diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/brkiter.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/brkiter.cpp
index 8fc8086b2e0..d2713ac1e48 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/brkiter.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/brkiter.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 #include "unicode/brkiter.h"
 #include "unicode/udata.h"
 #include "unicode/resbund.h"
-
+#include "cstring.h"
 #include <string.h>
 
 // *****************************************************************************
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ BreakIterator::createWordInstance(const Locale& key, UErrorCode& status)
 
     UnicodeString temp;
     if (U_FAILURE(status)) return NULL;
-    if (key.getLanguage(temp) == UnicodeString("th", (char*)0)) {
+    if (!uprv_strcmp(key.getLanguage(), "th"))
+    {
         filename = "word_th";
     }
 
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ BreakIterator::createWordInstance(const Locale& key, UErrorCode& status)
         const void* image = udata_getMemory(file);
 
         if (image != NULL) {
-            if (key.getLanguage(temp) == UnicodeString("th", (char*)0)) {
+            if(!uprv_strcmp(filename, "word_th")) {
                 const char* dataDir = u_getDataDirectory();
                 filename = "thaidict.brk";
                 char* fullPath = new char[strlen(dataDir) + strlen(filename) + 1];
@@ -91,7 +92,8 @@ BreakIterator::createLineInstance(const Locale& key, UErrorCode& status)
 
     UnicodeString temp;
     if (U_FAILURE(status)) return NULL;
-    if (key.getLanguage(temp) == UnicodeString("th", (char*)0)) {
+    if (!uprv_strcmp(key.getLanguage(), "th"))
+    {
         filename = "line_th";
     }
 
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ BreakIterator::createLineInstance(const Locale& key, UErrorCode& status)
         const void* image = udata_getMemory(file);
 
         if (image != NULL) {
-            if (key.getLanguage(temp) == UnicodeString("th", (char*)0)) {
+          if (!uprv_strcmp(key.getLanguage(), "th")) {
                 const char* dataDir = u_getDataDirectory();
                 filename = "thaidict.brk";
                 char* fullPath = new char[strlen(dataDir) + strlen(filename) + 1];
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/calendar.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/calendar.cpp
index a916630897a..e9f5eb607b6 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/calendar.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/calendar.cpp
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ Calendar::setWeekCountData(const Locale& desiredLocale, UErrorCode& status)
     int32_t count;
 
     if (U_FAILURE(status)) return;
-    ResourceBundle resource(Locale::getDataDirectory(), desiredLocale, status);
+    ResourceBundle resource(u_getDataDirectory(), desiredLocale, status);
 
     // If the resource data doesn't seem to be present at all, then use last-resort
     // hard-coded data.
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/datefmt.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/datefmt.cpp
index 2fb6443d31a..3ceae9b218a 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/datefmt.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/datefmt.cpp
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ DateFormat::getAvailableLocales(int32_t& count)
         for (i=0; i<localesCount; ++i)
         {
             UErrorCode status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
-            ResourceBundle resource(Locale::getDataDirectory(), locales[i], status);
+            ResourceBundle resource(u_getDataDirectory(), locales[i], status);
             int32_t ignoredCount;
             resource.getStringArray(SimpleDateFormat::fgDateTimePatternsTag, ignoredCount, status);
             if (U_SUCCESS(status))
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/dcfmtsym.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/dcfmtsym.cpp
index f259785fcb9..a22ebc75a94 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/dcfmtsym.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/dcfmtsym.cpp
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ DecimalFormatSymbols::initialize(const Locale& locale, UErrorCode& status,
 {
     if (U_FAILURE(status)) return;
 
