diff --git a/debug/i18n.html b/debug/i18n.html
index 2187b7703a6..35d3af9448c 100644
--- a/debug/i18n.html
+++ b/debug/i18n.html
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
         left: 0;
         padding: 10px;
     }
-        
+
     .map-overlay .map-overlay-inner {
         background-color: #fff;
         box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
@@ -29,27 +29,27 @@
         padding: 10px;
         margin-bottom: 10px;
     }
-        
+
     .map-overlay-inner fieldset {
         border: none;
         padding: 0;
         margin: 0 0 10px;
     }
-        
+
     .map-overlay-inner fieldset:last-child {
         margin: 0;
     }
-        
+
     .map-overlay-inner select {
         width: 100%;
     }
-        
+
     .map-overlay-inner label {
         display: block;
         font-weight: bold;
         margin: 0 0 5px;
     }
-        
+
     .map-overlay-inner button {
         display: inline-block;
         width: 36px;
@@ -57,11 +57,11 @@
         border: none;
         cursor: pointer;
     }
-        
+
     .map-overlay-inner button:focus {
         outline: none;
     }
-        
+
     .map-overlay-inner button:hover {
         box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
     }
@@ -132,8 +132,14 @@
 <script src='../debug/access_token_generated.js'></script>
 <script>
 
+const url = new URL(window.location);
 const language = document.getElementById('language');
+const languageSearchParam = url.searchParams.get('language');
+if (languageSearchParam) language.value = languageSearchParam;
+
 const worldview = document.getElementById('worldview');
+const worldviewSearchParam = url.searchParams.get('worldview');
+if (worldviewSearchParam) worldview.value = worldviewSearchParam;
 
 var map = window.map = new mapboxgl.Map({
     container: 'map',
@@ -145,7 +151,8 @@
     worldview: worldview.value
 });
 
-mapboxgl.setRTLTextPlugin('https://api.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/plugins/mapbox-gl-rtl-text/v0.2.0/mapbox-gl-rtl-text.js');
+map.addControl(new mapboxgl.ScaleControl());
+mapboxgl.setRTLTextPlugin('https://api.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/plugins/mapbox-gl-rtl-text/v0.2.3/mapbox-gl-rtl-text.js');
 
 map.on('style.load', () => {
     map.addSource('mapbox://mapbox.mapbox-streets-v8-i18n', {
@@ -263,12 +270,20 @@
 
 language.addEventListener('change', (e) => {
     map.setLanguage(e.target.value);
+    updateSearchParam('language', e.target.value);
 });
 
 worldview.addEventListener('change', (e) => {
     map.setWorldview(e.target.value);
+    updateSearchParam('worldview', e.target.value);
 });
 
+function updateSearchParam(param, value) {
+    const url = new URL(window.location);
+    url.searchParams.set(param, value);
+    window.history.pushState({}, '', url);
+}
+
 </script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/css/mapbox-gl.css b/src/css/mapbox-gl.css
index 5f417312db3..69026ae89f5 100644
--- a/src/css/mapbox-gl.css
+++ b/src/css/mapbox-gl.css
@@ -518,6 +518,7 @@ a.mapboxgl-ctrl-logo.mapboxgl-compact {
     padding: 0 5px;
     color: #333;
     box-sizing: border-box;
+    white-space: nowrap;
 }
 
 .mapboxgl-popup {
diff --git a/src/ui/control/scale_control.js b/src/ui/control/scale_control.js
index c2087cc7a8e..8b9c431ad32 100644
--- a/src/ui/control/scale_control.js
+++ b/src/ui/control/scale_control.js
@@ -37,13 +37,14 @@ const defaultOptions: Options = {
 class ScaleControl {
     _map: Map;
     _container: HTMLElement;
+    _language: ?string;
     options: Options;
 
     constructor(options: Options) {
         this.options = extend({}, defaultOptions, options);
 
         bindAll([
-            '_onMove',
+            '_update',
             'setUnit'
         ], this);
     }
@@ -52,26 +53,33 @@ class ScaleControl {
         return 'bottom-left';
     }
 
-    _onMove() {
-        updateScale(this._map, this._container, this.options);
+    _update() {
+        updateScale(this._map, this._container, this._language, this.options);
     }
 
     onAdd(map: Map): HTMLElement {
         this._map = map;
+        this._language = map.getLanguage();
         this._container = DOM.create('div', 'mapboxgl-ctrl mapboxgl-ctrl-scale', map.getContainer());
+        this._container.dir = 'auto';
 
-        this._map.on('move', this._onMove);
-        this._onMove();
+        this._map.on('move', this._update);
+        this._update();
 
         return this._container;
     }
 
     onRemove() {
         this._container.remove();
-        this._map.off('move', this._onMove);
+        this._map.off('move', this._update);
         this._map = (undefined: any);
     }
 
+    _setLanguage(language: string) {
+        this._language = language;
+        this._update();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Set the scale's unit of the distance.
      *
@@ -79,13 +87,13 @@ class ScaleControl {
      */
     setUnit(unit: Unit) {
         this.options.unit = unit;
-        updateScale(this._map, this._container, this.options);
+        this._update();
     }
 }
 
 export default ScaleControl;
 
