Change language in a map

Map design Maps for different languages

This collection of articles outlines a recommended workflow for developing maps tailored to various languages.

  1. Change language in a map
  2. Global map settings
  3. Disputed borders on your maps
  4. How to automatically change disputed borders according to your map visitors’ location

This article explains how to change language in a map. This is done in the MapTiler Customize Settings panel (Alt+S).

To use MapTiler Customize, you need to set up a MapTiler Cloud account. If you don’t have one yet, don’t hesitate to sign up for free!

Change language

In MapTiler Customize, go to Settings (Alt+S) and see the Worldview section.

language-settings.png

There are 3 main language options to choose from: Defined by style, English, and Local.

language-options.png

1. Defined by style= default setting for all MapTiler main styles.

2. English = uses English names to make the map understandable for the potential majority of users

3. Local = uses the native language of each country (attribute name instead of, for example, English naming name:en).

The other options allow picking any preferred language. When selecting any other option than Defined by style, MapTiler Customize displays Translation –⁠ second naming where you can again choose any other language. 

language-translation.png

MapTiler SDK

You can control the map language from MapTiler SDK. This way, you can implement language changing based on the IP address of users, among other things. See the documentation and examples below:

Conclusion

Language in a map can be easily changed in MapTiler Customize Settings panel > Worldview > Language. There are 3 main options: Defined by style, English, and Local. You can also control map language with MapTiler SDK.

Next steps

Continue to Global map settings to learn about Global map settings in MapTiler Customize.

Global map settings
Languages | JavaScript maps SDK