---
name: locale-xh-za
description: Use when working with the Xhosa (South Africa) locale (`xh-ZA`) — its endonym isiXhosa (uMzantsi Afrika), Latin script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.
---

# Locale: Xhosa (South Africa) (xh-ZA)

Reference data for the **Xhosa (South Africa)** locale — endonym **isiXhosa (uMzantsi Afrika)**, written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

## Identifiers

- **BCP 47 tag:** `xh-ZA`
- **ISO 639-1:** `xh`
- **ISO 639-3:** `xho`
- **Script:** Latn (Latin)
- **Region:** ZA (South Africa)
- **Text direction:** ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

## Speakers (approximate)

- **L1 (native):** 8,200,000
- **L2 (additional):** 11,800,000
- **L1+L2 (total):** 20,000,000

## Base locale

This is a regional variant of [[locale-xh-001]] (Xhosa), the base/macro locale for this language.

## Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: **one**, **other** (2 forms).

- **one** — `n = 1` (e.g. 1)
- **other** — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural messages using these categories.

## Translating into this locale

Apply [[locale-xh-001]] with the conventions of South Africa.

- **Context:** isiXhosa is one of eleven official languages of South Africa, widely spoken in the Eastern and Western Cape.
- **Formats:** rand (`R`); dates `17 Oktobha 2026`; 24-hour clock; check CLDR for separators.
- **Terminology:** use PanSALB and National Language Service lists for official content.

## Common pitfalls

- Mixing Zulu forms.
- Dropping click letters.
- The general pitfalls in [[locale-xh-001]] also apply.

## Learn more

- [[locale]] for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
- [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
- Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), the statutory body for the official languages of South Africa