diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d50d191..2a3cd16 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@
 /test*.img
 /testdir/
 Cargo.lock
-country.dat
+locale-info.json
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a17f6c5..af11cca 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ else
 CARGO_COMPILEDIR := target/debug
 endif
 
-INSTALLER_SOURCES=$(shell git ls-files) country.dat
+INSTALLER_SOURCES=$(shell git ls-files) locale-info.json
 
 PREFIX = /usr
 BINDIR = $(PREFIX)/bin
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ $(BUILDDIR):
 	cp -a debian $@.tmp/
 	mv $@.tmp $@
 
-country.dat: country.pl
-	./country.pl > country.dat.tmp
-	mv country.dat.tmp country.dat
+locale-info.json: country.pl
+	./country.pl > $@.tmp
+	mv $@.tmp $@
 
 deb: $(DEB)
 $(ASSISTANT_DEB): $(DEB)
@@ -100,10 +100,10 @@ sbuild: $(DSC)
 	sbuild $(DSC)
 
 .PHONY: prepare-test-env
-prepare-test-env: cd-info.test country.dat test.img
+prepare-test-env: cd-info.test locale-info.json test.img
 	rm -rf testdir
 	mkdir -p testdir/var/lib/proxmox-installer/
-	cp -v country.dat testdir/var/lib/proxmox-installer/
+	cp -v locale-info.json testdir/var/lib/proxmox-installer/
 	./proxmox-low-level-installer -t test.img dump-env
 
 .PHONY: test
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ install: $(INSTALLER_SOURCES) $(COMPILED_BINS)
 	install -D -m 644 interfaces $(DESTDIR)/etc/network/interfaces
 	install -D -m 755 fake-start-stop-daemon $(VARLIBDIR)/fake-start-stop-daemon
 	install -D -m 755 policy-disable-rc.d $(VARLIBDIR)/policy-disable-rc.d
-	install -D -m 644 country.dat $(VARLIBDIR)/country.dat
+	install -D -m 644 locale-info.json $(VARLIBDIR)/locale-info.json
 	install -D -m 755 unconfigured.sh $(DESTDIR)/sbin/unconfigured.sh
 	install -D -m 755 proxinstall $(DESTDIR)/usr/bin/proxinstall
 	install -D -m 755 proxmox-low-level-installer $(DESTDIR)/$(BINDIR)/proxmox-low-level-installer
@@ -226,5 +226,5 @@ check-pbs-tui: prepare-check-pbs
 clean:
 	rm -rf target build $(PACKAGE)-[0-9]* testdir
 	rm -f $(PACKAGE)*.tar* *.deb packages packages.tmp *.build *.dsc *.buildinfo *.changes
-	rm -f test*.img pve-final.pkglist country.dat final.pkglist cd-info.test
+	rm -f test*.img pve-final.pkglist locale-info.json final.pkglist cd-info.test
 	find . -name '*~' -exec rm {} ';'
diff --git a/Proxmox/Install/ISOEnv.pm b/Proxmox/Install/ISOEnv.pm
index e3b6f51..62945d8 100644
--- a/Proxmox/Install/ISOEnv.pm
+++ b/Proxmox/Install/ISOEnv.pm
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ use warnings;
 
 use Carp;
 use Cwd ();
+use JSON qw(from_json);
+
+use Proxmox::Sys::File qw(file_read_all);
 
 use base qw(Exporter);
 our @EXPORT = qw(is_test_mode);
@@ -33,57 +36,8 @@ my $product_cfg = {
 my sub read_locale_info {
     my ($lib_dir) = @_;
 
