diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+Copyright Moritz Kiefer (c) 2016
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+      with the distribution.
+
+    * Neither the name of Moritz Kiefer nor the names of other
+      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
+      from this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
diff --git a/Setup.hs b/Setup.hs
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/Setup.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import Distribution.Simple
+main = defaultMain
diff --git a/src/System/Locale/Read.hs b/src/System/Locale/Read.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/System/Locale/Read.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+{-| Read locales on unix systems and parse them into their corresponding 'TimeLocale' representation.
+-}
+module System.Locale.Read
+  (getLocale
+  ,getCurrentLocale
+  ,parseLocale
+  ,TimeLocale(..)
+  ,LocaleParseException(..)
+  ) where
+
+import Control.Exception
+import Data.Time.Format (TimeLocale(..))
+import System.Process
+import Text.Megaparsec
+import Text.Megaparsec.String
+
+-- | Thrown when the locale cannot be parsed
+data LocaleParseException =
+  LocaleParseException (ParseError Char Dec)
+  deriving (Show,Eq)
+
+instance Exception LocaleParseException
+
+-- | 'Parser' for locales returned by the unix utility 'locale'
+parseLocale :: Parser TimeLocale
+parseLocale =
+  do abDay <- parseSemicolonSeparatedLine
+     day <- parseSemicolonSeparatedLine
+     abMon <- parseSemicolonSeparatedLine
+     mon <- parseSemicolonSeparatedLine
+     [am,pm] <- parseSemicolonSeparatedLine
+     dateTimeFmt' <- manyTill anyChar newline
+     dateFmt' <- manyTill anyChar newline
+     timeFmt' <- manyTill anyChar newline
+     time12Fmt' <- manyTill anyChar newline
+     pure (TimeLocale (zip day abDay)
+                      (zip mon abMon)
+                      (am,pm)
+                      dateTimeFmt'
+                      dateFmt'
+                      timeFmt'
+                      time12Fmt'
+                      [])
+
+-- | Read a locale with 'LC_TIME' set according to the first argument.
+--
+-- Throws a 'LocaleParseException' if the output of calling 'locale'
+-- cannot be parsed.
+--
+-- The 'knownTimeZones' field will always be empty.
+--
+-- > getLocale (Just "en_US.UTF-8")
+getLocale :: Maybe String -> IO TimeLocale
+getLocale localeName =
+  do output <-
+       readCreateProcess (getLocaleProcess localeName)
+                         ""
+     case runParser parseLocale "" output of
+       Left err -> throwIO (LocaleParseException err)
+       Right locale -> pure locale
+
+-- | Get the current locale of the process.
+--
+-- Throws a 'LocaleParseException' if the output of calling 'locale'
+-- cannot be parsed.
+--
+-- The 'knownTimeZones' field will always be empty.
+getCurrentLocale :: IO TimeLocale
+getCurrentLocale = getLocale Nothing
+
+getLocaleProcess :: Maybe String -> CreateProcess
+getLocaleProcess localeName =
+  (proc "locale"
+        ["abday"
+        ,"day"
+        ,"abmon"
+        ,"mon"
+        ,"am_pm"
+        ,"d_t_fmt"
+        ,"d_fmt"
+        ,"t_fmt"
+        ,"t_fmt_ampm"]) {env = toLangEnv <$> localeName}
+
+parseSemicolonSeparatedLine :: Parser [String]
+parseSemicolonSeparatedLine =
+  sepBy (many (noneOf [';','\n']))
+        (char ';') <*
+  newline
+
+toLangEnv :: String -> [(String,String)]
+toLangEnv s = [("LC_TIME",s)]
diff --git a/system-locale.cabal b/system-locale.cabal
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/system-locale.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+name:                system-locale
+version:             0.1.0.0
+synopsis:            Get system locales
+description:         Please see README.md
+homepage:            https://github.com/cocreature/system-locale
+license:             BSD3
+license-file:        LICENSE
+author:              Moritz Kiefer
+maintainer:          moritz.kiefer@purelyfunctional.org
+copyright:           2016
+category:            Unknown
+build-type:          Simple
+-- extra-source-files:
+cabal-version:       >=1.10
+
+library
+  hs-source-dirs:      src
+  exposed-modules:     System.Locale.Read
+  build-depends:       base >= 4.7 && < 5
+                     , megaparsec >= 5.0 && < 5.2
+                     , process >= 1.2 && < 1.5
+                     , time >= 1.5 && < 1.7
+  ghc-options:         -Wall
+  default-language:    Haskell2010
+
+test-suite system-locale-test
+  type:                exitcode-stdio-1.0
+  hs-source-dirs:      test
+  main-is:             Spec.hs
+  build-depends:       base
+                     , hspec
+                     , system-locale
+  ghc-options:         -threaded -rtsopts -with-rtsopts=-N
+  default-language:    Haskell2010
+
+source-repository head
+  type:     git
+  location: https://github.com/cocreature/system-locale
diff --git a/test/Spec.hs b/test/Spec.hs
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Spec.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,1 @@
+{-# OPTIONS_GHC -F -pgmF hspec-discover #-}