babel – Multilingual support for LaTeX, LuaLaTeX, XeLaTeX, and Plain TeX
Babel is the multilingual environment for LaTeX (tailored for LuaTeX, pdfTeX and XeTeX), and sometimes Plain. Its aim is to provide a comprehensive localization framework for different languages, scripts and cultures based on the latest advances on international standards (Unicode, W3C, OpenType). It supports about 300 languages (with various levels of coverage) across about 45 scripts, including complex (like CJK, Indic) and RTL ones.
Besides the traditional .ldf files, there are many locales built on a modern core that utilizes descriptive .ini files, with tools providing precise control over hyphenation and line breaking, captions, date formats (across various calendars), spacing, transliteration, numbering and other locale-specific typographical rules.
| Sources | /macros/latex/required/babel/base |
| Documentation | |
| Home page | https://latex3.github.io/babel/ |
| Bug tracker | https://github.com/latex3/babel/issues |
| Repository | https://github.com/latex3/babel |
| Version | 25.11 2025-07-13 |
| Licenses | The LaTeX Project Public License 1.3 |
| Copyright | 1989–2012 Johannes Braams et al. 2012–2025 Javier Bezos and Johannes L. Braams |
| Maintainer | Javier Bezos López Johannes L. Braams (inactive) |
| TDS archive | babel-base.tds.zip |
| Contained in | TeX Live as babel MiKTeX as babel |
| Topics | Experimental LaTeX3 Multi-lingual |
| See also | polyglossia |
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