Change the place label language

Learn how to localize place labels using 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

Go to CodePen to create a new pen for your application.

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 basemapEnum = "arcgis/streets";
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/${basemapEnum}?token=${apiKey}`,
  zoom: 12, // starting zoom
  center: [-118.805, 34.027] // starting location [longitude, latitude]
});

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@3.2.1/dist/maplibre-gl.js></script>
    <link href=https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@3.2.1/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@3.2.1/dist/maplibre-gl.js></script>
    <link href=https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@3.2.1/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 apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

      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/${basemapEnum}?token=${apiKey}`,
        zoom: 2, // starting zoom
        center: [48.8790, 35.7088], // starting location [longitude, latitude]
        attributionControl: false
      }).addControl(
        new maplibregl.AttributionControl({
          compact: true // reduces the copyright attributions view
        })
      );

      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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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) => `${baseUrl}/arcgis/outdoor?token=${apiKey}&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.

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.