# generaltranslation: General Translation Core SDK: Locales
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-US/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, which refers to the English language 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 with traditional characters 
- `zh-Hant-HK` is Chinese, written with 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 uniform way to specify languages, letting GT adapt content, format, and behavior 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 constructed tag, including private use codes with no widely recognized 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 available 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.