# What's the year in your countries?



## Pivra

In Thailand its year 2549 right now, we count it from the death of the Buddha in Kusinara, Mala kingdom 2549 years ago. 


ps. I wonder if other hardcore Theravada countries for eg. Sri Lanka might do the same.


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## Gargoyle

In Spain we are in the year 2006.
What an interesting question!


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## GenJen54

Hi Pivra, 

Instead of "What is the year in your country," we might ask "What is the year in your Religion," as most of secular society follows the standard Gregorian calendar.

To my knowledge, it is only followers of different religious beliefs who follow calendars separate and apart from the Gregorian calendar.


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## vince

Pivra said:
			
		

> In Thailand its year 2549 right now, we count it from the death of the Buddha in Kusinara, Mala kingdom 2549 years ago.
> 
> 
> ps. I wonder if other hardcore Theravada countries for eg. Sri Lanka might do the same.



Do Muslims in Thailand also use the same calendar? i.e. is this a government-legislated calendar to be used in all of Thailand?


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## Mery_Dian

In Morocco, we are in the year 2006!  We actually use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes, but we turn to the "Islamic calendar" for religious purposes like in most Muslim countries (except in countries around the Gulf, where The Islamic calendar is the official calendar, especially in Saudi Arabia).

Noteworthy, the Islamic calendar/ Hijri calendar (Arabic التقويم الهجري) is a lunar calendar with 12 lunar months in a year of about 354 days. It is called the "Hijri calendar" because we count it from the year in which the Hijra occurred (Hijra in Arabic refers to Prophet Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina). 

So according to the Islamic calendar, today is Wednesday 16 Jumaada al-Thaany 1427 A.H. (initials of the Latin anno Hegirae = in the year of the Hijra).

There also exists in Morocco (as well as in other North African countries) the "Amazigh* calendar" which is hardly used presently in some Amazigh spheres.

In fact, the Amazigh calendar is based on the Roman solar year, and commemorates the first mention in historical records of the Amazigh people, referring specifically to an Egyptian pharoah from the Imazighen. 

Thus, we are in the year 2956 according to the Amazigh calendar.


* Amazigh (plural Imazighen): refers to the autochtone population of North Africa whose native language is Tamazight.


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## ireney

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> Hi Pivra,
> 
> Instead of "What is the year in your country," we might ask "What is the year in your Religion," as most of secular society follows the standard Gregorian calendar.
> 
> To my knowledge, it is only followers of different religious beliefs who follow calendars separate and apart from the Gregorian calendar.



Not _exactly_ true. While in all predominantly Christian countries the year is 2006, some of these countries still follow the  Julian  calendar.


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## Chazzwozzer

In Turkey, we follow Gregorian calendar, as well.

Oh, and I found something you might be interested:

 The following list contains the dates for changes in a number of countries. It is very strange that in many cases there seems to be some doubt among authorities about what the correct days are. Different sources give very different dates in some cases. The list below does not include all the different opinions about when the change took place.  

*When did country X change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar?*



