The number of characters in a string:
use strict;
use warnings;
use 5.010;
my $hi = 'HeLlo';
my $hebrew = 'שלום';
my $arabic = 'سلام';
my $smiley = '😃';
say $hi;
say $hebrew;
say $arabic;
say $smiley;
say lc $hi;
say lc $hebrew;
say lc $arabic;
say lc $smiley;
See also the explanation in String functions: length, lc, uc, index, substr.