Change the place label language

Learn how to localize place labels using the basemap styles service.

The basemap styles service 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 Location Platform or ArcGIS Online account.

Steps

Create a new pen

To get started, you can complete the Display a map tutorial or use the .

Get an access token

You need an access token with the correct privileges to access the resources used in this tutorial.

Go to the Create an API key tutorial and create an API key with the following privilege(s):
- Privileges
  - Location services > Basemaps
Copy the API key access token to your clipboard when prompted.

In CodePen, update the accessToken variable to use your access token.

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const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";
const basemapEnum = "arcgis/outdoor";
const map = new maplibregl.Map({
  container: "map", // the id of the div element
  style: `https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles/${basemapEnum}?token=${accessToken}`,
  zoom: 12, // starting zoom
  center: [-118.805, 34.027] // starting location [longitude, latitude]
});

Run the code to ensure the basemap is displayed in the map.

To learn about the other types of authentication available, go to Types of authentication.

Add a language selector

Add a menu that allows users to change display language of your map. To accomplish this, use a standard html <select> element.

Create a <div> tag to contain the <select> dropdown menu. Add an <option> for each language code available through the basemap styles service.

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    </style>
    <script src=https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@4/dist/maplibre-gl.js></script>
    <link href=https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@4/dist/maplibre-gl.css rel="stylesheet" />

  </head>

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

    <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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In the <style> element, add CSS styling to the languages-wrapper and languages.

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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;
        background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);
      }
      #languages {
        font-size: 16px;
        padding: 4px 8px;
      }

    </style>
    <script src=https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@4/dist/maplibre-gl.js></script>
    <link href=https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@4/dist/maplibre-gl.css rel="stylesheet" />
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Run the code. The <select> element should contain a list of different language enumerations.

Set the basemap

Use a function to reference the basemap styles service and a language enumeration to update the map. This will be used when a selection is made.

Create a baseUrl and a url element. The url function will use the baseUrl to create a reference to a basemap style in a specified language.

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    <script>

      const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";

      const basemapEnum = "arcgis/outdoor";
      const map = new maplibregl.Map({
        container: "map", // the id of the div element
        style: `https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles/${basemapEnum}?token=${accessToken}`,
        zoom: 2, // starting zoom
        center: [48.8790, 35.7088] // starting location [longitude, latitude]
      })

      const baseUrl = "https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles";
      const url = (language) => `${baseUrl}/arcgis/outdoor?token=${accessToken}&language=${language}`;
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Set the style of the map using the url function and a language code.

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

      const setLanguage = (language) => {
        // Instantiate the given basemap layer.
        map.setStyle(url(language));
      };
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Add an event listener

Use an event listener to register a basemap change in the <select> element and to update the map.

Set the default language to Ukrainian (uk).

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      const setLanguage = (language) => {
        // Instantiate the given basemap layer.
        map.setStyle(url(language));
      };

      setLanguage("uk");
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Access the language selector using its id.

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      setLanguage("uk");

      const languageSelectElement = document.querySelector("#languages");
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Add an event listener to update the map when a new language is selected.

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

      languageSelectElement.addEventListener("change", (e) => {
        setLanguage(e.target.value);
        console.log(e.target.value);
      });
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Add RTL language support

MapLibre GL JS does not automatically display right-to-left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew correctly. Use the Mapbox GL RTL Text plugin to configure settings for RTL languages.

Call the maplibregl.setRTLTextPlugin with the URL of the Mapbox GL RTL Text plugin to configure support for RTL languages.

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      languageSelectElement.addEventListener("change", (e) => {
        setLanguage(e.target.value);
        console.log(e.target.value);
      });

      maplibregl.setRTLTextPlugin('https://unpkg.com/@mapbox/mapbox-gl-rtl-text@0.2.3/mapbox-gl-rtl-text.js');
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Run the app

In CodePen, run your code to display the map.

You should be able to use the select element to switch between basemap layers.

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 using the basemap styles service.

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.