*Albania:*December 1912    
*Austria:*Different regions on different dates 
Brixen, Salzburg and Tyrol: 
        5 Oct 1583 was followed by 16 Oct 1583 
Carinthia and Styria: 
        14 Dec 1583 was followed by 25 Dec 1583 
See also Czechoslovakia and Hungary    
*Belgium:*See the Netherlands    
*Bulgaria:*31 Mar 1916 was followed by 14 Apr 1916    
*Canada:*Different areas changed at different times. 
Newfoundland and Hudson Bay coast: 
        2 Sep 1752 was followed by 14 Sep 1752 
Mainland Nova Scotia: 
        Gregorian 1605 - 13 Oct 1710 
        Julian 2 Oct 1710 - 2 Sep 1752 
        Gregorian since 14 Sep 1752 
Rest of Canada: 
        Gregorian from first European settlement    
*China:*The Gregorian calendar replaced the Chinese calendar                 in 1912, but the Gregorian calendar was not used                 throughout the country until the communist revolution                 of 1949.    
*Czechoslovakia (i.e. Bohemia and Moravia):* 
6 Jan 1584 was followed by 17 Jan 1584    
*Denmark (including Norway):* 
18 Feb 1700 was followed by 1 Mar 1700    
*Egypt:*1875    
*Estonia:*31 Jan 1918 was followed by 14 Feb 1918    
*Finland:*Then part of Sweden. (Note, however, that Finland later                 became part of Russia, which then still used the                 Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar remained                 official in Finland, but some use of the Julian                  calendar was made.)    
*France:*9 Dec 1582 was followed by 20 Dec 1582 
Alsace: 5 Feb 1682 was followed by 16 Feb 1682 
Lorraine: 16 Feb 1760 was followed by 28 Feb 1760 
Strasbourg: February 1682    
*Germany:*Different states on different dates: 
Catholic states on various dates in 1583-1585 
Prussia: 22 Aug 1610 was followed by 2 Sep 1610 
Protestant states: 18 Feb 1700 was followed by 1 Mar 1700 
                (Many local variations)    
*Great Britain and colonies:* 
2 Sep 1752 was followed by 14 Sep 1752    
*Greece:*[9 Mar 1924 was followed by 23 Mar 1924 
                (Some sources say 1916 and 1920)]    
*Hungary:*21 Oct 1587 was followed by 1 Nov 1587    
*Ireland:*As Great Britain    
*Italy:*4 Oct 1582 was followed by 15 Oct 1582    
*Japan:*The Gregorian calendar was introduced to supplement the                 traditional Japanese calendar on 1 Jan 1873.    
*Latvia:*During German occupation 1915 to 1918    
*Lithuania:*1915    
*Luxemburg:*14 Dec 1582 was followed by 25 Dec 1582    
*Netherlands (including Belgium):* 
Zeeland, Brabrant, and the ``Staten Generaal'': 
        14 Dec 1582 was followed by 25 Dec 1582 
Holland: 
        1 Jan 1583 was followed by 12 Jan 1583 
Limburg and the southern provinces (currently Belgium): 
          20 Dec 1582 was followed by 31 Dec 1582 
        or 
          21 Dec 1582 was followed by 1 Jan 1583 
Groningen: 
        10 Feb 1583 was followed by 21 Feb 1583 
        Went back to Julian in the summer of 1594 
        31 Dec 1700 was followed by 12 Jan 1701 
Gelderland: 
        30 Jun 1700 was followed by 12 Jul 1700 
Utrecht and Overijssel: 
        30 Nov 1700 was followed by 12 Dec 1700 
Friesland: 
        31 Dec 1700 was followed by 12 Jan 1701 
Drenthe: 
        30 Apr 1701 was followed by 12 May 1701    
*Norway:*Then part of Denmark.    
*Poland:*4 Oct 1582 was followed by 15 Oct 1582    
*Portugal:*4 Oct 1582 was followed by 15 Oct 1582    
*Romania:*31 Mar 1919 was followed by 14 Apr 1919 
                [The Greek Orthodox parts of the country may have                 changed later.]    
*Russia:*31 Jan 1918 was followed by 14 Feb 1918 
                [In the eastern parts of the country the change may                 not have occurred until 1920.]    
*Scotland:*See Great Britain    
*Spain:*4 Oct 1582 was followed by 15 Oct 1582    
*Sweden (including Finland):* 
17 Feb 1753 was followed by 1 Mar 1753 (see note below)    
*Switzerland:* 
Catholic cantons: 1583, 1584 or 1597 
Protestant cantons: 
        31 Dec 1700 was followed by 12 Jan 1701 
        (Many local variations)    
*Turkey:*Gregorian calendar introduced 1 Jan 1927    
*USA:*Different areas changed at different times. 
Along the Eastern seaboard: With Great Britain in 1752. 
Mississippi valley: With France in 1582. 
Texas, Florida, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico:           With Spain in 1582 
Washington, Oregon: With Britain in 1752. 
Alaska: October 1867 when Alaska became part of the USA.    
*Wales:*See Great Britain    
*Yugoslavia:*1919

Sweden has a curious history. Sweden decided to make a gradual change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. By dropping every leap year from 1700 through 1740 the eleven superfluous days would be omitted and from 1 Mar 1740 they would be in sync with the Gregorian calendar. (But in the meantime they would be in sync with nobody!)  
 So 1700 (which should have been a leap year in the Julian calendar) was not a leap year in Sweden. However, by mistake 1704 and 1708 became leap years. This left Sweden out of synchronisation with both the Julian and the Gregorian world, so they decided to go _back_ to the Julian calendar. In order to do this, they inserted an extra day in 1712, making that year a double leap year! So in 1712, February had 30 days in Sweden.  
 Later, in 1753, Sweden changed to the Gregorian calendar by dropping 11 days like everyone else.


