List of Hreflang Country and Language Codes & Frequent Errors

10/07/2021by Martin Kura0
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I have put together a list of codes (values) which you can use for creating Hreflang header attributes for your multi-lingual or multi-regional website.

Select Language or Country Codes in the tabs below

 

Language Codes

LanguageHreflang Code
Abkhazianab
Afrikaansaf
Aragonesean
Arabicar
Assameseas
Azerbaijaniaz
Belarusianbe
Bulgarianbg
Bengalibn
Tibetanbo
Bretonbr
Bosnianbs
Catalan / Valencianca
Chechence
Corsicanco
Czechcs
Church Slaviccu
Welshcy
Danishda
Germande
Greekel
Englishen
Esperantoeo
Spanish / Castilianes
Estonianet
Basqueeu
Persianfa
Finnishfi
Fijianfj
Faroesefo
Frenchfr
Western Frisianfy
Irishga
Gaelic / Scottish Gaelicgd
Galiciangl
Manxgv
Hebrewhe
Hindihi
Croatianhr
Haitian; Haitian Creoleht
Hungarianhu
Armenianhy
Indonesianid
Icelandicis
Italianit
Japaneseja
Javanesejv
Georgianka
Kongokg
Koreanko
Kurdishku
Cornishkw
Kirghizky
Latinla
Luxembourgish; Letzeburgeschlb
Limburgan; Limburger; Limburgishli
Lingalaln
Lithuanianlt
Latvianlv
Malagasymg
Macedonianmk
Mongolianmn
Moldavianmo
Malayms
Maltesemt
Burmesemy
Norwegian (Bokmål)nb
Nepaline
Dutchnl
Norwegian (Nynorsk)nn
Norwegianno
Occitan (post 1500); Provençaloc
Polishpl
Portuguesept
Raeto-Romancerm
Romanianro
Russianru
Sardiniansc
Northern Samise
Slovaksk
Sloveniansl
Somaliso
Albaniansq
Serbiansr
Swedishsv
Swahilisw
Turkmentk
Turkishtr
Tahitianty
Ukrainianuk
Urduur
Uzbekuz
Vietnamesevi
Volapükvo
Yiddishyi
Chinese (simplified)zh-hans
Thaith

