diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/icucfg.h.in b/icu4c/source/common/icucfg.h.in
index b8b501c558e..59ed2744977 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/icucfg.h.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/icucfg.h.in
@@ -1,16 +1,14 @@
-/*
-*******************************************************************************
-*
-*   Copyright (C) 1999, International Business Machines
-*   Corporation and others.  All Rights Reserved.
-*
-*******************************************************************************
-*/
 /* common/icucfg.h.in.  Generated automatically from configure.in by autoheader.  */
 
 /* Define if you have the ANSI C header files.  */
 #undef STDC_HEADERS
 
+/* Define if your processor stores words with the most significant
+   byte first (like Motorola and SPARC, unlike Intel and VAX).  */
+#undef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+
+/* Copyright (c) 1999-2000, International Business Machines Corporation and
+   others. All Rights Reserved. */
 /* Define to signed char if not in <sys/types.h> */
 #undef int8_t
 
@@ -32,9 +30,21 @@
 /* Define to signed char if not in <sys/types.h> */
 #undef bool_t 
 
+/* The number of bytes in a wchar_t.  */
+#undef SIZEOF_WCHAR_T
+
 /* Define if you have the <inttypes.h> header file.  */
 #undef HAVE_INTTYPES_H
 
+/* Define if you have the cma library (-lcma).  */
+#undef HAVE_LIBCMA
+
+/* Define if you have the dl library (-ldl).  */
+#undef HAVE_LIBDL
+
+/* Define if you have the dld library (-ldld).  */
+#undef HAVE_LIBDLD
+
 /* Define if you have the m library (-lm).  */
 #undef HAVE_LIBM
 
@@ -43,3 +53,6 @@
 
 /* Define if you have the pthreads library (-lpthreads).  */
 #undef HAVE_LIBPTHREADS
+
+/* Define if you have the wcs library (-lwcs).  */
+#undef HAVE_LIBWCS
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/platform.h.in b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/platform.h.in
index 126e6a98264..cb0a9bd7985 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/platform.h.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/platform.h.in
@@ -113,12 +113,14 @@ typedef unsigned short uint16_t;
 
 #ifdef OS390
 #   define U_CHARSET_FAMILY 1
-#   define U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T 2
 #endif
 
-#ifdef AIX
-#   define U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T 2
-#endif
+/*===========================================================================*/
+/* Information about wchar support                                           */
+/*===========================================================================*/
+
+#define U_HAVE_WCHAR_H		@U_HAVE_WCHAR_H@
+#define U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T	@U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T@
 
 /*===========================================================================*/
 /* Symbol import-export control                                              */
diff --git a/icu4c/source/configure b/icu4c/source/configure
index 73992c84168..5c8f98321b0 100755
--- a/icu4c/source/configure
+++ b/icu4c/source/configure
@@ -1093,8 +1093,6 @@ case "${host}" in
 *-*-solaris*) 	
 	if test "$ac_cv_prog_gcc" = yes; then	
 		icu_cv_host_frag=$srcdir/config/mh-solaris-gcc 
-	elif test "$host_cpu" = sparcv9; then	
- 		icu_cv_host_frag=$srcdir/config/mh-solaris-sparcv9 
 	else
 		icu_cv_host_frag=$srcdir/config/mh-solaris 
 	fi ;;
@@ -2114,13 +2112,108 @@ fi
 
 
 
