diff --git a/modules/nixos/locales.nix b/modules/nixos/locales.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b0a076
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/nixos/locales.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+{
+  # set the time zone
+  time.timeZone = "Europe/Zurich";
+
+  # set internationalisation properties
+  i18n.defaultLocale = "en_US.UTF-8";
+  i18n.extraLocaleSettings = {
+    LC_ADDRESS = "en_US.UTF-8";
+    LC_IDENTIFICATION = "en_US.UTF-8";
+    LC_MEASUREMENT = "en_US.UTF-8";
+    LC_MONETARY = "en_US.UTF-8";
+    LC_NAME = "en_US.UTF-8";
+    LC_NUMERIC = "en_US.UTF-8";
+    LC_PAPER = "en_US.UTF-8";
+    LC_TELEPHONE = "en_US.UTF-8";
+    LC_TIME = "en_US.UTF-8";
+  };
+}