Country & Language Code Reference

What Are Language Codes

A common requirement: to add multilingual support to a website, you need to know that the code for Chinese is zh-CN and American English is en-US. Language codes (also called "language tags") are standardized abbreviations defined by international standards (primarily IETF BCP 47 and ISO 639-1/2) to uniquely identify a language and its regional variant. For example, zh-CN consists of two parts: zh represents Chinese (language subtag), and CN represents mainland China (region subtag). Our reference table covers over 200 common language codes, spanning major countries and regions worldwide.

Quick Reference Table: Common Language Code Lookup

For more codes, use the search box above our tool to query directly by entering a language name or code.

Usage Steps: How to Query Language Codes

1. Open our "Language Code Reference Table" page, and you'll see a search box with the default prompt "Enter language name or code".
2. Enter the language you want to query, such as "Simplified Chinese" or "Chinese Simplified", or enter the language code directly like "zh".
3. Click the "Search" button (or press Enter), and the table below will immediately filter and display matching results.
4. View the results: the table contains columns such as "Language (Chinese Name)", "Language (English Name)", "Language Code (BCP 47)", "Region Code", etc.
5. If you only want to find a specific region (such as "Taiwan"), you can also directly enter the region name, and the tool will return the language codes used in that region.

Complete Example: Querying Simplified Chinese Code

Suppose your website needs to add a Simplified Chinese language option. Steps: enter "Simplified Chinese" (or "Chinese Simplified") in the search box, press Enter. The results table on the right will display one row:
Language (Chinese Name): Simplified Chinese (China)
Language (English Name): Chinese (Simplified, China)
Language Code: zh-CN
Region Code: CN
Interpretation: you need to enter zh-CN in the lang attribute of your HTML or in your internationalization configuration. This way, browsers and translation tools can correctly identify that the page uses Simplified Chinese from mainland China.

Typical Use Cases

• Website/App Internationalization Development: Programmers configuring i18n resource files need to set the correct code for each language version, such as en-US.json, zh-CN.json. Our reference table can quickly look up unfamiliar language codes.
• Multilingual Content Operations: Content creators providing translated versions for different regions use language codes in filenames or URLs when publishing (such as /zh-CN/about.html); the reference table ensures codes are accurate.
• International Business Communication: Business professionals receiving inquiries from different countries want to confirm the customer's language to prepare appropriate responses. Enter a country name (such as "Brazil"), get the Portuguese (Brazil) code pt-BR, and prepare the corresponding template.

Common Mistakes / Pitfalls

1. Case Confusion: The language subtag (such as zh) should be lowercase, and the region subtag (such as CN) should be uppercase. Writing it incorrectly as Zh-cn or ZH-CN may cause some systems to fail to recognize it. Our tool outputs the standardized format.
2. Ignoring Region Suffix: Many languages have multiple variants. If you only write en for "English" without specifying en-US or en-GB, the system may default to the most universal region, which is sometimes not the one you want. Always select a code with the region based on your target audience.
3. Not Using Standard Hyphens: The correct hyphen is a dash -, not an underscore _ or space. For example, zh-CN is correct; zh_CN is used in some legacy standards, but BCP 47 recommends -.
4. Assuming "Chinese" Has Only One Code: Chinese includes Simplified (mainland China, Singapore), Traditional (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau), Classical Chinese, etc. Always select based on the actual region: use zh-CN for mainland China, zh-TW for Taiwan, zh-HK for Hong Kong.
5. Misusing "Generic" Codes: Using zh without a region, some systems may parse it as "Chinese" but the specific character forms are unclear. It's recommended to always include the region (at least the main regions).

Important Notes

• Coverage: This table covers over 200 major language codes worldwide, but does not include all dialects (such as "Wu", "Cantonese Pinyin", etc.) or minority languages (such as Tibetan, Mongolian). For rare codes, please refer to the IANA Language Subtag Registry.
• Standard Version: We follow IETF BCP 47 (updated to 2024) and ISO 639-1/2, ISO 3166-1 region codes. If a language code is updated later, we will mark it as "obsolete" or provide an alternative code in the tool.
• Tool Nature: This reference table is for query purposes only and does not guarantee usability with all operating systems or frameworks (some legacy systems may use different codes, such as Windows using LCID). When using for program development, please confirm with your specific framework documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: I found the code, but the browser displays it incorrectly. What should I do?
A: First, check if the code is standardized (case and hyphens). Second, ensure the lang attribute in your HTML is correct, for example <html lang="zh-CN">. If it still doesn't work, the font package may not support that language.

Q: Can this tool find the code for "Malaysian Chinese"?
A: Yes. The Simplified Chinese standard used in Malaysia is similar to mainland China's, with the code zh-MY. Enter "Malaysia" or "Malaysia" in the search box to see it.

Q: Why do some languages have only one code (such as Japanese ja)?
A: Some languages have minimal differences across regions or have only official standards, so they don't need regional suffixes. Japanese, Korean, Russian, etc., typically have a single code.

Q: I need to support multiple countries' languages at once. How should I distinguish between codes in terms of case?
A: We strongly recommend using a unified format: lowercase language code + uppercase region code. This is the most widely accepted format. For example, fr-CA (Canadian French).

Q: Is the data in this tool reliable?
A: The data is primarily sourced from the official IANA Language Subtag Database and Wikipedia's ISO 639 list. We synchronize updates every quarter.

Now you can try your own language requirements in the search box above and get the standard code immediately.