Change language labels

Learn how to change language labels in a map.

Change language labels using API key authentication

The ArcGIS Static Basemap Tiles 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 more than 5 different languages available.

In this tutorial, you use a <select> dropdown menu to toggle between a number of different language labels for the static basemap tiles.

Prerequisites

You need an ArcGIS Location Platform account.

ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise accounts are not supported.

Steps

Get the starter app

Select a type of authentication and follow the steps to create a new app.

Choose API key authentication if you:

Want the easiest way to get started.
Want to build public applications that access ArcGIS Location Services and secure items.
Have an ArcGIS Location Platform or ArcGIS Online account.

Choose user authentication if you:

Want to build private applications.
Require application users to sign in with their own ArcGIS account and access resources their behalf.
Have an ArcGIS Online account.

To learn more about both types of authentication, go to Authentication.

You can choose one of the following to create a new CodePen:

Option 1: Complete the Display a map tutorial; or,
Option 2: Start from the Display a map tutorial .

Set up authentication

Create a new API key credential with the correct privileges to get an access token.

Go to the Create an API key tutorial to follow the steps to get an access token with these privilege(s):
- Privileges
  - Location services > Basemaps > Static basemap tiles

Set developer credentials

Use the API key or OAuth developer credentials so your application can access ArcGIS services.

Update the accessToken variable to use your API key.

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    /* Use for API key authentication */
    const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";
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In both the index.html and callback.html files, replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID and YOUR_REDIRECT_URL with the client ID and redirect URL of your OAuth credentials.

index.html
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    /* Use for user authentication */
    const clientId = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID"; // Your client ID from OAuth credentials
    const redirectUri = ""YOUR_REDIRECT_URI""; // The redirect URL registered in your OAuth credentials
    const session = await arcgisRest.ArcGISIdentityManager.beginOAuth2({
      clientId,
      redirectUri,
      portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" // Your portal URL
    });

    const accessToken = session.token;

callback.html
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    arcgisRest.ArcGISIdentityManager.completeOAuth2({
      clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", // Your client ID from OAuth credentials
      redirectUri: "YOUR_REDIRECT_URI", // The redirect URL registered in your OAuth credentials
      portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" // Your portal URL
    });

Run the app and ensure you can sign in successfully.

If you are unable to sign in, make sure you have the correct redirect URL and port. This URL varies based on your application and typically takes the format of https://<server>[:port]/callback.html or http://my-arcgis-app:/auth. For example, if you are running an application on http://127.0.0.1:5500/, set http://127.0.0.1:5500/callback.html as your redirect URL in the index.html and callback.html file and your developer credential. They all have to match!

Add a language selector

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

In the <body> element, add a select element which you will populate in a later step.

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

    <div id="language-wrapper">
      <select id="language"></select>
    </div>

  </body>

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

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    <style>
    html,
    body,
    #map {
      margin: 0;
      padding: 0;
      height: 100%;
    }

    #language-wrapper {
      position: absolute;
      top: 20px;
      right: 20px;
      background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);
    }

    #language {
      font-size: 16px;
      padding: 4px 8px;
    }


    .maplibregl-ctrl-bottom-right {
      margin-left: 50px;
    }

    </style>

Update the map's viewpoint

Change the map's center to [8.90, 47.14] and zoom level to 6. This will focus the map on Switzerland.

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    const map = new maplibregl.Map({
      container: "map",
      style: {
        version: 8,
        sources: {
          "raster-tiles": {
            type: "raster",

            tiles: [
              url(defaultLanguage)
            ],

            tileSize: 512
          }
        },
        layers: [
          {
            id: "simple-tiles",
            type: "raster",
            source: "raster-tiles",
            minzoom: 0,
            maxzoom: 22
          }
        ]
      },

      zoom: 6,
      center: [8.90, 47.14] // Switzerland

    });

Set the basemap

When the page loads, initialize the app to display the static basemap tiles in English.

Create a function called url that takes a language as a parameter. This will create the URL of the static basemap tiles for that specified language.

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    <script>
    /* Use for API key authentication */
    const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";

    // or

    /* Use for user authentication */
    // const session = await arcgisRest.ArcGISIdentityManager.beginOAuth2({
    //   clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", // Your client ID from OAuth credentials
    //   redirectUri: "YOUR_REDIRECT_URI", // The redirect URL registered in your OAuth credentials
    //   portal: "YOUR_PORTAL_URL" // Your portal URL
    // })

    // const accessToken = session.token;

    const basemapEnum = "arcgis/navigation";
    const baseUrl = "https://static-map-tiles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/static-basemap-tiles-service/v1";

    const url = (language) => `${baseUrl}/${basemapEnum}/static/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}?token=${accessToken}&language=${language}`;

    const map = new maplibregl.Map({
      container: "map",
      style: {
        version: 8,
        sources: {
          "raster-tiles": {
            type: "raster",

            tiles: [
              url(defaultLanguage)
            ],

            tileSize: 512
          }
        },
        layers: [
          {
            id: "simple-tiles",
            type: "raster",
            source: "raster-tiles",
            minzoom: 0,
            maxzoom: 22
          }
        ]
      },

      zoom: 6,
      center: [8.90, 47.14] // Switzerland

    });

    </script>
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Create a defaultLanguage variable for the basemap, which is en for English.

