i18n Default Language Policy
Anonymous visitors now resolve language in this order:
?lang=query param- Saved language selector choice from
localStorage - Region-aware anonymous default:
- force English in explicitly listed English-heavy regions
- otherwise use the browser/device language when it is one of our supported locales
- Fall back to
en
Source Baseline
- EF English Proficiency Index 2025 for country-level English proficiency
- Singapore Census 2020 for Singapore, where English was the most frequently spoken home language for 48.3% of residents aged 5+
Encoded English-Default Regions
AT, BE, CH, CZ, DE, DK, FI, GR, HU, MY, NL, NO, PH, PL, PT, RO, SE, SG
Locale Review
| Locale | Regions reviewed | Latest signal | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
ar | AE | UAE EF EPI 2025: 487, Moderate | Browser/device language |
bn | BD, IN | Bangladesh 506, Moderate; India 484, Moderate | Browser/device language |
ca | ES | Spain 540, Moderate | Browser/device language |
cs | CZ | Czechia 582, High | English in CZ |
da | DK | Denmark 611, Very high | English in DK |
de | DE, AT, CH | Germany 615, Very high; Austria 616, Very high; Switzerland 564, High | English in DE, AT, CH |
el | GR, CY | Greece 592, High; Cyprus 537, Moderate | English in GR; browser/device language in CY |
en | English-majority locales | Browser/device locale already reports en-* in the common case | English remains default |
es | ES | Spain 540, Moderate | Browser/device language |
fa | IR | Iran 492, Moderate | Browser/device language |
fi | FI | Finland 603, Very high | English in FI |
fil | PH | Philippines 569, High | English in PH |
fr | FR, BE, CH | France 539, Moderate; Belgium 608, Very high; Switzerland 564, High | English in BE, CH; browser/device language in FR |
he | IL | Israel 524, Moderate | Browser/device language |
hi | IN | India 484, Moderate | Browser/device language |
hu | HU | Hungary 590, High | English in HU |
id | ID | Indonesia 471, Moderate | Browser/device language |
it | IT, CH | Italy 513, Moderate; Switzerland 564, High | English in CH; browser/device language in IT |
ja | JP | Japan 446, Very low | Browser/device language |
ko | KR | South Korea 522, Moderate | Browser/device language |
mr | IN | India 484, Moderate | Browser/device language |
nl | NL, BE | Netherlands 624, Very high; Belgium 608, Very high | English in NL, BE |
no | NO | Norway 613, Very high | English in NO |
pl | PL | Poland 600, Very high | English in PL |
pt | PT, BR | Portugal 612, Very high; Brazil 482, Moderate | English in PT; browser/device language in BR |
ro | RO, MD | Romania 605, Very high; Moldova 531, Moderate | English in RO; browser/device language in MD |
ru | RU | Russia 521, Moderate | Browser/device language |
sq | AL | Albania 532, Moderate | Browser/device language |
sv | SE, FI | Sweden 609, Very high; Finland 603, Very high | English in SE, FI |
te | IN | India 484, Moderate | Browser/device language |
th | TH | Thailand 402, Very low | Browser/device language |
tr | TR | Turkiye 488, Moderate | Browser/device language |
uk | UA | Ukraine 526, Moderate | Browser/device language |
ur | PK, IN | Pakistan 493, Moderate; India 484, Moderate | Browser/device language |
vi | VN | Vietnam 500, Moderate | Browser/device language |
zh | CN, HK, SG | China 464, Moderate; Hong Kong 538, Moderate; Singapore Census 2020: English most frequently spoken at home for 48.3% | English in SG; browser/device language in CN, HK and other regions |
Only the positive overrides are encoded in runtime logic. All other regions continue to prefer the browser/device language when it matches one of the supported locale codes.