Compare the World日本語

WORLD ATLAS

World Writing Direction Map by Country

In the available data for 236 countries and territories, the largest country groups are Left to right (208 countries and territories), Right to left (21 countries and territories), Left to right with vertical writing (7 countries and territories). Japan is classified as Left to right with vertical writing (main language: Japanese). Data period: Current CLDR and Unicode classification. The three-way classification follows the largest functional language and does not cover every language or writing practice in multilingual countries.

Current mapWriting directionChange map

01 / CATEGORY MAP

See the usual writing direction of each country’s main language.

Coverage: 236 countries and territories. Compare the usual direction of each country’s main language; multilingual countries use additional writing systems.

JapanLeft to right with vertical writing

Japan, Left to right with vertical writing

Left → rightRight → leftHorizontal + verticalNo data
CONTROLSOn mobile, turn on map controls before pinching or dragging. On desktop, drag to move and use Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom.

02 / ABOUT THIS DATA

How to read the World Writing Direction Map by Country

Coverage: 236 countries and territories. Compare the usual direction of each country’s main language; multilingual countries use additional writing systems.

Coverage
236 countries and territories
Largest country groups
Left to right (208), Right to left (21), Left to right with vertical writing (7)
Japan’s position
Left to right with vertical writing (main language: Japanese)
Data period
Current CLDR and Unicode classification

The three-way classification follows the largest functional language and does not cover every language or writing practice in multilingual countries.

03 / COUNTRY DIRECTORY

Browse representative countries from this map.

This map covers 236 countries and territories. The directory samples 36 countries across the largest categories. Browse all countries

Representative countriesCategories and details36 of 236

KEEP EXPLORING

Compare the world
from another angle.

Open another theme map while keeping Japan selected.

Back to the mapView JapanTry the quiz