Why is "internationalization" shortened to "i18n"?

Question

When people discuss about internationalization, they use the word "i18n" more often. For first time I didn't get what they are referring to by "i18n", then I came to know that it means "internationalization".

So wanted to know why internationalization = i18n.

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalization_and_localization

18 stands for the number of letters between the first i and last n in internationalization, a usage coined at DEC in the 1970s or 80s

Answer 2

.

            1    1  1    1---5----0----5--8  i|nternationalizatio|n  == i18n              1    1---5----0  l|ocalizatio|n          == l10n 

See also http://www.w3.org/2001/12/Glossary#I18N.