-function updateScale(map, container, options) {
+function updateScale(map, container, language, options) {
     // A horizontal scale is imagined to be present at center of the map
     // container with maximum length (Default) as 100px.
     // Using spherical law of cosines approximation, the real distance is
@@ -104,26 +112,36 @@ function updateScale(map, container, options) {
         const maxFeet = 3.2808 * maxMeters;
         if (maxFeet > 5280) {
             const maxMiles = maxFeet / 5280;
-            setScale(container, maxWidth, maxMiles, map._getUIString('ScaleControl.Miles'), map);
+            setScale(container, maxWidth, maxMiles, language, 'mile', map);
         } else {
-            setScale(container, maxWidth, maxFeet, map._getUIString('ScaleControl.Feet'), map);
+            setScale(container, maxWidth, maxFeet, language, 'foot', map);
         }
     } else if (options && options.unit === 'nautical') {
         const maxNauticals = maxMeters / 1852;
-        setScale(container, maxWidth, maxNauticals, map._getUIString('ScaleControl.NauticalMiles'), map);
+        setScale(container, maxWidth, maxNauticals, language, 'nautical-mile', map);
     } else if (maxMeters >= 1000) {
-        setScale(container, maxWidth, maxMeters / 1000, map._getUIString('ScaleControl.Kilometers'), map);
+        setScale(container, maxWidth, maxMeters / 1000, language, 'kilometer', map);
     } else {
-        setScale(container, maxWidth, maxMeters, map._getUIString('ScaleControl.Meters'), map);
+        setScale(container, maxWidth, maxMeters, language, 'meter', map);
     }
 }
 
-function setScale(container, maxWidth, maxDistance, unit, map) {
+function setScale(container, maxWidth, maxDistance, language, unit, map) {
     const distance = getRoundNum(maxDistance);
     const ratio = distance / maxDistance;
+
     map._requestDomTask(() => {
         container.style.width = `${maxWidth * ratio}px`;
-        container.innerHTML = `${distance}&nbsp;${unit}`;
+
+        // Intl.NumberFormat doesn't support nautical-mile as a unit,
+        // so we are hardcoding `nm` as a unit symbol for all locales
+        if (unit === 'nautical-mile') {
+            container.innerHTML = `${distance}&nbsp;nm`;
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // $FlowFixMe — flow v0.142.0 doesn't support optional `locales` argument and `unit` style option
+        container.innerHTML = new Intl.NumberFormat(language, {style: 'unit', unitDisplay: 'narrow', unit}).format(distance);
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ui/default_locale.js b/src/ui/default_locale.js
index db9f19c262e..969578ec543 100644
--- a/src/ui/default_locale.js
+++ b/src/ui/default_locale.js
@@ -12,11 +12,6 @@ const defaultLocale = {
     'NavigationControl.ResetBearing': 'Reset bearing to north',
     'NavigationControl.ZoomIn': 'Zoom in',
     'NavigationControl.ZoomOut': 'Zoom out',
-    'ScaleControl.Feet': 'ft',
-    'ScaleControl.Meters': 'm',
-    'ScaleControl.Kilometers': 'km',
-    'ScaleControl.Miles': 'mi',
-    'ScaleControl.NauticalMiles': 'nm',
     'ScrollZoomBlocker.CtrlMessage': 'Use ctrl + scroll to zoom the map',
     'ScrollZoomBlocker.CmdMessage': 'Use ⌘ + scroll to zoom the map',
     'TouchPanBlocker.Message': 'Use two fingers to move the map'
diff --git a/src/ui/map.js b/src/ui/map.js
index 1431eb37ca2..f6f6b8cd377 100755
--- a/src/ui/map.js
+++ b/src/ui/map.js
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ type IControl = {
     onRemove(map: Map): void;
 
     +getDefaultPosition?: () => ControlPosition;
+    +_setLanguage?: (language: string) => void;
 }
 /* eslint-enable no-use-before-define */
 
@@ -1070,11 +1071,18 @@ class Map extends Camera {
         if (this.style) {
             for (const id in this.style._sourceCaches) {
                 const source = this.style._sourceCaches[id]._source;
-                if (source.language && source.language !== language && source._setLanguage) {
-                    source._setLanguage(language);
+                if (source.language && source.language !== this._language && source._setLanguage) {
+                    source._setLanguage(this._language);
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        for (const control of this._controls) {
+            if (control._setLanguage) {
+                control._setLanguage(this._language);
+            }
+        }
+
         return this;
     }
 
diff --git a/test/unit/ui/control/scale.test.js b/test/unit/ui/control/scale.test.js
index fb8a7fd3405..f518676234e 100644
--- a/test/unit/ui/control/scale.test.js
+++ b/test/unit/ui/control/scale.test.js
@@ -38,6 +38,23 @@ test('ScaleControl should change unit of distance after calling setUnit', (t) =>
     t.end();
 });
 
+test('ScaleControl should change language after calling map.setLanguage', (t) => {
+    const map = createMap(t);
+    const scale = new ScaleControl();
+    const selector = '.mapboxgl-ctrl-bottom-left .mapboxgl-ctrl-scale';
+    map.addControl(scale);
+    map._domRenderTaskQueue.run();
+
+    let contents = map.getContainer().querySelector(selector).innerHTML;
+    t.match(contents, /km/);
+
+    map.setLanguage('ru');
+    map._domRenderTaskQueue.run();
+    contents = map.getContainer().querySelector(selector).innerHTML;
+    t.match(contents, /км/);
+    t.end();
+});
+
 test('ScaleControl should respect the maxWidth regardless of the unit and actual scale', (t) => {
     const map = createMap(t);
     const maxWidth = 100;