python-iso639
ISO 639 language codes, names, and other associated information
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no dependencies, installs with low friction, carries a permissive license, and solves a real problem for any project that needs reliable language code normalization. It is well-suited for production use in multilingual applications, data pipelines, and language-aware systems.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low install friction; pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies.
- Active maintenance with a release 22 days ago; supports Python 3.10 through 3.14.
License · maintenance · safety
Apache-2.0 (permissive) — Apache-2.0 permissive license allows use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-07-23 (22 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-23 · 53 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 4,155,530 downloads/mo, #2,370 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install python-iso639
import iso639
lang = iso639.Language.from_part3('fra')
print(lang.name) # 'French'
# Or guess from unknown input
lang = iso639.Language.match('fr')
print(lang.part3) # 'fra'- Whether the package includes all current ISO 639-3 codes or a specific snapshot version.
- Performance characteristics for bulk lookups or large-scale matching operations.
- Whether macrolanguage and retired code handling covers all edge cases in production use.
What it is and what it does
python-iso639 is a reference library for ISO 639 language codes and their associated metadata. It provides a Language class that maps across the three ISO 639 standard code sets (639-1 two-letter codes like 'fr', 639-2 three-letter codes in bibliographic and terminological variants like 'fre' and 'fra', and 639-3 codes like 'fra') to standardized language names and additional attributes. The package is optimized for fast lookups and includes a flexible matching method that can identify a language from any code or name format without requiring you to know which standard the input belongs to.
The library handles macrolanguages, alternative names, retired codes with retirement metadata, and language scope/type classification. It is designed for developers building multilingual applications, language processing pipelines, or data systems that need reliable language identification and normalization across different code standards.
Use it for
- Normalize user-supplied language codes or names to a canonical ISO 639-3 code for storage or API calls.
- Build a language selector UI that accepts input in any ISO 639 format and returns consistent language metadata.
- Validate language codes in data pipelines and flag retired or unknown language identifiers.
- Resolve macrolanguage relationships (e.g., identifying that Yue Chinese belongs to the Chinese macrolanguage).
- Support multilingual search or filtering by accepting language input in any standard format.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has no dependencies, installs with low friction, carries a permissive license, and solves a real problem for any project that needs reliable language code normalization. It is well-suited for production use in multilingual applications, data pipelines, and language-aware systems.
Install
python-iso639 on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction; pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Active maintenance with a release 22 days ago; supports Python 3.10 through 3.14.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
Apache-2.0 permissive license allows use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install python-iso639
import iso639
lang = iso639.Language.from_part3('fra')
print(lang.name) # 'French'
# Or guess from unknown input
lang = iso639.Language.match('fr')
print(lang.part3) # 'fra'Verify before relying
- Whether the package includes all current ISO 639-3 codes or a specific snapshot version.
- Performance characteristics for bulk lookups or large-scale matching operations.
- Whether macrolanguage and retired code handling covers all edge cases in production use.
Package facts
| License | Apache-2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 22 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 4,155,530 / month, #2,370 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: EducationIntended Audience :: Information TechnologyIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: Text ProcessingTopic :: Text Processing :: GeneralTopic :: Text Processing :: IndexingTopic :: Text Processing :: Linguistic |
Evidence: python_iso639-2026.7.23-py3-none-any.whl
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See also iso-639 · iso639-lang · stopwordsiso · langcodes · isocodes · pycountry · country_list · num2words · iso3166 · babelfish