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Look up localisation, localization in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Localization or localisation can mean any of the following:

• Generally, localization is the determination of the locality (location) of an object.

However, most systems solutions for determining the locality do not determine the position or the motion of an object, i.e. its spatial orientation, its direction of motion and its motion parameters, as speed and angular velocity. Then only the coordinates of the object are determined or, if not even that, its relative position to another object. Some systems solutions for determining the locality just determine the locality implicitly though their own position and not directly the position of any addressed object.

• Often, localization is the adaptation of an object to a locality. An example is in software localization, where the messages that a program presents to a user need to be translated into various languages. Language localization refers to the process of adapting a language for a specific country or region. Main article: Internationalization and localization
• In economics, localization is a way to adapt products for non-native environments.
• In telecommunications, localization is a technique for determining the location of a user of a cell phone or wireless transceiver.
• In mathematics, localization is a certain technique in abstract algebra; see also localization of a module, localization of a category, localization of a topological space.

Specialising the term localization may determine a quality of topology, which means not coordinates, but vicinities in a graph. Other specialisation coincides with the common understanding of geometry or in conjunction with the surface of the earth, it meets terms of geodesy.

• In acoustics, sound localization describes how our ears find the direction of a sound source.
• In web design and software, localization refers to the adaptation of language, content and design to reflect local cultural sensitivities.
• In condensed matter physics, localization is the spatial confinement of particles in a structure.
• In plasticity mechanics, localization refers to the concentration of strain deformation in the material as thin bands
• In biology, localization of function refers to when different parts of an organ, tissue, cell, or other unit perform different tasks. It most often refers to localization of brain function.
• In robotics, localization refers to the technique through which a robot can determine or update its location through analysis of sensor data. This is often performed using sonar for low resolution or by means of a laser range-finder for highest resolution or just with a radio ranging system for moderate requirements.

Because in British English this term can also be spelled "localisation", the word is occasionally abbreviated as "l10n" (the number ten between the letters l and n) because there are ten letters between its first and the last letters. This is often done in software engineering to avoid confusion over spelling of the term. However, linguistically correct may be the term "locating" for the process to determine a certain location or locality in contrary to "localization" as a process to determine a set of attributes that are typical for a certain location or locality.

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

FOSS Localization

• Globalization
• Globalization Management System
• Internationalization and localization
• Translation

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