Change the place label language

Learn how to localize place lables with the basemap styles service v2 .

The basemap styles service v2 provides a number of different styles that you can use in your MapLibre GL JS applications. Each style accepts a language parameter, which allows you to localize place labels. There are currently over 30 different languages available.

In this tutorial, you use a <select> dropdown menu to toggle between a number of different place label languages.

Prerequisites

You need an ArcGIS Developer or ArcGIS Online account to access the developer dashboard and create an API key.

Steps

Create a new pen

To get started, either complete the Display a map tutorial or .

Set the API key

To access location services, you need an API key or OAuth 2.0 access token. To learn how to create and scope your key, visit the Create an API key tutorial.

Go to your dashboard to get an API key. The API key must be scoped to access the services used in this tutorial.

In CodePen, update apiKey to use your key.

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const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";
const basemapId = "arcgis/streets";
const basemapURL = `https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles/${basemapId}?token=${apiKey}`;
olms.apply(map, basemapURL);

Remove basemap references

Remove the basemapId, basemapURL, and the olms function.

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    <script>

      const map = new ol.Map({ target: "map" });

      map.setView(
        new ol.View({
          center: ol.proj.fromLonLat([-118.805, 34.027]),
          zoom: 12
        })
      );

      const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

      const basemapId = "arcgis/streets";

      const basemapURL = `https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles/${basemapId}?token=${apiKey}`;

      olms.apply(map, basemapURL);

    </script>
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Add a language selector

Add a menu that allows users to change the display language of your map. OpenLayers does not have a built-in selector widget, so you will create an HTML <select> element.

In the <head> tag, add CSS that will position the <select> menu wrapper element in the upper right corner and provide styling.

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    <style>
      html,
      body,
      #map {
        padding: 0;
        margin: 0;
        height: 100%;
        width: 100%;
        font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
        font-size: 14px;
        color: #323232;
      }

      #languages-wrapper {
        position: absolute;
        top: 20px;
        right: 20px;
      }
      #languages {
        font-size: 16px;
        padding: 4px 8px;
      }

    </style>
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In the <body> element, add the wrapper tag with an id of languages-wrapper.

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  <body>
    <div id="map"></div>

    <div id="languages-wrapper">

    </div>
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In the wrapper element, add a <select> element that contains an enumeration for each language available through the basemap styles service.

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    <div id="languages-wrapper">

      <select id="languages">
        <option value="global">Global</option>
        <option value="ar">Arabic</option>
        <option value="bs">Bosnian</option>
        <option value="bg">Bulgarian</option>
        <option value="ca">Catalan</option>
        <option value="zh-CN">Chinese (Simplified)</option>
        <option value="zh-HK">Chinese (Hong Kong)</option>
        <option value="zh-TW">Chinese (Taiwan)</option>
        <option value="hr">Croatian</option>
        <option value="cs">Czech</option>
        <option value="da">Danish</option>
        <option value="nl">Dutch</option>
        <option value="en">English</option>
        <option value="et">Estonian</option>
        <option value="fi">Finnish</option>
        <option value="fr">French</option>
        <option value="de">German</option>
        <option value="el">Greek</option>
        <option value="he">Hebrew</option>
        <option value="hu">Hungarian</option>
        <option value="id">Indonesian</option>
        <option value="it">Italian</option>
        <option value="ja">Japanese</option>
        <option value="ko">Korean</option>
        <option value="lv">Latvian</option>
        <option value="lt">Lithuanian</option>
        <option value="nb">Norwegian</option>
        <option value="pl">Polish</option>
        <option value="pt-BR">Portugese (Brazil)</option>
        <option value="pt-PT">Portugese (Portugal)</option>
        <option value="ro">Romanian</option>
        <option value="ru">Russian</option>
        <option value="sr">Serbian</option>
        <option value="sk">Slovak</option>
        <option value="sl">Slovenian</option>
        <option value="es">Spanish</option>
        <option value="sv">Swedish</option>
        <option value="th">Thai</option>
        <option value="tr">Turkish</option>
        <option value="uk" selected>Ukrainian</option>
        <option value="vi">Vietnamese</option>
      </select>

    </div>
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Set the initial language

When the page loads, initialize the app to initially display in Ukrainian.

Create a function called url that creates the URL for a basemap style.

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    <script>

      const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

      const map = new ol.Map({ target: "map" });
      map.setView(
        new ol.View({
          center: ol.proj.fromLonLat([48.8790, 35.7088]),
          zoom: 3
        })
      );

      const baseUrl = "https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles";
      const url = (language) => `${baseUrl}/arcgis/outdoor?token=${apiKey}&language=${language}`;
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Create a function called setLanguage that will clear existing basemap layers and use olms to instantiate a basemap layer in the new language.

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      const baseUrl = "https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles";
      const url = (language) => `${baseUrl}/arcgis/outdoor?token=${apiKey}&language=${language}`;

      const setLanguage = (language) => {
        // Clear out existing layers.
        map.setLayerGroup(new ol.layer.Group());

        // Instantiate the given basemap layer.
        olms.apply(map, url(language));
      };
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Call setLanguage to initialize the basemap layer to the Ukrainian (uk) enumeration.

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      const setLanguage = (language) => {
        // Clear out existing layers.
        map.setLayerGroup(new ol.layer.Group());

        // Instantiate the given basemap layer.
        olms.apply(map, url(language));
      };

      setLanguage("uk");
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Add an event listener

Call setLanguage when the user selects an option in the <select> menu.

Access the <select> element using its id.

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      setLanguage("uk");

      const basemapsSelectElement = document.querySelector("#languages");
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Add an event listener that calls setLanguage when the <select> element is changed.

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      const basemapsSelectElement = document.querySelector("#languages");

      basemapsSelectElement.addEventListener("change", (e) => {
        setLanguage(e.target.value);
      });
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Run the app

In CodePen, run your code to display the map.

Use the layer switcher menu at the top right to select and explore different basemap layer styles.

What's Next?

Learn how to use additional ArcGIS location services in these tutorials:

Change the basemap style

Switch a basemap style in a map.

Display a custom basemap style

Add a styled vector basemap layer to a map.

Add a feature layer

Add features from feature layers to a map.