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## GenJen54

ireney said:
			
		

> While in all predominantly Christian countries the year is 2006, some of these countries still follow the  Julian  calendar.



Ireney, 

Please note where I said *most of* in my original post.  I never claimed that *all *countries use the Gregorian calendar.


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## ireney

Gen I was referring to the part of your message in which you stated that, to your knowledge, only followers of different religions used calendars other than the Gregorian and that is why I actually referred only to countries that are predominantly Christian (their population I meant).

If I misunderstood what 





> To my knowledge, it is only followers of different religious beliefs who follow calendars separate and apart from the Gregorian calendar.


 means I apologise.


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## Gato_Gordo

We are in the year *ChicomeTochtli* in the Aztec calendar 

In english that is the year *seven-rabbit.*  I hope it is a double lucky year ^_^


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## Brioche

ireney said:
			
		

> Not _exactly_ true. While in all predominantly Christian countries the year is 2006, some of these countries still follow the Julian calendar.


 
Which countries still use the Julian calendar as the official civil (not religious) calendar?


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## panjabigator

I believe the year is 2006 in India, but we have two calanders in use in addition to the Gregorian (western)...one based on the Solar Calandar (Hindu's and Sikhs) and one on the lunar calandar (Muslims).


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## Pivra

vince said:
			
		

> Do Muslims in Thailand also use the same calendar? i.e. is this a government-legislated calendar to be used in all of Thailand?


 
 Yes, it is. Even in the Muslim predominated provinces, but to them its almost like saying the year using AD in Thai. They only use our era when it's needed. They use the Muslim calender


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## panjabigator

How about the Hindu calendar?  Is that recognized in Thailand with the Hindu minority?


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## mytwolangs

Gargoyle said:
			
		

> In Spain we are in the year 2006.
> What an interesting question!


 
Well it would seem a silly Question, but yeah in some countries it is not 2006. (You would think it would be an internationaly standard)

The first time I learned of this was in our Y2K, year 2000. They thought the world was gonna end or something. They explained that it was not 2000 in other places..
Of course in the USA it is 2006.


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## Pivra

panjabigator said:
			
		

> How about the Hindu calendar? Is that recognized in Thailand with the Hindu minority?


 
I don't use it lol, don't even know what year it is in Hinduism, but our (Thais' religious months, for both Buddh and Hind) religious months use that calender with Aswini, Bhakhini, Kritika, Bharani, Visakha, Magha... etc etc

I forgot how to call it but its the 24 months one.

Hindus who practice Hinduism like in India only makes up less than 1% of the population, so, thats like nothing when compared to Buddhists or Islams in Thailand. The type of Hinduism practiced by the Thais is not very advanced (my family is secular, I can eat beef if I want,we pratice the Neo one), they still worship Indra, Varuna, etc etc etc.

BTW. In Thailand, Brahma is worshipped by almost everyone, regardless of their religions. HE IS EVERYWHERE, just like the King's pictures. (except the Christians and Muslims).

ps. I was shocked to know what Aum Aham Parahmah Asmi means when I learned Sanskrit, I felt like I was blaspheming for a while lol. But lots of people still say it. 

I wonder why don't they use ParahmaDASah instead of just using the Lord's name by itself.


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## french4beth

Just out of curiosity - from our Jewish forum members, how much of your daily life is affected by the Hebrew calendars, other than the obvious religious celebrations?  Does anyone know if the calendar has a huge impact on daily life in Israel or in other Jewish communities?


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## amikama

*2006* and *התשס"ו* (or 5766) in Israel. The first in the Civil (Gregorian) Calendar, the latter in the Hebrew Calendar (counting the years since the creation of the world, according to the Jewish belief). 



			
				french4beth said:
			
		

> Just out of curiosity - from our Jewish forum members, how much of your daily life is affected by the Hebrew calendars, other than the obvious religious celebrations? Does anyone know if the calendar has a huge impact on daily life in Israel or in other Jewish communities?


It depends on how religious are you. The secular (non-religious) Jews use mainly the Civil Calendar for their daily life. Beside the Jewish holidays, the Hebrew Calendar has little (if any at all) effect on their life. Some of them don't even know the exact Hebrew date of today (which is 17 Tamuz - I've just found it out after consulting my diary ). 
I don't know exactly what happens on the other side of the scale, but I assume that the Ultra-Orthodox Jews use the Hebrew Calendar (almost?) exclusively.


