NLS_LANG Parameters

Oracle provides Globalization Support that enables users to interact with a database in their own language, as defined by the NLS_LANG parameter. When you install Oracle9i components, the NLS_LANG parameter is set in the registry.

The default value of the NLS_LANG parameter at installation is automatically chosen based on the locale setting of the operating system. The operating system locale and NLS_LANG value mappings are listed under 

"Commonly Used Values for NLS_LANG".

The NLS_LANG parameter is stored in the registry under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREORACLEHOMEIDNLS_LANG subkey, where ID is the unique number identifying the Oracle home.

The NLS_LANG parameter uses the following format:

NLS_LANG = LANGUAGE_TERRITORY.CHARACTER_SET

where:

LANGUAGE	Specifies the language and conventions for displaying messages, day name, and month name.
TERRITORY	Specifies the territory and conventions for calculating week and day numbers.
CHARACTER_SET	Controls the character set used for displaying messages.

Table C-1 lists commonly used NLS_LANG values for various operating system locales:

Operating System Locale	NLS_LANG Value
Arabic (U.A.E.)	ARABIC_UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.AR8MSWIN1256
Bulgarian	BULGARIAN_BULGARIA.CL8MSWIN1251
Catalan	CATALAN_CATALONIA.WE8MSWIN1252
Chinese (PRC)	SIMPLIFIED CHINESE_CHINA.ZHS16GBK
Chinese (Taiwan)	TRADITIONAL CHINESE_TAIWAN.ZHT16MSWIN950
Croatian	CROATIAN_CROATIA.EE8MSWIN1250
Czech	CZECH_CZECH REPUBLIC.EE8MSWIN1250
Danish	DANISH_DENMARK.WE8MSWIN1252
Dutch (Netherlands)	DUTCH_THE NETHERLANDS.WE8MSWIN1252
English (United Kingdom)	ENGLISH_UNITED KINGDOM.WE8MSWIN1252
English (United States)	AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8MSWIN1252
Estonian	ESTONIAN_ESTONIA.BLT8MSWIN1257
Finnish	FINNISH_FINLAND.WE8MSWIN1252
French (Canada)	CANADIAN FRENCH_CANADA.WE8MSWIN1252
French (France)	FRENCH_FRANCE.WE8MSWIN1252
German (Germany)	GERMAN_GERMANY.WE8MSWIN1252
Greek	GREEK_GREECE.EL8MSWIN1253
Hebrew	HEBREW_ISRAEL.IW8MSWIN1255
Hungarian	HUNGARIAN_HUNGARY.EE8MSWIN1250
Icelandic	ICELANDIC_ICELAND.WE8MSWIN1252
Indonesian	INDONESIAN_INDONESIA.WE8MSWIN1252
Italian (Italy)	ITALIAN_ITALY.WE8MSWIN1252
Japanese	JAPANESE_JAPAN.JA16SJIS
Korean	KOREAN_KOREA.KO16MSWIN949
Latvian	LATVIAN_LATVIA.BLT8MSWIN1257
Lithuanian	LITHUANIAN_LITHUANIA.BLT8MSWIN1257
Norwegian	NORWEGIAN_NORWAY.WE8MSWIN1252
Polish	POLISH_POLAND.EE8MSWIN1250
Portuguese (Brazil)	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE_BRAZIL.WE8MSWIN1252
Portuguese (Portugal)	PORTUGUESE_PORTUGAL.WE8MSWIN1252
Romanian	ROMANIAN_ROMANIA.EE8MSWIN1250
Russian	RUSSIAN_CIS.CL8MSWIN1251
Slovak	SLOVAK_SLOVAKIA.EE8MSWIN1250
Spanish (Spain)	SPANISH_SPAIN.WE8MSWIN1252
Swedish	SWEDISH_SWEDEN.WE8MSWIN1252
Thai	THAI_THAILAND.TH8TISASCII
Spanish (Mexico)	MEXICAN SPANISH_MEXICO.WE8MSWIN1252
Spanish (Venezuela)	LATIN AMERICAN SPANISH_VENEZUELA.WE8MSWIN1252
Turkish	TURKISH_TURKEY.TR8MSWIN1254
Ukrainian	UKRAINIAN_UKRAINE.CL8MSWIN1251
Vietnamese	VIETNAMESE_VIETNAM.VN8MSWIN1258