This is the first time Flickr will be available in anything other than English and we really couldn’t be happier to see this day (really … if the team had to spend any more time working on it, I think we would have had a mutiny).

Even though a little more than half the visitors to Flickr each month already come from outside of the U.S. and the community is as global as any on the Net, this is a big move for us and will allow Flickr to blossom in more than a dozen new countries.

It will still be one global site and one global community (not separate sites), but one that will make it a lot easier for people to share with and connect to those that matter to them. That means more shared perspectives, a lot more happy members, and a Flickr that’s better for everyone.

To celebrate, we’re hosting a series of global community events starting this month in Berlin, Paris, London and Montreal. We’re also excited to unveil the “24 Hours of Flickr” book, a global photo project that illustrates the day in the life of the Flickr community. Users were encouraged to submit one photo taken on May 5, 2007, and the pictures tell an amazing story.

The book will be sold at cost and we’ll be be donating $1 for each book sold to benefit Médecins Sans Frontières (up to a total of $10,000 USD). If you’re interested, details will be posted on the 24 Hours of Flickr group page as soon as the book is available. Otherwise, you can check out our slideshow, which features some of the wonderful photos from the book.

We want to thank all of our nearly 9 million members for making Flickr so great. Keep those interesting photos coming!

Stewart Butterfield
Co-Founder & General Manager of Flickr