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Country Codes

CountryHreflang Code
AfghanistanAF
Aland IslandsAX
AlbaniaAL
AlgeriaDZ
American SamoaAS
AndorraAD
AngolaAO
AnguillaAI
AntarcticaAQ
Antigua and BarbudaAG
ArgentinaAR
ArmeniaAM
ArubaAW
AustraliaAU
AustriaAT
AzerbaijanAZ
BahamasBS
BahrainBH
BangladeshBD
BarbadosBB
BelarusBY
BelgiumBE
BelizeBZ
BeninBJ
BermudaBM
BhutanBT
Bolivia, Plurinational State ofBO
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBQ
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBA
BotswanaBW
Bouvet IslandBV
BrazilBR
British Indian Ocean TerritoryIO
Brunei DarussalamBN
BulgariaBG
Burkina FasoBF
BurundiBI
CambodiaKH
CameroonCM
CanadaCA
Cape VerdeCV
Cayman IslandsKY
Central African RepublicCF
ChadTD
ChileCL
ChinaCN
Christmas IslandCX
Cocos (Keeling) IslandsCC
ColombiaCO
ComorosKM
CongoCG
Congo, the Democratic Republic of theCD
Cook IslandsCK
Costa RicaCR
Côte d’IvoireCI
CroatiaHR
CubaCU
CuraçaoCW
CyprusCY
Czech RepublicCZ
DenmarkDK
DjiboutiDJ
DominicaDM
Dominican RepublicDO
EcuadorEC
EgyptEG
El SalvadorSV
Equatorial GuineaGQ
EritreaER
EstoniaEE
EthiopiaET
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)FK
Faroe IslandsFO
FijiFJ
FinlandFI
FranceFR
French GuianaGF
French PolynesiaPF
French Southern TerritoriesTF
GabonGA
GambiaGM
GeorgiaGE
GermanyDE
GhanaGH
GibraltarGI
GreeceGR
GreenlandGL
GrenadaGD
GuadeloupeGP
GuamGU
GuatemalaGT
GuernseyGG
GuineaGN
Guinea-BissauGW
GuyanaGY
HaitiHT
Heard Island and McDonald IslandsHM
Holy See (Vatican City State)VA
HondurasHN
Hong KongHK
HungaryHU
IcelandIS
IndiaIN
IndonesiaID
Iran, Islamic Republic ofIR
IraqIQ
IrelandIE
Isle of ManIM
IsraelIL
ItalyIT
JamaicaJM
JapanJP
JerseyJE
JordanJO
KazakhstanKZ
KenyaKE
KiribatiKI
Korea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKP
Korea, Republic ofKR
KuwaitKW
KyrgyzstanKG
Lao People’s Democratic RepublicLA
LatviaLV
LebanonLB
LesothoLS
LiberiaLR
LibyaLY
LiechtensteinLI
LithuaniaLT
LuxembourgLU
MacaoMO
Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic ofMK
MadagascarMG
MalawiMW
MalaysiaMY
MaldivesMV
MaliML
MaltaMT
Marshall IslandsMH
MartiniqueMQ
MauritaniaMR
MauritiusMU
MayotteYT
MexicoMX
Micronesia, Federated States ofFM
Moldova, Republic ofMD
MonacoMC
MongoliaMN
MontenegroME
MontserratMS
MoroccoMA
MozambiqueMZ
MyanmarMM
NamibiaNA
NauruNR
NepalNP
NetherlandsNL
New CaledoniaNC
New ZealandNZ
NicaraguaNI
NigerNE
NigeriaNG
NiueNU
Norfolk IslandNF
Northern Mariana IslandsMP
NorwayNO
OmanOM
PakistanPK
PalauPW
Palestine, State ofPS
PanamaPA
Papua New GuineaPG
ParaguayPY
PeruPE
PhilippinesPH
PitcairnPN
PolandPL
PortugalPT
Puerto RicoPR
QatarQA
RéunionRE
RomaniaRO
Russian FederationRU
RwandaRW
Saint BarthélemyBL
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSH
Saint Kitts and NevisKN
Saint LuciaLC
Saint Martin (French part)MF
Saint Pierre and MiquelonPM
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVC
SamoaWS
San MarinoSM
Sao Tome and PrincipeST
Saudi ArabiaSA
SenegalSN
SerbiaRS
SeychellesSC
Sierra LeoneSL
SingaporeSG
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)SX
SlovakiaSK
SloveniaSI
Solomon IslandsSB
SomaliaSO
South AfricaZA
South Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsGS
South SudanSS
SpainES
Sri LankaLK
SudanSD
SurinameSR
Svalbard and Jan MayenSJ
SwazilandSZ
SwedenSE
SwitzerlandCH
Syrian Arab RepublicSY
Taiwan, Province of ChinaTW
TajikistanTJ
Tanzania, United Republic ofTZ
ThailandTH
Timor-LesteTL
TogoTG
TokelauTK
TongaTO
Trinidad and TobagoTT
TunisiaTN
TurkeyTR
TurkmenistanTM
Turks and Caicos IslandsTC
TuvaluTV
UgandaUG
UkraineUA
United Arab EmiratesAE
United KingdomGB
United StatesUS
United States Minor Outlying IslandsUM
UruguayUY
UzbekistanUZ
VanuatuVU
Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVE
Viet NamVN
Virgin Islands, BritishVG
Virgin Islands, U.S.VI
Wallis and FutunaWF
Western SaharaEH
YemenYE
ZambiaZM
ZimbabweZW

 

Special Cases

Europe

Europe or EU is not a country, so it’s not in the list of countries. You can either target European users using language targeting only (e.g. English/EN) or target individual countries in Europe (e.g. en-GB). There should be, however, one website version per targeting.

UK / Great Britain

Country code for the UK is not “UK” as it stands for Ukrainian. Correct country code for the UK is “GB”.

ES-ES

This language-country code targets Spanish speaking users in Spain. If you want to target Spanish speakers worldwide, just use the language code “es” solely.