-    my $countryfn = "${lib_dir}/country.dat";
-    open (my $COUNTRY_MAP_FH, "<:encoding(utf8)", "$countryfn") || die "unable to open '$countryfn' - $!\n";
-
-    my ($country, $countryhash, $kmap, $kmaphash) = ({}, {}, {}, {});
-    while (defined (my $line = <$COUNTRY_MAP_FH>)) {
-	if ($line =~ m|^map:([^\s:]+):([^:]+):([^:]+):([^:]+):([^:]+):([^:]*):$|) {
-	    $kmap->{$1} = {
-		name => $2,
-		kvm => $3,
-		console => $4,
-		x11 => $5,
-		x11var => $6,
-	    };
-	    $kmaphash->{$2} = $1;
-	} elsif ($line =~ m|^([a-z]{2}):([^:]+):([^:]*):([^:]*):$|) {
-	    $country->{$1} = {
-		name => $2,
-		kmap => $3,
-		mirror => $4,
-	    };
-	    $countryhash->{lc($2)} = $1;
-	} else {
-	    warn "unable to parse 'country.dat' line: $line";
-	}
-    }
-    close ($COUNTRY_MAP_FH);
-
-    my $zonefn = "/usr/share/zoneinfo/zone.tab";
-    open (my $ZONE_TAB_FH, '<', "$zonefn") || die "unable to open '$zonefn' - $!\n";
-
-    my ($zones, $cczones) = ({}, {});
-    while (defined (my $line = <$ZONE_TAB_FH>)) {
-	next if $line =~ m/^\s*(?:#|$)/;
-	if ($line =~ m|^([A-Z][A-Z])\s+\S+\s+(([^/]+)/\S+)\s|) {
-	    my $cc = lc($1);
-	    $cczones->{$cc}->{$2} = 1;
-	    $country->{$cc}->{zone} = $2 if !defined ($country->{$cc}->{zone});
-	    $zones->{$2} = 1;
-
-	}
-    }
-    close ($ZONE_TAB_FH);
-
-    return {
-	zones => $zones,
-	cczones => $cczones,
-	country => $country,
-	countryhash => $countryhash,
-	kmap => $kmap,
-	kmaphash => $kmaphash,
-    }
+    my $json = file_read_all("${lib_dir}/locale-info.json");
+    return from_json($json, { utf8 => 1 });
 }
 
 my sub get_cd_info {
diff --git a/country.pl b/country.pl
index b1a2d62..9e4881a 100755
--- a/country.pl
+++ b/country.pl
@@ -4,32 +4,93 @@ use strict;
 use warnings;
 
 use PVE::Tools;
-use JSON;
+use JSON qw(from_json to_json);
+
+# Generates a
+#
+#   - country code => name/kmap/mirror
+#   - name => country code
+#
+# mapping for each defined country
+my sub generate_country_mappings {
+    my ($country_codes, $defmap, $mirrors) = @_;
+
+    my ($countries, $countryhash) = ({}, {});
+    foreach my $cc (sort keys %$country_codes) {
+	my $name = $country_codes->{$cc};
+	my $kmap = $defmap->{$cc} || '';
+	my $mirror = $mirrors->{$cc} || '';
+
+	$countries->{$cc} = {
+	    name => $name,
+	    kmap => $kmap,
+	    mirror => $mirror,
+	};
+	$countryhash->{lc($name)} = $cc;
+    }
+
+    return ($countries, $countryhash);
+}
+
+# we need mappings for X11, console, and kvm vnc
+# LC(-LC)? => [DESC, kvm, console, X11, X11variant]
+my sub generate_keymaps {
+    my ($country_codes) = @_;
+
+    my ($kmap, $kmaphash) = ({}, {});
+    my $keymaps = PVE::Tools::kvmkeymaps();
+    foreach my $km (sort keys %$keymaps) {
+	my ($name, $kvm, $console, $x11, $x11var) = @{$keymaps->{$km}};
+
+	if ($km =~m/^([a-z][a-z])-([a-z][a-z])$/i) {
+	    defined ($country_codes->{$2}) || die "undefined country code '$2'";
+	} else {
+	    defined ($country_codes->{$km}) || die "undefined country code '$km'";
+	}
+
+	$x11var = '' if !defined ($x11var);
+
+	$kmap->{$km} = {
+	    name => $name,
+	    kvm => $kvm,
+	    console => $console,
+	    x11 => $x11,
+	    x11var => $x11var,
+	};
+	$kmaphash->{$name} = $km;
+    }
+
+    return ($kmap, $kmaphash);
+}
+
+my sub parse_zoneinfo {
+    my ($countries) = @_;
+
+    my $zonefn = "/usr/share/zoneinfo/zone.tab";
+    open (my $ZONE_TAB_FH, '<', "$zonefn") || die "unable to open '$zonefn' - $!\n";
+
+    my ($zones, $cczones) = ({}, {});
+    while (defined (my $line = <$ZONE_TAB_FH>)) {
+	next if $line =~ m/^\s*(?:#|$)/;
+	if ($line =~ m|^([A-Z][A-Z])\s+\S+\s+(([^/]+)/\S+)\s|) {
+	    my $cc = lc($1);
+	    $cczones->{$cc}->{$2} = 1;
+	    $countries->{$cc}->{zone} = $2 if !defined ($countries->{$cc}->{zone});
+	    $zones->{$2} = 1;
+
+	}
+    }
+    close ($ZONE_TAB_FH);
+
+    return ($zones, $cczones);
+}
 
