the writing system, e.g. `Latn` for the Latin alphabet.
  Script codes follow [ISO-15924](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_15924).

* **Region code** (optional): Specifies a country or region, e.g. `US` for the United States, `FR` for France.
  Region codes follow [ISO-3166](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-2).

For example, `zh-Hant-HK` is:

* `zh`, the language code for Chinese
* `Hant`, the script code for Traditional Chinese characters
* `HK`, the region code for Hong Kong

Together, `zh-Hant-HK` means "Chinese, written in traditional characters, as spoken in Hong Kong".

### List of supported locales [#supported-locales]

See the [list of supported locales](/docs/platform/supported-locales) for a searchable list of all locales currently supported by General Translation.

Technically, the library supports any validly formed tag, including private-use codes with no widely recognised meaning.
However, the platform will only translate

### Equivalent locale tags

Sometimes, multiple locale tags are functionally equivalent.
For example, you could write:

* `fr`, meaning "French"
* `fr-FR`, meaning "French as spoken in France"
* `fr-FR-Latn`, meaning "French as spoken in France, written in the Latin alphabet"

The General Translation libraries and platform usually don't distinguish between these equivalent codes,
since translating between them is impossible.

### Commonly used locale codes

| Locale code  | Language   | Script              | Region         | Description                                |
| ------------ | ---------- | ------------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| `en`         | English    | ―                   | ―              | English                                    |
| `en-US`      | English    | ―                   | United States  | English as spoken in the United States     |
| `en-GB`      | English    | ―                   | United Kingdom | English as spoken in the United Kingdom    |
| `es`         | Spanish    | ―                   | ―              | Spanish                                    |
| `es-419`     | Spanish    | ―                   | Latin America  | Spanish as spoken in Latin America         |
| `fr`         | French     | ―                   | ―              | French                                     |
| `fr-CA`      | French     | ―                   | Canada         | French as spoken in Canada                 |
| `de`         | German     | ―                   | ―              | German                                     |
| `de-AT`      | German     | ―                   | Austria        | German as spoken in Austria                |
| `ru`         | Russian    | ―                   | ―              | Russian                                    |
| `zh-CN`      | Chinese    | ―                   | Mainland China | Chinese as spoken in Mainland China        |
| `zh-Hant`    | Chinese    | Traditional Chinese | ―              | Chinese, Traditional script                |
| `zh-Hant-SG` | Chinese    | Traditional Chinese | Singapore      | Traditional Chinese as spoken in Singapore |
| `ja`         | Japanese   | ―                   | ―              | Japanese                                   |
| `ko`         | Korean     | ―                   | ―              | Korean                                     |
| `pt-BR`      | Portuguese | ―                   | Brazil         | Portuguese as spoken in Brazil             |
| `it`         | Italian    | ―                   | ―              | Italian                                    |

### Next steps

* See our [List of Supported Locales](/docs/platform/supported-locales) to find the language tags used in General Translation.
* Refer to the official [IETF Language Tag Registry](https://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry)
  and the [BCP 47 Language Tag standard](https://www.techonthenet.com/js/language_tags.php) for more information.