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## ireney

Brioche said:
			
		

> Which countries still use the Julian calendar as the official civil (not religious) calendar?




Hmm I think both Ukraine and Ethiopia still use it.


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## Pivra

What is the year in Hinduism right now? (I'm lost)


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## maxiogee

Pivra said:
			
		

> What is the year in Hinduism right now? (I'm lost)



In that case, Pivra, you need a compass and not a calendar!


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## natasha2000

ireney said:
			
		

> Not _exactly_ true. While in all predominantly Christian countries the year is 2006, some of these countries still follow the Julian calendar.


 
Not exactly true. You should be more precise, my dear ortodox friend..

Officially, all the world follows the Gregorian callendar. Bur religious holidays, in the world of the most of ortodox countries is ruled by Julian calendar. Therefore, we have for example, The Christmas Eve on 6th January and the Christmas on 7th January instead of 24th and 25th as it is in the rest of Christian world...


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## ireney

Natasha I was not referring to countries such as Serbia who use the Julian Calendar for their religious holidays (see post #19).


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## natasha2000

ireney said:
			
		

> Natasha I was not referring to countries such as Serbia who use the Julian Calendar for their religious holidays (see post #19).


 
Ups! Sorry. I guess I should have read all the posts.


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## Pivra

So, in Ukraine and Ethiopia do they have the same Christmas as we do?


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## natasha2000

Pivra said:
			
		

> So, in Ukraine and Ethiopia do they have the same Christmas as we do?


 

Obviously, not. They have the Christmas on the same day as other ortodox countries that still follow Julian calendar in their religious holidays. The Christmas is on 7th January og Gregorian calendar,.


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## Pivra

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> Obviously, not. They have the Christmas on the same day as other ortodox countries that still follow Julian calendar in their religious holidays. The Christmas is on 7th January og Gregorian calendar,.


 
 Is it the same for Easter?


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## panjabigator

So does this different Christmas day have anything to do with Hispanic culture and the 3 kings day that falls around the same time?  

Im not too familiar with Christmas...


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## natasha2000

Pivra said:
			
		

> Is it the same for Easter?


 
Yep.


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## natasha2000

panjabigator said:
			
		

> So does this different Christmas day have anything to do with Hispanic culture and the 3 kings day that falls around the same time?
> 
> Im not too familiar with Christmas...


 
No. At least not in Serbia. I wouldn't know for other countries. 
We do not have three kings, nor anything like the Spanish Day of the Kings. For Christmas, we used to get visited by St. Nicolas, but it was many years ago. Now St. Nicolas got retired and Santa Claus is who comes with presents.

Apart from that, we also hace a Christmas tree, the story about Christs birth etc.. All that usual Christmas stuff...


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## maxiogee

Pivra said:
			
		

> Is it the same for Easter?



Oooh don't get into the calculation of Easter! That's a convoluted and tortuous discussion. 

From this wikipedia page

The canonical rule is that Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the 14th day of the lunar month (the nominal full moon) that falls on or after 21 March (nominally the day of the vernal equinox). For determining the feast, Christian churches settled on a method to define a reckoned "ecclesiastic" Moon, rather than observations of the true Moon as the Jews did.

That page will also tell you about the differences in establishing Easter in the Gregorian and Julian (and even the Alexandrian) calendars. This, believe me, is very likely to be more information than you wish to know.


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## natasha2000

It is for sure, Tony, a lot more info than one would want, because it is a little bit complicated... 
All I know is that my Easter is sometimes before and sometimes after the Spanish Easter. This year was after.
Ant that is all I want to know...

Pivra, maybe you'll find intersting this. Look the posts 40, 45 and 47.


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## Confused Linguist

The Hindu Bengali New Year started on 15 April this year.

*Year 1413*

Boishakh - 31 days

Joishtho - 31 days

Ashar (Ashar) - *32 days*

Srabon - 31 days

Bhadro - 30 days

Ashshin - 31 days

Kartik - 30 days

Ogrohayon - *29 days*

Poush - *29 days*

Magh - 30 days

Phalgun - 30 days

Choitro - 30 days


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## coconutpalm

I noticed that no Chinese has ever posted a word
It's 2006 in China. However, in the past, we dated according to the year every emperor got into the throne. Every emperor got a/several special name(s) during his/her(for Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in our history) ruling years.


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## panjabigator

Is that calendar used in Bangladesh?


