Source

File: wp-includes/wp-db.php

public function init_charset() {
		$charset = '';
		$collate = '';

		if ( function_exists( 'is_multisite' ) && is_multisite() ) {
			$charset = 'utf8';
			if ( defined( 'DB_COLLATE' ) && DB_COLLATE ) {
				$collate = DB_COLLATE;
			} else {
				$collate = 'utf8_general_ci';
			}
		} elseif ( defined( 'DB_COLLATE' ) ) {
			$collate = DB_COLLATE;
		}

		if ( defined( 'DB_CHARSET' ) ) {
			$charset = DB_CHARSET;
		}

		$charset_collate = $this->determine_charset( $charset, $collate );

		$this->charset = $charset_collate['charset'];
		$this->collate = $charset_collate['collate'];
	}