# Specifying a Culture

The [ASP NET AJAX Calendar](https://www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-ajax/calendar.aspx) control supports the **System.Globalization** namespace. This namespace consists of classes (**CompareInfo**, **CultureInfo**, **RegionInfo**, etc.) that contain culture-related information such as the language, country/region, sort order for strings, calendars in use, and format patterns for dates, currency, and numbers. They are useful classes for writing internationalized applications.

> caution\
> **RadCalendar** supports all the cultures in the System.Globalization namespace that are based on the **Gregorian** calendar.

For East Asian, Middle Eastern and other similar cultures, which have an alternative standard for a different Calendar implementation, **RadCalendar** supports their localization and native date and time value representation, but automatically uses the **Gregorian** calendar internally.

## CultureInfo

The **CultureInfo** class represents information about a specific culture including the names of the culture, the writing system, and the calendar used, as well as access to culture-specific objects that provide information for common operations, such as formatting dates and sorting strings.

The culture names follow the **RFC 1766** standard in the format "<languagecode2>-\<country/regioncode2>", where **<languagecode2>** is a lowercase two-letter code derived from **ISO 639-1** and **\<country/regioncode2>** is an uppercase two-letter code derived from **ISO 3166**. For example, U.S. English is "**en-US**".

All **RadCalendar** controls let you associate a **CultureInfo** object with the control to govern the formatting and parsing of date and time values. In order to specify a culture for **RadCalendar** you should use the **CultureInfo** property.

> note
> On the picker controls (e.g. **RadDatePicker** , **RadTimePicker**, **RadDateTimePicker**) you can assign a separate **CultureInfo** object to the embedded popup calendar and/or time view control, using the embedded calendar's **CultureInfo** property or the embedded time view's **Culture** property.

The associated **CultureInfo** object controls:

* The default format for date and time values that the control displays. You can override this pattern by specifying a [date format pattern](https://www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-ajax/documentation/controls/calendar/accessibility-and-internationalization/date-format-patterns) as the value of the following properties:

  * On **RadCalendar** (including the embedded popup calendar accessed through the **Calendar** property of **RadDatePicker** and **RadDateTimePicker** controls) - the **TitleFormat** and **DayCellToolTipFormat** properties.

* The strings used when applying a date format pattern such as month names, day names, separator characters, etc.

* The first day of the week when the **FirstDayOfWeek** property is set to "Default".

* The way **RadDatePicker**, **RadTimePicker** and **RadDateTimePicker** parse values that the user types into the input area.

> caution
> The **CultureInfo** property of **RadCalendar** does not affect the labels on the buttons in the month/year navigation popup. For information on localizing these strings, see[Localizing Strings](https://www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-ajax/documentation/controls/calendar/accessibility-and-internationalization/localizing-strings).

## Assigning the culture declaratively

You can assign the culture of a **RadCalendar** control declaratively in the source:

```ASPNET
<telerik:RadCalendar
    ID="RadCalendar1"
    runat="server"
    CultureInfo="French (France)">
</telerik:RadCalendar>
<br />
<telerik:RadDatePicker
    ID="RadDatePicker1"
    runat="server"
    Culture = "French (France)">
    <DateInput Width="100%"></DateInput>
    <DatePopupButton CssClass="radPopupImage_Default" />
</telerik:RadDatePicker>
<br />
<telerik:RadDateTimePicker
    ID="RadDateTimePicker1"
    runat="server"
    Culture="French (France)">
    <DateInput Width="100%"></DateInput>
    <DatePopupButton CssClass="radPopupImage_Default" />
    <TimePopupButton CssClass="radPopupImage_Default" />
</telerik:RadDateTimePicker>
<br />
<telerik:RadTimePicker
    ID="RadTimePicker1"
    runat="server"
    Culture="French (France)">
</telerik:RadTimePicker>
```

## Assigning the culture in the code-behind

You can assign a culture property in the code-behind as well:

```C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    RadCalendar1.CultureInfo = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
    RadDatePicker.Culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-US", true);
    RadTimePicker.Culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("fr-FR", true);
    RadDateTimePicker.Culture = RadDateTimePicker.Culture;
}
```

```VB.NET
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    RadCalendar1.CultureInfo = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture
    RadDatePicker.Culture = New System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-US", True)
    RadTimePicker.Culture = New System.Globalization.CultureInfo("fr-FR", True)
    RadDateTimePicker.Culture = RadDateTimePicker.Culture
End Sub
```

## See Also

* [Title Settings](https://www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-ajax/documentation/controls/calendar/functionality/title-settings)