diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/man.rst b/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/man.rst
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+cdist-type__locale_system(7)
+============================
+
+NAME
+----
+cdist-type__locale_system - Set system-wide locale
+
+
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+This cdist type allows you to modify system-wide locale.
+The name of the locale category is given as the object id
+(usually you are probably interested in using LANG)
+
+
+OPTIONAL PARAMETERS
+-------------------
+
+state
+    present or absent, defaults to present.
+    If present, sets the locale category to the given value.
+    If absent, removes the locale category from the system file.
+
+value
+    The value for the locale category.
+    Defaults to en_US.UTF-8.
+
+
+EXAMPLES
+--------
+
+.. code-block:: sh
+
+    # Set LANG to en_US.UTF-8
+    __locale_system LANG
+
+    # Same as above, but more explicit
+    __locale_system LANG --value en_US.UTF-8
+
+    # Set category LC_MESSAGES to de_CH.UTF-8
+    __locale_system LC_MESSAGES --value de_CH.UTF-8
+
+    # Remove setting for LC_ALL
+    __locale_system LC_ALL --state absent
+
+
+
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+:strong:`locale`\ (1)
+:strong:`localedef`\ (1)
+:strong:`cdist-type__locale`\ (7)
+
+
+AUTHORS
+-------
+Steven Armstrong <steven-cdist--@--armstrong.cc>,
+Carlos Ortigoza <carlos.ortigoza--@--ungleich.ch>,
+Nico Schottelius <nico.schottelius--@--ungleich.ch>
+
+
+COPYING
+-------
+Copyright \(C) 2016 Nico Schottelius. Free use of this software is
+granted under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 or
+later (GPLv3+).
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/manifest b/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/manifest
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+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# 2012-2016 Steven Armstrong (steven-cdist at armstrong.cc)
+# 2016 Carlos Ortigoza (carlos.ortigoza at ungleich.ch)
+# 2016 Nico Schottelius (nico.schottelius at ungleich.ch)
+#
+# This file is part of cdist.
+#
+# cdist is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# cdist is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with cdist. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
+# Configure system-wide locale by modifying i18n file.
+#
+
+os=$(cat "$__global/explorer/os")
+
+case "$os" in
+    debian|ubuntu)
+        locale_conf="/etc/default/locale"
+        ;;
+    archlinux)
+        locale_conf="/etc/locale.conf"
+        ;;
+    redhat|centos)
+        locale_conf="/etc/sysconfig/i18n"
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo "Your operating system ($os) is currently not supported by this type (${__type##*/})." >&2
+        echo "Please contribute an implementation for it if you can." >&2
+        exit 1
+        ;;
+esac
+
+__file "$locale_conf" \
+       --owner root --group root --mode 644 \
+       --state exists
+
+require="__file/$locale_conf" \
+       __key_value "$locale_conf:$__object_id" \
+       --file "$locale_conf" \
+       --key "$__object_id" \
+       --delimiter = \
+       --state "$(cat "$__object/parameter/state")" \
+       --value "$(cat "$__object/parameter/value")"
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/default/state b/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/default/state
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7f6134f
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+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/default/state
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+present
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/default/value b/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/default/value
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..927508f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/default/value
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+en_US.UTF-8
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/optional b/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/optional
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d0460d86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__locale_system/parameter/optional
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+state
+value