l18n: Internationalization for pytz timezones and territories

2021.3 · maintenance · verified Sat Apr 11

l18n is a Python library providing internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n) services specifically for `pytz` timezones and territory names. It offers lazy translations for names used for localization purposes, such as cities and full timezone names, by fetching them from the CLDR (Unicode's Common Locale Data Repository) database. The latest version, 2021.3, was released in November 2021. Its versioning strategy aims to align with `pytz` releases to ensure consistency with timezone names.

Warnings

gotcha The library's last release (2021.3) was in November 2021. While it declared compatibility with Python 2.7 and Python 3.5+ at the time of release, compatibility with modern Python versions (3.10+) or very recent `pytz` versions has not been explicitly confirmed or updated. Python 3.9 reached End-of-Life in October 2025.
Fix: Test thoroughly with your target Python and `pytz` versions. Consider contributing updates or forking if you encounter compatibility issues with newer environments.
gotcha l18n's versioning is designed to align with `pytz`. If `l18n` and `pytz` versions are significantly mismatched, there may be missing or incorrect translations, particularly if new timezones or territory names have been introduced in `pytz` that `l18n` hasn't yet processed from CLDR.
Fix: Ensure `l18n` is installed with a `pytz` version it was released alongside or a close subsequent version. If issues arise, check for a newer `l18n` release or report an issue on the GitHub repository.
gotcha The library fetches translations from the CLDR database. If CLDR is updated with new or changed locale data and the `l18n` library is not updated accordingly, its translations may become outdated or incomplete.
Fix: Monitor for new `l18n` releases or be prepared to generate updated translation data if you require the absolute latest CLDR information.

Install

pip install l18n Install stable version

Imports

l18n
```
import l18n
```
tz_cities
```
l18n.tz_cities
```
A read-only dictionary-like object mapping pytz timezones to human-friendly translated city names.
tz_fullnames
```
l18n.tz_fullnames
```
A read-only dictionary-like object mapping pytz timezones to human-friendly translated full timezone names.
set_language
```
l18n.set_language('fr')
```
Sets the active language for translations. Default is 'en'.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to import `l18n`, set the desired language, and retrieve translated city and full timezone names using the `tz_cities` and `tz_fullnames` mappings.

import l18n
import os

# Set the language to French (for demonstration)
l18n.set_language('fr')

# Get translated city name for a timezone
easter_island_city_fr = l18n.tz_cities['Pacific/Easter']
print(f"Easter Island (French): {easter_island_city_fr}")

# Switch to English
l18n.set_language('en')

easter_island_city_en = l18n.tz_cities['Pacific/Easter']
print(f"Easter Island (English): {easter_island_city_en}")

# Get full translated timezone name
london_timezone_en = l18n.tz_fullnames['Europe/London']
print(f"London timezone (English): {london_timezone_en}")

l18n.set_language('de')
london_timezone_de = l18n.tz_fullnames['Europe/London']
print(f"London timezone (German): {london_timezone_de}")

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