-    ResourceBundle resource(Locale::getDataDirectory(), locale, status);
+    ResourceBundle resource(u_getDataDirectory(), locale, status);
     if (U_FAILURE(status))
     {
         // Initializes with last resort data if necessary.
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/decimfmt.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/decimfmt.cpp
index 0c570d1db94..b445b9278a0 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/decimfmt.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/decimfmt.cpp
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ DecimalFormat::construct(UErrorCode&             status,
     // one specified.
     if (pattern == NULL)
     {
-        ResourceBundle resource(Locale::getDataDirectory(), Locale::getDefault(), status);
+        ResourceBundle resource(u_getDataDirectory(), Locale::getDefault(), status);
         resource.getArrayItem(fgNumberPatterns, 0, str, status);
         pattern = &str;
     }
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/dtfmtsym.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/dtfmtsym.cpp
index 3f2483b8f98..87c3b37c665 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/dtfmtsym.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/dtfmtsym.cpp
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ DateFormatSymbols::initializeData(const Locale& locale, UErrorCode& status, bool
      * We cast away const here, but that's okay; we won't delete any of
      * these.
      */
-    ResourceBundle resource(Locale::getDataDirectory(), locale, status);
+    ResourceBundle resource(u_getDataDirectory(), locale, status);
     if (U_FAILURE(status))
     {
         if (useLastResortData)
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/numfmt.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/numfmt.cpp
index c8422116941..52003c6bc9b 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/numfmt.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/numfmt.cpp
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ NumberFormat::createInstance(const Locale& desiredLocale,
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    ResourceBundle resource(Locale::getDataDirectory(), desiredLocale, status);
+    ResourceBundle resource(u_getDataDirectory(), desiredLocale, status);
     if (U_FAILURE(status))
     {
         // We don't appear to have resource data available -- use the last-resort data
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/smpdtfmt.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/smpdtfmt.cpp
index d440594b347..58ce055c357 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/smpdtfmt.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/smpdtfmt.cpp
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ void SimpleDateFormat::construct(EStyle timeStyle,
 
     // load up the DateTimePatters resource from the appropriate locale (throw
     // an error if for some weird reason the resource is malformed)
-    ResourceBundle resources(Locale::getDataDirectory(), locale, status);
+    ResourceBundle resources(u_getDataDirectory(), locale, status);
     int32_t dtCount;
     const UnicodeString *dateTimePatterns = resources.getStringArray(fgDateTimePatternsTag, dtCount, status);
     if (U_FAILURE(status)) return;
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/tblcoll.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/tblcoll.cpp
index abfa504bf05..68e5a109c88 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/tblcoll.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/tblcoll.cpp
@@ -792,8 +792,7 @@ RuleBasedCollator::RuleBasedCollator(   const Locale& desiredLocale,
   //  language
   // Root: (aka DEFAULTRULES)
 
-  UnicodeString localeName;
-  desiredLocale.getName(localeName);
+  UnicodeString localeName(desiredLocale.getName(), "");
   enum { eTryDefaultLocale, eTryDefaultCollation, eDone } next = eTryDefaultLocale;
     
   for (;;)
@@ -823,7 +822,7 @@ RuleBasedCollator::RuleBasedCollator(   const Locale& desiredLocale,
 	  // srl write out default.col
 	  {
 	    UnicodeString defLocaleName = UnicodeString(ResourceBundle::kDefaultFilename,""); 
-	    char *binaryFilePath = createPathName(UnicodeString(Locale::getDataDirectory(),""), 
+	    char *binaryFilePath = createPathName(UnicodeString(u_getDataDirectory(),""), 
 						  defLocaleName, UnicodeString(kFilenameSuffix,""));
 	    bool_t ok = writeToFile(binaryFilePath);
 	    delete [] binaryFilePath;
@@ -833,7 +832,7 @@ RuleBasedCollator::RuleBasedCollator(   const Locale& desiredLocale,
 	  }
 
           data->desiredLocale = desiredLocale;
-          desiredLocale.getName(localeName);
+          localeName = desiredLocale.getName();
           data->realLocaleName = localeName;
           addToCache(localeName);
 
@@ -849,7 +848,7 @@ RuleBasedCollator::RuleBasedCollator(   const Locale& desiredLocale,
             {
             case eTryDefaultLocale:
           status = U_USING_DEFAULT_ERROR;
-          Locale::getDefault().getName(localeName);
+          localeName = Locale::getDefault().getName();
           next = eTryDefaultCollation;
           break;
 
@@ -945,7 +944,7 @@ RuleBasedCollator::constructFromFile(   const Locale&           locale,
     data = 0;
   }
   
-  char *binaryFilePath = createPathName(UnicodeString(Locale::getDataDirectory(),""), 
+  char *binaryFilePath = createPathName(UnicodeString(u_getDataDirectory(),""), 
 					localeFileName, UnicodeString(kFilenameSuffix,""));
   
   if(tryBinaryFile) {
@@ -962,10 +961,16 @@ RuleBasedCollator::constructFromFile(   const Locale&           locale,
     }
 
   // Now try to load it up from a resource bundle text source file
-  UnicodeString dataDir = UnicodeString(Locale::getDataDirectory(),"");
+  UnicodeString dataDir = UnicodeString(u_getDataDirectory(),"");
 
-  ResourceBundle bundle(dataDir, localeFileName, status);
+    char *ch;
+    ch = new char[localeFileName.size() + 1];
+    ch[localeFileName.extract(0, 0x7fffffff, ch, "")] = 0;
 
+    ResourceBundle bundle(dataDir, ch, status);
+  
+    delete [] ch;
+  
   // if there is no resource bundle file for the give locale, break out
   if(U_FAILURE(status))
   {
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/translit.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/translit.cpp
index cd52f3ba28a..9cf92c22f65 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/translit.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/translit.cpp
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ UnicodeString& Transliterator::getDisplayName(const UnicodeString& ID,
                                               const Locale& inLocale,
                                               UnicodeString& result) {
     UErrorCode status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
-    ResourceBundle bundle(Locale::getDataDirectory(), inLocale, status);
+    ResourceBundle bundle(u_getDataDirectory(), inLocale, status);
     // Suspend checking status until later...
 