+
+ac_safe=`echo "wchar.h" | sed 'y%./+-%__p_%'`
+echo $ac_n "checking for wchar.h""... $ac_c" 1>&6
+echo "configure:2119: checking for wchar.h" >&5
+if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_header_$ac_safe'+set}'`\" = set"; then
+  echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
+else
+  cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
+#line 2124 "configure"
+#include "confdefs.h"
+#include <wchar.h>
+EOF
+ac_try="$ac_cpp conftest.$ac_ext >/dev/null 2>conftest.out"
+{ (eval echo configure:2129: \"$ac_try\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_try) 2>&5; }
+ac_err=`grep -v '^ *+' conftest.out | grep -v "^conftest.${ac_ext}\$"`
+if test -z "$ac_err"; then
+  rm -rf conftest*
+  eval "ac_cv_header_$ac_safe=yes"
+else
+  echo "$ac_err" >&5
+  echo "configure: failed program was:" >&5
+  cat conftest.$ac_ext >&5
+  rm -rf conftest*
+  eval "ac_cv_header_$ac_safe=no"
+fi
+rm -f conftest*
+fi
+if eval "test \"`echo '$ac_cv_header_'$ac_safe`\" = yes"; then
+  echo "$ac_t""yes" 1>&6
+  :
+else
+  echo "$ac_t""no" 1>&6
+fi
+
+if test "$ac_cv_header_wchar_h" = no
+then
+    U_HAVE_WCHAR_H=0
+else
+    cat >> confdefs.h <<\EOF
+#define HAVE_WCHAR_H 1
+EOF
+
+    U_HAVE_WCHAR_H=1
+fi
+
+
+ac_default_sizeof_wchar_t=4
+echo $ac_n "checking size of wchar_t""... $ac_c" 1>&6
+echo "configure:2164: checking size of wchar_t" >&5
+if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t'+set}'`\" = set"; then
+  echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
+else
+  if test "$cross_compiling" = yes; then
+  ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t=$ac_default_sizeof_wchar_t
+else
+  cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
+#line 2172 "configure"
+#include "confdefs.h"
+#if STDC_HEADERS
+#include <stddef.h>
+#endif
+#if HAVE_WCHAR_H
+#include <wchar.h>
+#endif
+#include <stdio.h>
+main()
+{
+  FILE *f=fopen("conftestval", "w");
+  if (!f) exit(1);
+  fprintf(f, "%d\n", sizeof(wchar_t));
+  exit(0);
+}
+EOF
+if { (eval echo configure:2189: \"$ac_link\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_link) 2>&5; } && test -s conftest${ac_exeext} && (./conftest; exit) 2>/dev/null
+then
+  ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t=`cat conftestval`
+else
+  echo "configure: failed program was:" >&5
+  cat conftest.$ac_ext >&5
+  rm -fr conftest*
+  ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t=0
+fi
+rm -fr conftest*
+fi
+
+fi
+echo "$ac_t""$ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t" 1>&6
+cat >> confdefs.h <<EOF
+#define SIZEOF_WCHAR_T $ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t
+EOF
+
+
+U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T=$ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t
+
+
 echo $ac_n "checking for ANSI C header files""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:2117: checking for ANSI C header files" >&5
+echo "configure:2212: checking for ANSI C header files" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_header_stdc'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2122 "configure"
+#line 2217 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
@@ -2128,7 +2221,7 @@ else
 #include <float.h>
 EOF
 ac_try="$ac_cpp conftest.$ac_ext >/dev/null 2>conftest.out"
-{ (eval echo configure:2130: \"$ac_try\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_try) 2>&5; }
+{ (eval echo configure:2225: \"$ac_try\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_try) 2>&5; }
 ac_err=`grep -v '^ *+' conftest.out | grep -v "^conftest.${ac_ext}\$"`
 if test -z "$ac_err"; then
   rm -rf conftest*
@@ -2145,7 +2238,7 @@ rm -f conftest*
 if test $ac_cv_header_stdc = yes; then
   # SunOS 4.x string.h does not declare mem*, contrary to ANSI.
 cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2147 "configure"
+#line 2242 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <string.h>
 EOF
@@ -2163,7 +2256,7 @@ fi
 if test $ac_cv_header_stdc = yes; then
   # ISC 2.0.2 stdlib.h does not declare free, contrary to ANSI.
 cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2165 "configure"
+#line 2260 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <stdlib.h>
 EOF
@@ -2184,7 +2277,7 @@ if test "$cross_compiling" = yes; then
   :
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2186 "configure"
+#line 2281 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <ctype.h>
 #define ISLOWER(c) ('a' <= (c) && (c) <= 'z')
@@ -2195,7 +2288,7 @@ if (XOR (islower (i), ISLOWER (i)) || toupper (i) != TOUPPER (i)) exit(2);
 exit (0); }
 