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## natasha2000

coconutpalm said:
			
		

> I noticed that no Chinese has ever posted a word
> It's 2006 in China. However, in the past, we dated according to the year every emperor got into the throne. Every emperor got a/several special name(s) during his/her(for Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in our history) ruling years.


 
But, when you celebrate your, Chinese New Year (with all those paper dragons, etc - Sorry for my poor knowledge of your customs, I only saw it in movies), which I think it's in February of our Julian calendar, which year do you celebrate?


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## Confused Linguist

panjabigator said:
			
		

> Is that calendar used in Bangladesh?


 
Yes, it is used in Bangladesh. I've found some interesting information online, just look up "Bangla calendar" on Wikipedia.


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## Pivra

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> It is for sure, Tony, a lot more info than one would want, because it is a little bit complicated...
> All I know is that my Easter is sometimes before and sometimes after the Spanish Easter. This year was after.
> Ant that is all I want to know...
> 
> Pivra, maybe you'll find intersting this. Look the posts 40, 45 and 47.


 
What we learned in our Language Art (English lol) class is that Eastern and spring are associated because they both represent something about rising from death, no wonder it's from paganism.


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## ireney

I know this is really off-topic, but it seems that the person who started the thread (that means you Pivra  ) is interested; Easter, the calculation of which is not for people like me who muddled through Maths throughout their years as students (things started going bad when we hit the multiplication tables and continued bad all the way to trigonometry), isn't (at least strictly) connected with whatever Calendar one uses for the religious holidays.

I did look it up once and promptly gave up but I think it's just a case of calculating the thing differently (I know that the Greek Orthodox Church uses the Gregorian Calendar for all its religious holidays but we still celebrate Easter with the rest of the Orthodox).


P.S. Pivra don't start me (and others) on how much Christianity has 'inherited" from paganism or our posts will start being deleted as off-topic!


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## ireney

Confused Linguist said:
			
		

> The Hindu Bengali New Year started on 15 April this year.
> 
> *Year 1413*
> 
> Boishakh - 31 days
> 
> Joishtho - 31 days
> 
> Ashar (Ashar) - *32 days*
> 
> Srabon - 31 days
> 
> Bhadro - 30 days
> 
> Ashshin - 31 days
> 
> Kartik - 30 days
> 
> Ogrohayon - *29 days*
> 
> Poush - *29 days*
> 
> Magh - 30 days
> 
> Phalgun - 30 days
> 
> Choitro - 30 days



Ok, I HAVE to ask. Why is it that one month (Ashar) has 32 days when two others (Ogrohayon and Poush) have only 29?


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## panjabigator

> In Bangladesh, it is quite common to find the date written three times (e.g. "25 Falgun 1412, 17 Muharram 1427, 27 February 2006") under the newspaper title.



Thanks Confused! It seems very confusing to me to use three different calendars....in Panjab, we have two:  the gregorian and the Sanskritic based one....I think the Gregorian is the one in main use.


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## papillon

ireney said:
			
		

> Hmm I think both Ukraine and Ethiopia still use <Julian calendar>


I can't speak for Ehiopia, but Ukraine uses Gregorian calendar like [almost] everyone else. Made the switch probably along with the rest of Soviet Union in 1918, never went back. Like in Russia, some people, myself included, do enjoy celebrating "The Old" New Year on January 13th, but this is more of an excuse to have an extra party than an official holyday..


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## ireney

Ah, thanks for the correction papillon


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## papillon

ireney said:
			
		

> Ah, thanks for the correction papillon


 No prolem. In fact, the calendar business is fairly complex, and many countries that appear to use the Gregorian Calendar are actually using a more sophisticated calendar than the Pope had envisioned. Of course, this is all due to the fact that a year is not exactly 365 days. It's 365 and an odd fraction. So all the fuss is about how to take care of this fraction...

So every 4 years we have a Leap year, but then every 100 years we don't, but the every 400 we do again and so fourth. I know that in some point in the distant future the Russian calendar will diverge from the classical Gregorian calendar, because the Russian version has more of these corrections.

But in the near future the two calendars will remain the same!


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## coconutpalm

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> But, when you celebrate your, Chinese New Year (with all those paper dragons, etc - Sorry for my poor knowledge of your customs, I only saw it in movies), which I think it's in February of our Julian calendar, which year do you celebrate?