AR-AR

This targets Arabic speakers in Argentina. If you want to target Arabic speakers worldwide, just use the sole language code “ar”. If you target Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia, you need to use this code: “ar-SA”.

Hreflang Header Code Generator

Here’s how to use the Hreflang Generator tool:

  1. Go to this URL address of the file – DO NOT REQUEST EDIT ACCESS! (Sorry, but there are still a lot of people who simply don’t get it)
  2. File > Make a Copy
  3. Save to your Drive and here you go.

Frequent Errors

  1. Putting Country code before Language code – should be other way round
  2. Using a dash (–) instead of a hyphen (-)
  3. Using wrong quotation marks (“ ”) instead of (” “)
  4. Using a relative URL e.g. /usa/ instead of showing a full URL
  5. Using country code only: language code is mandatory, country code is optional
  6. Missing self-referencing Hreflang: there should be one Hreflang tag pointing to the page you’re on
  7. Multiple Hreflang tags for a single page
  8. Hreflang and Canonical tags in conflict: Hreflang and Canonicals are not supposed to be combined

Hreflang Q&A

Are Hreflang values case sensitive?

Capitalization (lowercase vs. uppercase) does not matter, however it is recommended by ISO 3166 convention that language codes are lowercase and country codes are uppercase.

Do I need to implement Hreflang attributes site-wide?

Yes. For each equivalent page including the source page, there should be an Hreflang tag implemented. You can also use a Hreflang sitemap if there are too many versions.

Does it matter which order the attributes are in?

No.

What is Hreflang and why is it important?

Hreflang is an HTML attribute used to specify the language and geographical targeting of a webpage. It’s essential for multilingual websites to guide search engines to serve the correct language or regional URL in search results.

How does Hreflang work for only one language?

If a website is targeted at speakers of a specific language, the Hreflang attribute can be used to specify that language. It informs search engines about the language, helping them serve the content to the right audience.

What can cause Hreflang conflicts within the page source code?

Hreflang conflicts can arise from incorrect implementation, such as having multiple entries for the same language or region, missing self-referencing tags, or using incorrect language codes.

How is Hreflang used in HTML+?

Hreflang in HTML+ is utilized similarly to standard HTML. It helps define the language and region for a specific page, guiding search engines to serve the appropriate version of the content.

Which is the Hreflang tag for English in Australia?

The Hreflang tag for English in Australia is “en-AU.” It directs search engines to serve that specific version of the page to users seeking English content in Australia.

How is Hreflang used in Canada?

In Canada, Hreflang can be implemented using either “en-CA” for English or “fr-CA” for French, reflecting the country’s two official languages.

What does the ‘Document has a valid Hreflang’ error mean?

This error message means that the Hreflang tags are correctly implemented on the page. It’s an indication that the specified language and regional targeting are set up correctly.

What’s the difference between HTML lang and Hreflang?

While both are used to specify language, the “lang” attribute defines the language of content on a specific page, while Hreflang helps search engines understand the language and regional targeting of a webpage.

What country does the ‘es’ language code refer to?

The “es” language code refers to Spanish. It’s not tied to a specific country but denotes content written in Spanish.

How can I find all country codes?

You can find a comprehensive list of country codes on websites that maintain and publish the ISO 3166 international standard.

How to fix the ‘no self-referencing Hreflang’ issue?

Fixing the ‘no self-referencing Hreflang’ issue involves adding a self-referencing Hreflang tag to each page. This tag informs search engines that the page is also targeted at the same language and region as specified.

What is the country code for Wales?

Wales doesn’t have a separate country code as it is part of the United Kingdom. The country code for the United Kingdom, including Wales, is “GB.”

How can I fix Hreflang tags with errors?

Fixing Hreflang errors involves identifying the issues, such as incorrect language codes or missing self-referencing tags, and correcting them. Various online tools can help identify and resolve these errors.

Martin Kura

A multi-cultural nerd, digital marketer and SEO/content enthusiast. Likes good beer, dry wine, loves to cook and sing (sometimes all at once).


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