 EOF
-if { (eval echo configure:2197: \"$ac_link\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_link) 2>&5; } && test -s conftest${ac_exeext} && (./conftest; exit) 2>/dev/null
+if { (eval echo configure:2292: \"$ac_link\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_link) 2>&5; } && test -s conftest${ac_exeext} && (./conftest; exit) 2>/dev/null
 then
   :
 else
@@ -2219,12 +2312,12 @@ EOF
 fi
 
 echo $ac_n "checking for int8_t""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:2221: checking for int8_t" >&5
+echo "configure:2316: checking for int8_t" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_type_int8_t'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2226 "configure"
+#line 2321 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #if STDC_HEADERS
@@ -2252,12 +2345,12 @@ EOF
 fi
 
 echo $ac_n "checking for uint8_t""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:2254: checking for uint8_t" >&5
+echo "configure:2349: checking for uint8_t" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_type_uint8_t'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2259 "configure"
+#line 2354 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #if STDC_HEADERS
@@ -2285,12 +2378,12 @@ EOF
 fi
 
 echo $ac_n "checking for int16_t""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:2287: checking for int16_t" >&5
+echo "configure:2382: checking for int16_t" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_type_int16_t'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2292 "configure"
+#line 2387 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #if STDC_HEADERS
@@ -2318,12 +2411,12 @@ EOF
 fi
 
 echo $ac_n "checking for uint16_t""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:2320: checking for uint16_t" >&5
+echo "configure:2415: checking for uint16_t" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_type_uint16_t'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2325 "configure"
+#line 2420 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #if STDC_HEADERS
@@ -2351,12 +2444,12 @@ EOF
 fi
 
 echo $ac_n "checking for int32_t""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:2353: checking for int32_t" >&5
+echo "configure:2448: checking for int32_t" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_type_int32_t'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2358 "configure"
+#line 2453 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #if STDC_HEADERS
@@ -2384,12 +2477,12 @@ EOF
 fi
 
 echo $ac_n "checking for uint32_t""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:2386: checking for uint32_t" >&5
+echo "configure:2481: checking for uint32_t" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_type_uint32_t'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2391 "configure"
+#line 2486 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #if STDC_HEADERS
@@ -2417,12 +2510,12 @@ EOF
 fi
 
 echo $ac_n "checking for bool_t""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:2419: checking for bool_t" >&5
+echo "configure:2514: checking for bool_t" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ac_cv_type_bool_t'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 2424 "configure"
+#line 2519 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #if STDC_HEADERS
@@ -2769,7 +2862,7 @@ ac_given_srcdir=$srcdir
 ac_given_INSTALL="$INSTALL"
 
 trap 'rm -fr `echo "Makefile \
-		common/Makefile common/unicode/platform.h config/Makefile i18n/Makefile \
+		common/Makefile config/Makefile i18n/Makefile \
 		extra/Makefile extra/ustdio/Makefile \
 		tools/Makefile tools/ctestfw/Makefile tools/makeconv/Makefile \
 		tools/genrb/Makefile tools/gencol/Makefile \
@@ -2778,7 +2871,8 @@ trap 'rm -fr `echo "Makefile \
 		test/Makefile test/intltest/Makefile test/cintltst/Makefile \
 		test/ieeetest/Makefile \
 		samples/Makefile samples/date/Makefile samples/cal/Makefile \
-		samples/XMLConverter/Makefile common/icucfg.h" | sed "s/:[^ ]*//g"` conftest*; exit 1' 1 2 15
+		samples/XMLConverter/Makefile \
+		common/unicode/platform.h common/icucfg.h" | sed "s/:[^ ]*//g"` conftest*; exit 1' 1 2 15
 EOF
 cat >> $CONFIG_STATUS <<EOF
 
@@ -2835,6 +2929,8 @@ s%@HAVE_DLOPEN@%$HAVE_DLOPEN%g
 s%@CPP@%$CPP%g
 s%@HAVE_INTTYPES_H@%$HAVE_INTTYPES_H%g
 s%@U_IS_BIG_ENDIAN@%$U_IS_BIG_ENDIAN%g
+s%@U_HAVE_WCHAR_H@%$U_HAVE_WCHAR_H%g
+s%@U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T@%$U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T%g
 s%@HAVE_INT8_T@%$HAVE_INT8_T%g
 s%@HAVE_UINT8_T@%$HAVE_UINT8_T%g
 s%@HAVE_INT16_T@%$HAVE_INT16_T%g
@@ -2898,7 +2994,7 @@ EOF
 cat >> $CONFIG_STATUS <<EOF
 
