Language Support
Supported languages for Localities API results and regional language availability.
Language Support in Localities API
The Localities API supports multiple languages for location names, addresses, and administrative divisions. Language availability depends on the region and the specific location data available.
Supported Languages
The API uses ISO 639-1 alpha-2 codes to specify languages. The following languages are supported:
- English (en) - Default language, worldwide coverage
- French (fr) - Primary support in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, and other French-speaking regions
- German (de) - Primary support in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other German-speaking regions
- Spanish (es) - Primary support in Spain, Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries
- Italian (it) - Primary support in Italy and Italian-speaking regions
- Dutch (nl) - Primary support in Netherlands, Belgium, and Dutch-speaking regions
- Portuguese (pt) - Primary support in Portugal, Brazil, and Portuguese-speaking regions
- Chinese (zh) - Support for Simplified and Traditional Chinese in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore
- Japanese (ja) - Support in Japan
- Korean (ko) - Support in South Korea
- Russian (ru) - Support in Russia and Russian-speaking regions
- Arabic (ar) - Support in Arabic-speaking countries
- Hindi (hi) - Support in India
- And many more - Additional languages are supported based on regional data availability
Regional Language Availability
Language support is regional. While English (en
) is available as a common fallback, the service also includes support
for many local languages. The table below outlines the primary languages supported by region.
Region | Primary Languages Supported |
---|---|
Europe | en , fr , de , es , it , nl , ru |
The Americas | en , es , fr |
Asia Pacific | en , zh , ja , ko , hi |
Middle East & Africa | en , ar , fr , pt |
How Language is Determined
You can specify the language in your request using the language
parameter
in Autocomplete
and Geocoding requests:
# Request results in French
?language=fr
# Request results in Chinese
?language=zh
The Localities API determines the language of the results using the following priority:
language
Parameter: If thelanguage
parameter is supplied in the request, the API will use it.Accept-Language
Header: If thelanguage
parameter is not supplied, the API will check for the browser’s or client’sAccept-Language
header and use the first known language from it.- Default Language: If neither the parameter nor the header provides a supported language, the service defaults to English.
Important Notes
- Fallback Behavior: If the requested language is not available for a specific location, results for that location will fall back to the local language or English.
- Address Components: Language support applies to location names, administrative divisions, and address components. However, only parts of the address components might be translated, depending on data availability.
- Postal Code Exception: The
language
parameter is not necessary for apostal_code
request. - Chinese Support: Both Simplified Chinese (
zh-CN
or simplyzh
) and Traditional Chinese (zh-TW
) are supported where data is available. - Data Availability: All language coverage depends on the quality and availability of localized data in each region.
Questions About Language Support
If you have questions about language availability in specific countries or regions, please contact support or check the API Reference for the most current information.