Internationally recognized code for the representation of the world's languages and language groups, with ISO 639
ISO 639,
Code for individual languages and language groups
, can be applied across many types of organization and situations. It is needed for the basic settings of billions of user interfaces to ICT systems and devices, as well as for the indication of different language versions of websites. It is indispensable for information management in publishing, librarianship, and for large networks.
Using a language identifier (of two or three letters), rather than the name of a language, has many benefits as some cultures may have different names for the same language, while some languages may share the same, or similar, names even though they are unrelated.