Supported WhatsApp template languages

What it is

Every WhatsApp template has a language code. The code identifies the language and, when applicable, the regional locale of the template content. Use the same code when you create, retrieve, edit, delete, or send that localized template. For example, use en_US for English (US) and pt_BR for Portuguese (Brazil).

Before you begin

Choose the language that matches the template content.
Use a regional code when Meta provides one for the intended locale.
Keep the template name and language code together in your application.
Create and obtain approval for each localized template before sending it.

Meta can update the supported language list. This page reflects the Meta supported languages reference, updated May 21, 2026.

How it works

Select one supported language code.
Set the code in the language field when you create the template.
Wait until that localized template is approved.
Use the exact same code in template management and message requests.

Language codes are case-sensitive. Do not replace underscores with hyphens. For example, send zh_CN, not zh-CN.

Supported language codes

A–F

Language	Code
Afrikaans	`af`
Albanian	`sq`
Arabic	`ar`
Arabic (Egypt)	`ar_EG`
Arabic (United Arab Emirates)	`ar_AE`
Arabic (Lebanon)	`ar_LB`
Arabic (Morocco)	`ar_MA`
Arabic (Qatar)	`ar_QA`
Azerbaijani	`az`
Belarusian	`be_BY`
Bengali	`bn`
Bengali (India)	`bn_IN`
Bulgarian	`bg`
Catalan	`ca`
Chinese (China)	`zh_CN`
Chinese (Hong Kong)	`zh_HK`
Chinese (Taiwan)	`zh_TW`
Croatian	`hr`
Czech	`cs`
Danish	`da`
Dari	`prs_AF`
Dutch	`nl`
Dutch (Belgium)	`nl_BE`
English	`en`
English (United Kingdom)	`en_GB`
English (United States)	`en_US`
English (United Arab Emirates)	`en_AE`
English (Australia)	`en_AU`
English (Canada)	`en_CA`
English (Ghana)	`en_GH`
English (Ireland)	`en_IE`
English (India)	`en_IN`
English (Jamaica)	`en_JM`
English (Malaysia)	`en_MY`
English (New Zealand)	`en_NZ`
English (Qatar)	`en_QA`
English (Singapore)	`en_SG`
English (Uganda)	`en_UG`
English (South Africa)	`en_ZA`
Estonian	`et`
Filipino	`fil`
Finnish	`fi`
French	`fr`
French (Belgium)	`fr_BE`
French (Canada)	`fr_CA`
French (Switzerland)	`fr_CH`
French (Côte d’Ivoire)	`fr_CI`
French (Morocco)	`fr_MA`

G–N

Language	Code
Georgian	`ka`
German	`de`
German (Austria)	`de_AT`
German (Switzerland)	`de_CH`
Greek	`el`
Gujarati	`gu`
Hausa	`ha`
Hebrew	`he`
Hindi	`hi`
Hungarian	`hu`
Indonesian	`id`
Irish	`ga`
Italian	`it`
Japanese	`ja`
Kannada	`kn`
Kazakh	`kk`
Kinyarwanda	`rw_RW`
Korean	`ko`
Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzstan)	`ky_KG`
Lao	`lo`
Latvian	`lv`
Lithuanian	`lt`
Macedonian	`mk`
Malay	`ms`
Malayalam	`ml`
Marathi	`mr`
Norwegian	`nb`

P–Z

Language	Code
Pashto	`ps_AF`
Persian	`fa`
Polish	`pl`
Portuguese (Brazil)	`pt_BR`
Portuguese (Portugal)	`pt_PT`
Punjabi	`pa`
Romanian	`ro`
Russian	`ru`
Serbian	`sr`
Sinhala	`si_LK`
Slovak	`sk`
Slovenian	`sl`
Spanish	`es`
Spanish (Argentina)	`es_AR`
Spanish (Chile)	`es_CL`
Spanish (Colombia)	`es_CO`
Spanish (Costa Rica)	`es_CR`
Spanish (Dominican Republic)	`es_DO`
Spanish (Ecuador)	`es_EC`
Spanish (Honduras)	`es_HN`
Spanish (Mexico)	`es_MX`
Spanish (Panama)	`es_PA`
Spanish (Peru)	`es_PE`
Spanish (Spain)	`es_ES`
Spanish (Uruguay)	`es_UY`
Swahili	`sw`
Swedish	`sv`
Tamil	`ta`
Telugu	`te`
Thai	`th`
Turkish	`tr`
Ukrainian	`uk`
Urdu	`ur`
Uzbek	`uz`
Vietnamese	`vi`
Zulu	`zu`

Request

Set language to one code from the table when you create a template.

curl --request POST https://api.ycloud.com/v2/whatsapp/templates \
  --header "X-API-Key: $YCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "wabaId": "WABA_ID",
    "name": "order_ready",
    "language": "en_US",
    "category": "UTILITY",
    "components": [
      {
        "type": "BODY",
        "text": "Order {{1}} is ready for pickup.",
        "example": {
          "body_text": [["A-10001"]]
        }
      }
    ]
  }'

Response

{
  "wabaId": "WABA_ID",
  "name": "order_ready",
  "language": "en_US",
  "category": "UTILITY",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "components": [
    {
      "type": "BODY",
      "text": "Order {{1}} is ready for pickup."
    }
  ]
}

The response preserves the submitted language code. A PENDING template must complete review before you use it in a message request.

Common mistakes

Using a site locale such as en-US instead of the template code en_US.
Sending a regional code that does not match the approved template.
Assuming Meta translates template content automatically.
Reusing a language code for content written in another language.

Manage templates

Create, version, review, release, and retire localized templates.

Create template API

Inspect the complete request and response schema.

Getting Started

Guides

Endpoints

Webhooks

Supported WhatsApp template languages

What it is

Before you begin

How it works

Supported language codes

A–F

G–N

P–Z

Request

Response

Common mistakes

Manage templates

Create template API

​What it is

​Before you begin

​How it works

​Supported language codes

​A–F

​G–N

​P–Z

​Request

​Response

​Common mistakes

Manage templates

Create template API

What it is

Before you begin

How it works

Supported language codes

A–F

G–N

P–Z

Request

Response

Common mistakes