 CONFIG_FILES=\${CONFIG_FILES-"Makefile \
-		common/Makefile common/unicode/platform.h config/Makefile i18n/Makefile \
+		common/Makefile config/Makefile i18n/Makefile \
 		extra/Makefile extra/ustdio/Makefile \
 		tools/Makefile tools/ctestfw/Makefile tools/makeconv/Makefile \
 		tools/genrb/Makefile tools/gencol/Makefile \
@@ -2907,7 +3003,8 @@ CONFIG_FILES=\${CONFIG_FILES-"Makefile \
 		test/Makefile test/intltest/Makefile test/cintltst/Makefile \
 		test/ieeetest/Makefile \
 		samples/Makefile samples/date/Makefile samples/cal/Makefile \
-		samples/XMLConverter/Makefile"}
+		samples/XMLConverter/Makefile \
+		common/unicode/platform.h"}
 EOF
 cat >> $CONFIG_STATUS <<\EOF
 for ac_file in .. $CONFIG_FILES; do if test "x$ac_file" != x..; then
diff --git a/icu4c/source/configure.in b/icu4c/source/configure.in
index cde7e243a32..ceaff95d39e 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/configure.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/configure.in
@@ -191,6 +191,57 @@ U_IS_BIG_ENDIAN=1
 fi
 AC_SUBST(U_IS_BIG_ENDIAN)
 
+dnl Define a sizeof checking macro that is a bit better than autoconf's
+dnl builtin (and heavily based on it, of course). The new macro is
+dnl AC_DO_CHECK_SIZEOF(TYPE [, CROSS_SIZE [, INCLUDES])
+AC_DEFUN(AC_DO_CHECK_SIZEOF,
+[changequote(<<, >>)dnl
+dnl The name to #define.
+define(<<AC_TYPE_NAME>>, translit(sizeof_$1, [a-z *], [A-Z_P]))dnl
+dnl The cache variable name.
+define(<<AC_CV_NAME>>, translit(ac_cv_sizeof_$1, [ *], [_p]))dnl
+changequote([, ])dnl
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(size of $1)
+AC_CACHE_VAL(AC_CV_NAME,
+[AC_TRY_RUN($3
+[#include <stdio.h>
+main()
+{
+  FILE *f=fopen("conftestval", "w");
+  if (!f) exit(1);
+  fprintf(f, "%d\n", sizeof($1));
+  exit(0);
+}], AC_CV_NAME=`cat conftestval`, AC_CV_NAME=0, ifelse([$2], , , AC_CV_NAME=$2))])dnl
+AC_MSG_RESULT($AC_CV_NAME)
+AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(AC_TYPE_NAME, $AC_CV_NAME)
+undefine([AC_TYPE_NAME])dnl
+undefine([AC_CV_NAME])dnl
+])
+
+dnl Do various wchar_t related checks
+AC_CHECK_HEADER(wchar.h)
+if test "$ac_cv_header_wchar_h" = no
+then
+    U_HAVE_WCHAR_H=0
+else
+    AC_DEFINE(HAVE_WCHAR_H)
+    U_HAVE_WCHAR_H=1
+fi
+AC_SUBST(U_HAVE_WCHAR_H)
+
+ac_default_sizeof_wchar_t=4
+AC_DO_CHECK_SIZEOF(wchar_t,$ac_default_sizeof_wchar_t,[
+#if STDC_HEADERS
+#include <stddef.h>
+#endif
+#if HAVE_WCHAR_H
+#include <wchar.h>
+#endif])
+dnl We could set ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t to the default if the check returned
+dnl 0 (unknown) but we'd rather do it in the headers, so we know we had no
+dnl clue at configure time.
+U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T=$ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t
+AC_SUBST(U_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T)
 
 dnl Checks for typedefs
 AC_CHECK_TYPE(int8_t,signed char)
@@ -385,7 +436,7 @@ fi
 
 dnl output the Makefiles
 AC_OUTPUT([Makefile \
-		common/Makefile common/unicode/platform.h config/Makefile i18n/Makefile \
+		common/Makefile config/Makefile i18n/Makefile \
 		extra/Makefile extra/ustdio/Makefile \
 		tools/Makefile tools/ctestfw/Makefile tools/makeconv/Makefile \
 		tools/genrb/Makefile tools/gencol/Makefile \
@@ -394,7 +445,8 @@ AC_OUTPUT([Makefile \
 		test/Makefile test/intltest/Makefile test/cintltst/Makefile \
 		test/ieeetest/Makefile \
 		samples/Makefile samples/date/Makefile samples/cal/Makefile \
-		samples/XMLConverter/Makefile])
+		samples/XMLConverter/Makefile \
+		common/unicode/platform.h])
 
 
 dnl create the data directory