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    <script>
    /* Use for API key authentication */
    const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";

    // or

    /* Use for user authentication */
    // const session = await arcgisRest.ArcGISIdentityManager.beginOAuth2({
    //   clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", // Your client ID from OAuth credentials
    //   redirectUri: "YOUR_REDIRECT_URI", // The redirect URL registered in your OAuth credentials
    //   portal: "YOUR_PORTAL_URL" // Your portal URL
    // })

    // const accessToken = session.token;

    const basemapEnum = "arcgis/navigation";
    const baseUrl = "https://static-map-tiles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/static-basemap-tiles-service/v1";

    const url = (language) => `${baseUrl}/${basemapEnum}/static/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}?token=${accessToken}&language=${language}`;

    const defaultLanguage = "en";

    const map = new maplibregl.Map({
      container: "map",
      style: {
        version: 8,
        sources: {
          "raster-tiles": {
            type: "raster",

            tiles: [
              url(defaultLanguage)
            ],

            tileSize: 512
          }
        },
        layers: [
          {
            id: "simple-tiles",
            type: "raster",
            source: "raster-tiles",
            minzoom: 0,
            maxzoom: 22
          }
        ]
      },

      zoom: 6,
      center: [8.90, 47.14] // Switzerland

    });

    </script>
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Modify the tiles property of the map to use the url function with defaultLanguage as the default basemap language.

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    <script>
    /* Use for API key authentication */
    const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";

    // or

    /* Use for user authentication */
    // const session = await arcgisRest.ArcGISIdentityManager.beginOAuth2({
    //   clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", // Your client ID from OAuth credentials
    //   redirectUri: "YOUR_REDIRECT_URI", // The redirect URL registered in your OAuth credentials
    //   portal: "YOUR_PORTAL_URL" // Your portal URL
    // })

    // const accessToken = session.token;

    const basemapEnum = "arcgis/navigation";
    const baseUrl = "https://static-map-tiles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/static-basemap-tiles-service/v1";

    const url = (language) => `${baseUrl}/${basemapEnum}/static/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}?token=${accessToken}&language=${language}`;

    const defaultLanguage = "en";

    const map = new maplibregl.Map({
      container: "map",
      style: {
        version: 8,
        sources: {
          "raster-tiles": {
            type: "raster",

            tiles: [
              url(defaultLanguage)
            ],

            tileSize: 512
          }
        },
        layers: [
          {
            id: "simple-tiles",
            type: "raster",
            source: "raster-tiles",
            minzoom: 0,
            maxzoom: 22
          }
        ]
      },

      zoom: 6,
      center: [8.90, 47.14] // Switzerland

    });

    </script>
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Retrieve the select element by storing it in a languageSelectElement variable.

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

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Import arcgisRest.request() to make a request to the Static Basemap Tiles service. This dynamically fetches the available languages and populates the select element.

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    <!-- REST JS -->
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-request@4/dist/bundled/request.umd.js"></script>

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    arcgisRest.request(`${baseUrl}/self`, {
      httpMethod: "GET",
      authentication: arcgisRest.ApiKeyManager.fromKey(accessToken)
    }).then((response) => {
      response.languages.forEach((language) => {
        const option = document.createElement("option");
        option.value = language.code;
        option.textContent = language.name;
        languageSelectElement.appendChild(option);
      });
    });
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Run the code to ensure the <select> element contains different language enumerations.

Add an event listener

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

Add an event listener to store the selected basemap.

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

    arcgisRest.request(`${baseUrl}/self`, {
      httpMethod: "GET",
      authentication: arcgisRest.ApiKeyManager.fromKey(accessToken)
    }).then((response) => {
      response.languages.forEach((language) => {
        const option = document.createElement("option");
        option.value = language.code;
        option.textContent = language.name;
        languageSelectElement.appendChild(option);
      });
    });

    languageSelectElement.addEventListener("change", (e) => {
      const language = e.target.value;

    });
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Update the map's raster-tiles with the new language.

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

    arcgisRest.request(`${baseUrl}/self`, {
      httpMethod: "GET",
      authentication: arcgisRest.ApiKeyManager.fromKey(accessToken)
    }).then((response) => {
      response.languages.forEach((language) => {
        const option = document.createElement("option");
        option.value = language.code;
        option.textContent = language.name;
        languageSelectElement.appendChild(option);
      });
    });

    languageSelectElement.addEventListener("change", (e) => {
      const language = e.target.value;

      const tilesUrl = url(language);
      map.getSource("raster-tiles").setTiles([tilesUrl]);

    });
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Run the app

Run the app.

The map should be displayed in English and you should be able to use the controls to switch between language labels.

What's next?

Learn how to use additional location services in these tutorials:

Change the basemap style

Switch a static basemap style on a map.

Display multiple basemap layers

Add multiple basemap layers from different services to your map.