It’s not 2024 everywhere: what year is it in each country and how do they decide their calendar?

No, the whole planet is not in 2024. It seems strange that after this new year, there are different ways of counting the calendar at different latitudes of the world. However, It is important to remember that the way to understand what year we are in is often based on arbitrary criteria that can vary greatly from place to place.

The way we count the years and organize time is a fundamental part of our daily lives. However, These practices can vary considerably from country to country, also reflecting a diversity of cultural and religious traditions.

The most used calendar in the world today is the Gregorian calendar. , which is based on the birth of Jesus Christ. According to this calendar, it is 2024. But this is not the only system used. Afterwards a brief overview of what year China, Japan, India, among others, find themselves in, and what their reasons are for being on a very different calendar than ours.

In many parts of the Islamic world, for example, Hijri calendar. This calendar is based on lunar cycles and begins the year when the Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD Therefore, the current year in the Islamic calendar is different from that of the Gregorian calendar and In most Muslim countries, 1446 is considered the current year.

However, in Jewish tradition it is used the Hebrew calendar, which counts the years since what is considered the creation of the world, calculated from biblical texts. It’s a calendar which is based both on the cycle of To land around the Sun (year ), and also in the Moon surrounding the To land (month ). The current version of the Hebrew calendar, which governs the Jewish holidays, was concluded by Hillel II around the year 359.

The average solar duration of the Jewish calendar is 365.2468 days, meaning it lasts 365 days 5 hours 55 minutes 23.52 seconds per year, almost seven minutes longer than the tropical year. The Hebrew calendar begins with Genesis of the world which happened, according to Jewish tradition, on Sunday October 7, 3760 BC. C., date equivalent to the 1st of the month of Tishri from year 1 . Thus, the Gregorian year 2024 is equivalent to the Hebrew year 5784.

The Chinese calendar, for its part, counts the years in cycles of 60 years. Each year is associated with an animal from the Chinese zodiac. The months are lunar, meaning the first day is the new moon and the 15th is the full moon. As in a solar year there are twelve lunar months and also a dozen days, Seven additional months are interspersed over nineteen years, to agree with the solar calendar .

Typical features of early calendars include the use of a sexagenary cycle based on the advice ganzhi of the repetitive cycle system celestial trunks And terrestrial branches . The logic of the different permutations of the Chinese calendar is based on technical mathematical and astronomical, philosophical and political considerations, and the resulting disparities between the different calendars are significant and notable. Several similar calendar systems are also known in various regions or ethnic groups in Central Asia, South Asia and other regions.

It has been used since ancient times to mark the rhythm of daily life, rituals and festivals and is still consulted today in rural areas to plan planting or harvest days, but also for events or activities important.

The Chinese calendar It is based on the orbits of the Moon and Earth . Its origin is uncertain, but the most popular theory places it around 2637 BC, when the Yellow Emperor established it as a calendar for calculating time in China. Some attribute the origin of the traditional Chinese calendar to the Xia civilization, which occupied the region during the 22nd century BC, while others attribute it directly to the mythical Huangdi, unifier and first emperor of China, who lived in the 3rd century BC. vs.

According to the Chinese calendar, They are located in the year 4721, which began on January 22, 2023 and will end on February 9, 2024. .

In the In India, however, there are several calendars based on religious and historical eras and on lunar or solar cycles. Each of these systems reflects a rich cultural tradition and has its own set of festivities and observances.

However, the Hindu calendar was reformed in 1957, as it was essential to establish the calendar in such a way that it was accurate and could be adopted uniformly throughout the world. India . For this, an in-depth study was carried out on the different calendars existing across the country. The result was the formalization of the Shaka calendar. Its use officially began in chaitra 1, 1879 , was Shaka . Or, what is the same, the March 22 of 1957 in the Gregorian calendar.

Thus, according to the Gregorian calendar, the era Shaka starts in the year 0 which is 78 AD, and 79 AD is the year 1 . He March 21st of 2000 the year has started 1922 at the time Shaka. So, At the start of this year – or 2024 in much of the world – in India it is 1945.

Another of the most enigmatic cases that can be found is Japan, which is currently in the sixth year of the Reiwa era. Although the Gregorian form of year numbering is commonly used in Japan today, introduced in the late 19th century, it is also frequently applied. a parallel numbering system for years based on the reigns of the emperors .

Reiwa is the name of the current Japanese era, what happened to the e Ra Heisei from May 1, 2019 . He emperor Akihito of Japan, 90 years old, abdicated on April 30 and was replaced by his son Naruhito on the imperial throne. Thus, 2019 corresponded to the Heisei 31 year until April 30, and from May 1 the Reiwa 1 year began.. The term new age is composed of two characters: Rei and Wa, which mean “order” and “peace” or “harmony”.

In North Korea, on the other hand, the calendar based on the Juche ideology is used. This year numbering system is used based on the birth of Kim Il Sung the founder of said country. His year of birth, 1912 on the calendar Gregorian , it is for them “Juche 1”. The calendar was officially adopted in 1997, three years later death of Kim Il Sung . Currently, they live in the year 112.

Finally, the Ge’ez Calendar is the main calendar used in Ethiopia . It is based on the ancient Alexandrian or Coptic calendar, which itself comes from Egyptian calendar but the Ethiopian adds a leap day every four years without exception. Additionally, the year begins on eleven either September 12 in the Gregorian calendar . Because they differ in determining the date of Annunciation of Jesus there is a difference between seven and eight years between the Ethiopians and Gregorian . This means that according to their calendar, it is 2016.