This project was built out of the need to have a full set of all different ISO 639-2 language codes as well as the English and the native Full Name.
There're two subset of this ISO Norm.
- ISO 639-1 (Alpha-2 code/1988)
- ISO 639-2 (Alpha-3 code/1998)
Every language code present in the two-letter code set has a corresponding language code in the alpha-3 list, but not necessarily vice versa. ISO 639-2:1998 provides two sets of three-letter alphabetic codes for the representation of names of languages, one for terminology applications and the other for bibliographic applications. The code sets are the same except for twenty-five languages that have variant language codes because of the criteria used for formulating them.
Source: loc.gov
The language codes were devised originally for use by libraries, information services, and publishers to indicate language in the exchange of information, especially in computerized systems.
Source: loc.gov
More info available in the F.A.Q..
The data is available in JSON format only.
It is recommended to use the uncompressed file during development and the minified .min.json during production.
The ISO 639-2 Registration Authority Library of Congress Network Development and MARC Standards Office Washington, DC 20540-4402 E-mail: iso639-2(at)loc(dot)gov