     // build the char* key
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ const char* Transliterator::RESOURCE_SUB_DIR = "translit";
 /**
  * Returns the directory in which the transliterator resource bundle
  * files are located.  This is a subdirectory, named RESOURCE_SUB_DIR,
- * under Locale::getDataDirectory().  It ends in a path separator.
+ * under u_getDataDirectory().  It ends in a path separator.
  */
 const char* Transliterator::getDataDirectory(void) {
     if (DATA_DIR == 0) {
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ const char* Transliterator::getDataDirectory(void) {
             /* Construct the transliterator data directory path.  This
              * is a subdirectory of the locale data directory.
              */
-            const char* data = Locale::getDataDirectory();
+            const char* data = u_getDataDirectory();
             int32_t len = uprv_strlen(data);
             DATA_DIR = (char*) uprv_malloc(
                                  len + uprv_strlen(RESOURCE_SUB_DIR) + 2);
@@ -642,7 +642,11 @@ Transliterator* Transliterator::_createInstance(const UnicodeString& ID,
         // 2-d array at static init time, as a locale language.  We're
         // just using the locale mechanism to map through to a file
         // name; this in no way represents an actual locale.
-        Locale fakeLocale(entry->rbFile);
+        char *ch;
+        ch = new char[entry->rbFile.size() + 1];
+        ch[entry->rbFile.extract(0, 0x7fffffff, ch, "")] = 0;
+        Locale fakeLocale(ch);
+        delete [] ch;
 
         ResourceBundle bundle(Transliterator::getDataDirectory(),
                               fakeLocale, status);
@@ -864,7 +868,7 @@ void Transliterator::initializeCache(void) {
      * }
      */
 
-    Locale indexLoc(UNICODE_STRING("index", 5));
+    Locale indexLoc("index");
     ResourceBundle bundle(Transliterator::getDataDirectory(),
                           indexLoc, status);
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/ubrk.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/ubrk.cpp
index 88df6ce9080..078bf90efbe 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/ubrk.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/ubrk.cpp
@@ -26,19 +26,19 @@ ubrk_open(UBreakIteratorType type,
   switch(type) {
 
   case UBRK_CHARACTER:
-    result = BreakIterator::createCharacterInstance(Locale().init(locale), *status);
+    result = BreakIterator::createCharacterInstance(Locale(locale), *status);
     break;
 
   case UBRK_WORD:
-    result = BreakIterator::createWordInstance(Locale().init(locale), *status);
+    result = BreakIterator::createWordInstance(Locale(locale), *status);
     break;
 
   case UBRK_LINE:
-    result = BreakIterator::createLineInstance(Locale().init(locale), *status);
+    result = BreakIterator::createLineInstance(Locale(locale), *status);
     break;
 
   case UBRK_SENTENCE:
-    result = BreakIterator::createSentenceInstance(Locale().init(locale), *status);
+    result = BreakIterator::createSentenceInstance(Locale(locale), *status);
     break;
   }
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/ucal.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/ucal.cpp
index cc799eeb9b8..e100d2c30c9 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/ucal.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/ucal.cpp
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ ucal_open(    const    UChar*          zoneID,
     return 0;
   }
   
-  return (UCalendar*)Calendar::createInstance(zone, Locale().init(locale), *status);
+  return (UCalendar*)Calendar::createInstance(zone, Locale(locale), *status);
 }
 