 
Not necessarily in February ,but around it. We celebrate it according to the lunar calendar, but when we calculate the "year", we use Gregory calendar like most of you. The only occassion when we use the lunar calendar to count the year, it's by some Taoists who claim to be able to predict one's fate: fortunes and misfortunes, etc. We had a very  complicated system to count the years. To be simple, we believed that the destiny of the universe goes around a circle back to the starting point every 60 years. For each of these 60 years, we have a name to call it. Then again is another circle... but the actual operation of this system is far complicated than this, just a general idea.
I hope I can explain it more clearly, but I can't think of any furthur question concerning this. If you have any confusion, please post it, I'm glad to help you clarify it


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## Pivra

coconutpalm said:
			
		

> Not necessarily in February ,but around it. We celebrate it according to the lunar calendar, but when we calculate the "year", we use Gregory calendar like most of you. The only occassion when we use the lunar calendar to count the year, it's by some Taoists who claim to be able to predict one's fate: fortunes and misfortunes, etc. We had a very complicated system to count the years. To be simple, we believed that the destiny of the universe goes around a circle back to the starting point every 60 years. For each of these 60 years, we have a name to call it. Then again is another circle... but the actual operation of this system is far complicated than this, just a general idea.
> I hope I can explain it more clearly, but I can't think of any furthur question concerning this. If you have any confusion, please post it, I'm glad to help you clarify it


 
 How do Chinese count their months? I love Chinese New Year lol, although we're not but when I was in BKK me and my friends went to Chinatown to eat.


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## natasha2000

coconutpalm said:
			
		

> Not necessarily in February ,but around it. We celebrate it according to the lunar calendar, but when we calculate the "year", we use Gregory calendar like most of you. The only occassion when we use the lunar calendar to count the year, it's by some Taoists who claim to be able to predict one's fate: fortunes and misfortunes, etc. We had a very complicated system to count the years. To be simple, we believed that the destiny of the universe goes around a circle back to the starting point every 60 years. For each of these 60 years, we have a name to call it. Then again is another circle... but the actual operation of this system is far complicated than this, just a general idea.
> I hope I can explain it more clearly, but I can't think of any furthur question concerning this. If you have any confusion, please post it, I'm glad to help you clarify it


 
Does this has anything to do with the name of the years, like, the year of scorpio, the year of monkey, the year of rat, etc... By the way, I think I was born in the year fo monkey....  At least this is what  I read somewhere...


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## coconutpalm

Attention, please! We Chinese count our years, months, days like most other people NOW, but we used to have a very very different system in the PAST.
Having referred to more materials, I found I had made a mistake! I'm deeply sorry! We counted our years, months, days all by the complicated "tian gan, di zhi" system.
Tian gan constitutes 10 elements, and di zhi constitutes 12. http://gb.weather.gov.hk/gts/time/stemsandbranchesc.htm
It's a Chinese website, but if you see closer, you can tell which character is which. This form is made by a clear rule.

Natasha, I don't think you was born in the year for monkey, but far from that oops! Maybe you are a dragon, or a snake , or a horse I was born in the year for tiger. http://women.sohu.com/shengxiao/
But yes, the different name of the year is compatible with di zhi. 
Good luck!


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## natasha2000

coconutpalm said:
			
		

> Attention, please! We Chinese count our years, months, days like most other people NOW, but we used to have a very very different system in the PAST.
> Having referred to more materials, I found I had made a mistake! I'm deeply sorry! We counted our years, months, days all by the complicated "tian gan, di zhi" system.
> Tian gan constitutes 10 elements, and di zhi constitutes 12. http://gb.weather.gov.hk/gts/time/stemsandbranchesc.htm
> It's a Chinese website, but if you see closer, you can tell which character is which. This form is made by a clear rule.
> 
> Natasha, I don't think you was born in the year for monkey, but far from that oops! Maybe you are a dragon, or a snake , or a horse I was born in the year for tiger. http://women.sohu.com/shengxiao/
> But yes, the different name of the year is compatible with di zhi.
> Good luck!


 
Why do you say this? 1968?

Sorry, but I am desperately useless in reading Chinese...


