Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
The year is almost over in Hong Kong, but have you ever wondered whether this is true in other cultures?
Many countries have adopted the Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar. It has 12 months and 365 days. An extra day is added every four years.
However, six calendars are still in use by a large number of people. Despite their different names and characteristics, they all follow the way the sun, moon and stars move and arrange themselves in the sky.
Here are some examples of popular calendars from around the world.
Jewish calendar
This calendar is based on the Jewish yearly cycle and welcomes the new year around mid-September.
The final month is called Elul, and the new year is marked by an occasion called Rosh Hashana. It is currently the year 5786 according to the Jewish calendar. The year is calculated by looking at when the world was created, according to the Jewish story of creation.
Chinese calendar
The Chinese calendar is familiar to most people in Hong Kong. It is a lunar calendar. This means it is based on the moon.
A year will have 12 or 13 months. This is so the dates align with how the sun appears to move between the north and south.
In 2026, Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year, falls on February 17. It will mark the start of the Year of the Horse. Lunar New Year lags anywhere from 20 to 50 days behind the Gregorian calendar.
Islamic calendar
Also known as the Arabic or Hijri calendar, it is used by Muslims to mark important religious days and celebrations. It is the official calendar in Saudi Arabia and is widely used in countries like Bangladesh.
Those who follow the Islamic calendar are now in the year 1447 AH. The year marks the amount of time that has passed since Mohammed, the founder of Islam, moved to Medina, which is now in Saudi Arabia.
A year in the Islamic calendar is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar.
