Why Ethiopia is seven years behind (and sometimes eight)
The whole gap comes down to a single disagreement about a date: when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear Jesus, the moment the church calls the Annunciation. Western Christianity settled on one calculation of that year; the Ethiopian Orthodox Church kept an older one that lands about seven to eight years later.[2] Ethiopia never adopted the Gregorian reform, so its year count simply stayed where it was.
Here is the part that trips people up. Because the Ethiopian year begins in September, not January, the gap is not a fixed number. From January 1 until Ethiopian New Year in September, Ethiopia is eightyears behind. Once the new year turns in September, it is seven behind for the rest of the Gregorian year.[1] That is why you will see both numbers quoted, and both are right, just at different times of the year.
Thirteen months of sunshine
Ethiopia keeps thirteen months, not twelve. The first twelve each have exactly 30 days, which makes the calendar wonderfully tidy: every month starts on the same weekday pattern, and there is no juggling of 28, 30, and 31. The leftover days, five of them in a normal year and six in a leap year, gather into a short thirteenth month called Pagume.[1] This year Pagume has 5 days. The name comes from a Greek word for the days "added on" at the end, a small echo of Ethiopia's ancient ties to the Greek-speaking church of Alexandria. The country's tourism board turned all of this into a slogan you still see on posters: thirteen months of sunshine.
A new year in spring green
The Ethiopian year turns on Meskerem 1, which falls on September 11, or September 12 in the year before a Gregorian leap year.[1] It is called Enkutatash, and its timing is no accident: it comes just as the long rains end and the highlands burst into yellow Meskel daisies, so the new year arrives with the landscape at its greenest. Children go door to door singing and handing out flowers.
A little over two weeks later comes Meskel, the feast of the Finding of the True Cross, celebrated on September 26 with the towering Demera bonfire, its poles wrapped in green grass and the same Abyssinian daisies that symbolize the new year. UNESCO inscribed Meskel on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.[3] This is worth underlining: the Ethiopian calendar is not only shared by Eritrea, whose Orthodox community keeps the very same reckoning, it is woven into the church year that also governs the fasting seasons. If you want to see how those two fit together, our guide to fasting (tsom) tracks the fasts season by season.
Leap years, kept simple
The Ethiopian calendar adds a leap day every four years, no exceptions, giving Pagume its sixth day.[1]The Gregorian calendar is fussier, skipping the leap year in three out of every four century years to stay exactly aligned with the sun. Ethiopia's simpler rule is one reason the two calendars drift by a day in their alignment over long stretches.
One more twist: the clock
While we are here, Ethiopia also tells time differently. The day is counted from dawn, not from midnight, so what a Western clock calls 7:00 in the morning is 1 o'clock in Ethiopia, and noon is 6 o'clock. It makes sense near the equator, where the sun rises and sets at nearly the same hour all year. Our date and time converter handles both the calendar and the clock.
Common questions
What year is it in the Ethiopian calendar right now?+
Ethiopia is 7 to 8 years behind the Gregorian calendar. It runs 8 years behind from January 1 until the Ethiopian New Year around September 11, then 7 years behind for the rest of the year. This page shows the exact current Ethiopian year at the top, updated to today.
Why is the Ethiopian calendar 7 years behind?+
The gap comes from a different calculation of the year of Jesus's birth, specifically the date of the Annunciation. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church follows an older reckoning that places it about 7 to 8 years later than the count the Western churches adopted, so Ethiopia never shifted to the Gregorian year.
How many months are in the Ethiopian calendar?+
Thirteen. Twelve months of exactly 30 days each, plus a short thirteenth month called Pagume with 5 days (6 in a leap year). This is where Ethiopia's tourism slogan, "thirteen months of sunshine," comes from.
When is Ethiopian New Year?+
Ethiopian New Year, Enkutatash, falls on Meskerem 1, which lands on September 11 in most years and September 12 in the year before a Gregorian leap year.
Does the Ethiopian calendar have leap years?+
Yes, and more simply than the Gregorian one: a leap year every four years without exception, adding a sixth day to Pagume. The Gregorian calendar skips some century leap years; the Ethiopian calendar does not.