As world celebrates New Year, Ethiopia must still wait 222 days

ADDIS ABABA

As billions of people around the world celebrated the advent of the New Year on Wednesday, Ethiopians must still wait another 222 days to usher in their New Year – 2007.

The Ethiopian calendar is between seven and eight years behind the Gregorian calendar, which is currently used by most countries.

The Ethiopian New Year falls on September 11 or 12, while Ethiopian Christmas falls on January 7.

Eastern orthodox churches, including the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, celebrate Christmas on the same day in January.

Western Christians, who use the Gregorian calendar, celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25.

Ethiopians take pride in their unique calendar, which predates the Gregorian one.

The Ethiopian calendar derives largely from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, an ancient Christian denomination.

Gubae Kiflemariam, a religious leader at Addis Ababa's Bole Medhane Alem Orthodox Church, told Anadolu Agency that both calendars had remained more or less in sync until the 13th century.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church eventually overhauled its calendar, however, creating a seven- to eight-year difference between it and its Gregorian counterpart.

The Ethiopian calendar shares many features with Egypt's ancient Coptic calendar: both consist of 13 months, 12 of which are 30 days long while a last month contains five or six days.

By Mohamed Taha Tawakel

englishnews@aa.com.tr