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## coconutpalm

I am desperately useless when understanding this system myself, dear Natasha Another big mistake! I should have thought more clearly before posting! Yes, I think you may probably a "monkey" the third one in the third row.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
甲子
乙丑
丙寅
丁卯
戊辰
己巳
庚午
辛未
壬申
癸酉
甲戌
乙亥
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
丙子
丁丑
戊寅
己卯
庚辰
辛巳
壬午
癸未
甲申
乙酉
丙戌
丁亥
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
戊子
己丑
庚寅
辛卯
壬辰
癸巳
甲午
乙未
丙申
丁酉
戊戌
己亥
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
庚子
辛丑
壬寅
癸卯
甲辰
乙巳
丙午
丁未
戊申
己酉
庚戌
辛亥
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
壬子
癸丑
甲寅
乙卯
丙辰
丁巳
戊午
己未
庚申
辛酉
壬戌
癸亥


Remember the important number "60"? See the first line: all the second characters are 子 (di zhi), the first ones are all tian gan. 
Just a general idea. My knowledge is desperately limited when it comes to explain this kind of thing. However, welcome to any furthur questions!


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## natasha2000

Oh, Coconut, but I don't understand anything, here! 

Could you explain the system? What do all these numbers mean? How do you use them?


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## coconutpalm

http://xml.ascc.net/en/utf-8/calendar.html
My English is far limited in this aspect, so I found this link. It's imformative, and perhaps points out something I made a mistake in  
The numbers are nothing. Only that 60 years represent a cycle, a belief. 
If this link doesn't fully explain your questions, I will try to find more materials in Chinese, and then try my best to answer your questions. 
coco


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## almostfreebird

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> Oh, Coconut, but I don't understand anything, here!
> 
> Could you explain the system? What do all these numbers mean? How do you use them?


 
I hope this helps.

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

By the way this is Japanese calendar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calendar


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## Vukabular

In Serbia we have 3 calendars. Gregorian as official, Julian use ortodox church and old Serbian calendar which was banned at the end of the 19th century under the pressure of Austro-Hungarians and Germans, it was reintroduced in the mid-20th century but was abolished again after the assassination of Serbian Patriarch Varnava. According to the Serbian calendar now is year 7528. The year has two seasons summer and winter divided by equinoxes. The oldest writen record of the Serbian calendar is from the 6th century. At that time, letters were used instead of numbers and two dots were  placed  above the letters that represented numbers. To distinguish numbers from the date before the date a arc-shaped symbol with two crosslines was placed (galactic arc with two seasons). In the Serbs, there is a custom for holidays Christmas, Easter, Slava (patrons day) when a special kind of ritual bread we call "kolač" is prepared. "Kolač" is a word derived from "kolo" meaning wheel and represents the annual circle. On the upper side of the "kolač" is a Celtic-like cross representing the equinoxes and soltices. The old Serbian name for December is "Koledar" and for Christmas "Koledo". Koledo is one of the pre-Christian deities and we belive that he gave us calendar (kalendar). Koledar literally means gift from Kolo "wheel, circle"...


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## Awwal12

Even the Russian Orthodox Church uses the Gregorian calendar - it simply shifts the dates of all the special days so that they fit the old Julian one.


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## Kevin Beach

HODIE IV ANTE NONAS JANVARIAE AB VRBE CONDITA IN ANNO MMDCCLXXIII EST


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## apmoy70

If we were still following the ancient Attic calendar, then 2020 would have been "4th year of the 699th Olympiad"
If we were still following the mediaeval Byzantine calendar, then 2020 would have been "Year 7530 since the creation of the universe"


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## Zareza

natasha2000 said:


> Now St. Nicolas got retired and Santa Claus is who comes with presents.


Santa Claus is St Nicolas undercover   
*Santa Claus* < From the Dutch folk tale of _Sinterklaas_ based on the historical figure *Saint Nicholas*, a bishop from Myra in Asia Minor.

Santa Claus - Wiktionary


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## Doraemon-

Zareza said:


> Santa Claus is St Nicolas undercover
> *Santa Claus* < From the Dutch folk tale of _Sinterklaas_ based on the historical figure *Saint Nicholas*, a bishop from Myra in Asia Minor.



Yes, the name of Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas (_Sinterklaas)_ . But Dutch _Sinterklaas_/Saint Nicholas' day (as anywhere else) is 6th december, not Christmas. Santa Claus is actually German _Weihnachtsmann _(and other similar traditions as Finnish _Joulupukki_), which has been renamed to another different man/tradition in the US.
What Natasha says is that their original and traditional St. Nicholas (not a fat man, which comes with presents on 6th December) is being replaced by the fat man coming in Christmas.


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## Zareza

In Romania *Saint Nicholas* comes with presents on *6th of December* (his feast day) and *Moș Crăciun* comes with presents on *25th of December* (on Christmas).


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