 # country codes from:
 my $country_codes_file = "/usr/share/iso-codes/json/iso_3166-1.json";
 
 my $iso_3166_codes = from_json(PVE::Tools::file_get_contents($country_codes_file, 64 * 1024));
 
-my $country = { map { lc($_->{'alpha_2'}) => $_->{'common_name'} // $_->{'name'} } @{$iso_3166_codes->{'3166-1'}} };
-
-# we need mappings for X11, console, and kvm vnc
-
-# LC(-LC)? => [DESC, kvm, console, X11, X11variant]
-my $keymaps = PVE::Tools::kvmkeymaps();
-
-foreach my $km (sort keys %$keymaps) {
-    my ($desc, $kvm, $console, $x11, $x11var) = @{$keymaps->{$km}};
-
-    if ($km =~m/^([a-z][a-z])-([a-z][a-z])$/i) {
-	defined ($country->{$2}) || die "undefined country code '$2'";
-    } else {
-	defined ($country->{$km}) || die "undefined country code '$km'";
-    }
-
-    $x11var = '' if !defined ($x11var);
-    print "map:$km:$desc:$kvm:$console:$x11:$x11var:\n";
-}
+my $country_codes = { map { lc($_->{'alpha_2'}) => $_->{'common_name'} // $_->{'name'} } @{$iso_3166_codes->{'3166-1'}} };
 
 my $defmap = {
    'us' => 'en-us',
@@ -37,7 +98,7 @@ my $defmap = {
    'br' => 'pt-br',
    'ca' => 'en-us',
    'dk' => 'dk',
-   'nl' => 'en-us', # most Dutch people us US layout
+   'nl' => 'en-us', # most Dutch people use US layout
    'fi' => 'fi',
    'fr' => 'fr',
    'de' => 'de',
@@ -61,14 +122,23 @@ my $defmap = {
    'li' => 'de-ch',
 };
 
-
 my $mirrors = PVE::Tools::debmirrors();
 foreach my $cc (keys %$mirrors) {
-    die "undefined country code '$cc'" if !defined ($country->{$cc});
+    die "undefined country code '$cc'" if !defined ($country_codes->{$cc});
 }
 
-foreach my $cc (sort keys %$country) {
-    my $map = $defmap->{$cc} || '';
-    my $mir = $mirrors->{$cc} || '';
-    print "$cc:$country->{$cc}:$map:$mir:\n";
-}
+my ($countries, $countryhash) = generate_country_mappings($country_codes, $defmap, $mirrors);
+my ($kmap, $kmaphash) = generate_keymaps($country_codes);
+my ($zones, $cczones) = parse_zoneinfo($countries);
+
+my $locale_info = {
+    country => $countries,
+    countryhash => $countryhash,
+    kmap => $kmap,
+    kmaphash => $kmaphash,
+    zones => $zones,
+    cczones => $cczones,
+};
+
+my $json = to_json($locale_info, { utf8 => 1, canonical => 1 });
+print $json;
diff --git a/proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/iso-info.json b/proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/iso-info.json
index 33cb79b..c5fe456 100644
--- a/proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/iso-info.json
+++ b/proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/iso-info.json
@@ -1 +1 @@
-{"iso-info":{"isoname":"proxmox-ve","isorelease":"2","product":"pve","productlong":"Proxmox VE","release":"8.0"},"locations":{"iso":"/cdrom","lib":"/var/lib/proxmox-installer","pkg":"/cdrom/proxmox/packages/","run":"/run/proxmox-installer"},"product":"pve","product-cfg":{"bridged_network":1,"enable_btrfs":1,"fullname":"Proxmox VE","port":"8006","product":"pve"},"run-env-cache-file":"/run/proxmox-installer/run-env-info.json"}
+{"iso-info":{"isoname":"proxmox-ve","isorelease":"2","product":"pve","productlong":"Proxmox VE","release":"8.0"},"locations":{"iso":"../testdir","lib":"../testdir/var/lib/proxmox-installer","pkg":"../testdir/cdrom/proxmox/packages/","run":"../testdir/run/proxmox-installer"},"product":"pve","product-cfg":{"bridged_network":1,"enable_btrfs":1,"fullname":"Proxmox VE","port":"8006","product":"pve"},"run-env-cache-file":"testdir/run/proxmox-installer/run-env-info.json"}