 U_CAPI void
@@ -138,19 +138,19 @@ ucal_getTimeZoneDisplayName(    const     UCalendar*                 cal,
 
   switch(type) {
   case UCAL_STANDARD:
-    tz.getDisplayName(FALSE, TimeZone::LONG, Locale().init(locale), id);
+    tz.getDisplayName(FALSE, TimeZone::LONG, Locale(locale), id);
     break;
 
   case UCAL_SHORT_STANDARD:
-    tz.getDisplayName(FALSE, TimeZone::SHORT, Locale().init(locale), id);
+    tz.getDisplayName(FALSE, TimeZone::SHORT, Locale(locale), id);
     break;
 
   case UCAL_DST:
-    tz.getDisplayName(TRUE, TimeZone::LONG, Locale().init(locale), id);
+    tz.getDisplayName(TRUE, TimeZone::LONG, Locale(locale), id);
     break;
 
   case UCAL_SHORT_DST:
-    tz.getDisplayName(TRUE, TimeZone::SHORT, Locale().init(locale), id);
+    tz.getDisplayName(TRUE, TimeZone::SHORT, Locale(locale), id);
     break;
   }
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/ucol.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/ucol.cpp
index c321fe393c3..674757b3ff1 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/ucol.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/ucol.cpp
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ ucol_open(    const    char         *loc,
   if(loc == 0) 
     col = Collator::createInstance(*status);
   else
-    col = Collator::createInstance(Locale().init(loc), *status);
+    col = Collator::createInstance(Locale(loc), *status);
 
   if(col == 0) {
     *status = U_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ ucol_getDisplayName(    const    char        *objLoc,
   if(U_FAILURE(*status)) return -1;
 
   UnicodeString dst(result, resultLength, resultLength);
-  Collator::getDisplayName(Locale().init(objLoc), Locale().init(dispLoc), dst);
+  Collator::getDisplayName(Locale(objLoc), Locale(dispLoc), dst);
   int32_t actLen;
   T_fillOutputParams(&dst, result, resultLength, &actLen, status);
   return actLen;
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/udat.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/udat.cpp
index 1eb90d631c8..cbd5062c065 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/udat.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/udat.cpp
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ udat_open(            UDateFormatStyle        timeStyle,
   else
     fmt = DateFormat::createDateTimeInstance((DateFormat::EStyle)dateStyle,
                          (DateFormat::EStyle)timeStyle,
-                         Locale().init(locale));
+                                             Locale(locale));
   
   if(fmt == 0) {
     *status = U_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ udat_openPattern(    const   UChar           *pattern,
   else
     retVal = (UDateFormat*)new SimpleDateFormat(UnicodeString((UChar*)pattern,
                                   len, len),
-                        Locale().init(locale),
+                        Locale(locale),
                         *status);
 
   if(retVal == 0) {
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/umsg.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/umsg.cpp
index bf38d5f0d11..dba2a994f79 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/umsg.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/umsg.cpp
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ u_vformatMessage(    const    char        *locale,
 
   // just call through to the C++ implementation
   UnicodeString patString((UChar*)pattern, patLen, patLen);
-  MessageFormat fmt(patString, Locale().init(locale), *status);
+  MessageFormat fmt(patString, Locale(locale), *status);
   UnicodeString res(result, 0, resultLength);
   FieldPosition fp;
   fmt.format(args, count, res, fp, *status);
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ u_vparseMessage(    const    char        *locale,
   int32_t srcLen = (sourceLength == -1 ? u_strlen(source) : sourceLength);
   
   UnicodeString patString((UChar*)pattern, patLen, patLen);
-  MessageFormat fmt(patString, Locale().init(locale), *status);
+  MessageFormat fmt(patString, Locale(locale), *status);
   UnicodeString srcString((UChar*)source, srcLen, srcLen);
   int32_t count = 0;
   Formattable *args = fmt.parse(srcString, count, *status);
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unum.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/unum.cpp
index 1111252acee..1b9c4897ce7 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unum.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unum.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ unum_open(    UNumberFormatStyle    style,
     if(locale == 0)
       retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createInstance(*status);
     else
-      retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createInstance(Locale().init(locale),
+      retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createInstance(Locale(locale),
                                 *status);
     break;
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ unum_open(    UNumberFormatStyle    style,
     if(locale == 0)
       retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createCurrencyInstance(*status);
     else
-      retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createCurrencyInstance(Locale().init(locale),
+      retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createCurrencyInstance(Locale(locale),
                                     *status);
     break;
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ unum_open(    UNumberFormatStyle    style,
     if(locale == 0)
       retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createPercentInstance(*status);
     else
-      retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createPercentInstance(Locale().init(locale),
+      retVal = (UNumberFormat*)NumberFormat::createPercentInstance(Locale(locale),
                                 *status);
     break;
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ unum_openPattern(    const    UChar*            pattern,
   if(locale == 0)
     syms = new DecimalFormatSymbols(*status);
   else
-    syms = new DecimalFormatSymbols(Locale().init(locale),
+    syms = new DecimalFormatSymbols(Locale(locale),
                     *status);
   
   if(syms == 0) {