The Unicode CLDR provides key building blocks for software to support the world's languages, with the largest and most extensive standard repository of locale data available. This data is used by a wide spectrum of companies for their software internationalization and localization, adapting software to the conventions of different languages for such common software tasks as:

• formatting of dates, times, and time zones, 
• formatting numbers and currency values
• sorting text
• choosing languages or countries by name

CLDR uses the XML format provided by UTS #35: Locale Data Markup Language (LDML). LDML is a format used not only for CLDR, but also for general interchange of locale data, such as in Microsoft's .NET.

For information about joining the Unicode Consortium, see Unicode Consortium.

Acknowledgments

Many people have made significant contributions to CLDR and LDML; see the Acknowledgments page for a full listing.