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The adoption of the Gregorian Calendar was an event in the early modern history of most cultures and societies, marking a change from their traditional (or "old style") dating system to the modern (or "new style") dating system the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...
that is widely used around the world today. Some states adopted the new calendar from 1582, some did not do so before the early twentieth century, and others did so at various dates between. A number of jurisdictions continue to use a different civil calendar. For many the new style calendar is only used for civil purposes and the old style calendar remains used in religious contexts. Today, the Gregorian calendar is the world's most widely used civil calendar. During and for some time after the change between systems, it has been common to use the terms "Old Style" and "New Style" when giving dates, to indicate which calendar was used to reckon them. The
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...
was decreed in 1582 by the papal bull by Pope Gregory XIII, to correct an error in the
Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandri ...
that was causing erroneous calculation of the date of
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...
. The Julian calendar had been based upon a
year A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the h ...
lasting 365.25 days, but this was slightly too long; in reality it is about 365.2422 days, and so over the centuries, the calendar was increasingly out of alignment with the earth's orbit. The average year in the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days. Although Gregory's reform was enacted in the most solemn of forms available to the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...
, the bull had no authority beyond the Catholic Church and the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
. The changes he was proposing were changes to the civil calendar, over which he had no formal authority. They required adoption by the civil authorities in each country to have legal effect. The bull became the
canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...
of the Catholic Church in 1582, but it was not recognised by Protestant churches, Eastern Orthodox Churches, and a few others. Consequently, the days on which Easter (and related events in the
Liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which ...
) were celebrated by different Christian churches diverged.


Adoption in Catholic countries

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
states such as
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the Italian principalities, Poland–Lithuania,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
(along with her European and overseas possessions),
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
, and the Catholic states of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
were first to change to the Gregorian calendar. Thursday, 4 October 1582, was followed by Friday, 15 October 1582, with ten days skipped. Countries which did not change until the 18th century had by then observed an additional
leap year A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or ...
(1700), necessitating the dropping of eleven days. Some countries did not change until the 19th or 20th century, necessitating one or two further days to be omitted from the calendar. Philip II of Spain decreed the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, which affected much of Catholic Europe, as Philip was at the time ruler over
Spain and Portugal , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
as well as much of Italy. In these territories, as well as in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
(ruled by
Anna Jagiellon Anna Jagiellon ( pl, Anna Jagiellonka, lt, Ona Jogailaitė; 18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania from 1575 to 1587. Daughter of Polish King Sigismund I the Old and Italian duchess Bona ...
) and in the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
, the new calendar was implemented on the date specified by the bull, with Julian Thursday, 4 October 1582, being followed by Gregorian Friday, 15 October 1582; the Spanish and Portuguese colonies followed somewhat later ''de facto'' because of delay in communication. Other Catholic countries soon followed.
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
adopted the new calendar with Sunday, 9 December 1582, being followed by Monday, 20 December 1582. The Dutch provinces of
Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...
and Zeeland, and the States General adopted it on 25 December of that year; the provinces forming the Southern Netherlands (modern
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
) except the
Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg ...
adopted it on 1 January 1583; the province of
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
adopted it on 12 January 1583. The seven Catholic Swiss cantons adopted the new calendar in January 1684 while
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
and several Protestant cantons adopted it in January 1701 or at other dates throughout the 18th century. The two Swiss communes of Schiers and Grüsch were the last areas of Western and Central Europe to switch to the Gregorian calendar, in 1812.


Adoption in Protestant countries

Many
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
countries initially objected to adopting a Catholic innovation; some Protestants feared the new calendar was part of a plot to return them to the Catholic fold. In England,
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
and her privy council had looked favourably to a Gregorian-like royal commission recommendation to drop 10 days from the calendar but the virulent opposition of the Anglican bishops, who argued that the Pope was undoubtedly the fourth great beast of Daniel, led the Queen to let the matter be quietly dropped. In the
Czech lands The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands ( cs, České země ) are the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia. Together the three have formed the Czech part of Czechoslovakia since 1918, the Czech Socialist Republic sin ...
, Protestants resisted the calendar imposed by the Habsburg monarchy. In parts of Ireland, Catholic rebels (until their defeat in the Nine Years' War) kept the "new" Easter in defiance of the English-loyal authorities; later, Catholics practising in secret petitioned the
Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
for dispensation from observing the new calendar, as it signalled their disloyalty.


Prussia

The Lutheran
Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...
, until 1657 still a fiefdom of Catholic Poland, was the first Protestant state to adopt the Gregorian calendar. Under influence of its liege lord, the King of Poland, it agreed in 1611 to do so. So 22 August was followed by 2 September 1612. However, this calendar change did not apply for other territories of the Hohenzollern, such as Berlin-based
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
, a fief of the Holy Roman Empire.


Denmark and Norway

In 1700, through Ole Rømer's influence, Denmark–Norway adopted the solar portion of the Gregorian calendar simultaneously with the Brandenburg-Pomerania and other Protestant estates of the Holy Roman Empire. Sunday, 18 February 1700, was followed by Monday, 1 March 1700.Nørby, Toke
The Perpetual Calendar
/ref> None of these states adopted the lunar portion, instead calculating the date of Easter astronomically using the instant of the vernal equinox and the full moon according to
Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...
's '' Rudolphine Tables'' of 1627; this combination was referred to by the Protestant estates as the "improved calendar" (''Verbesserte Kalender'') and considered to be distinct from the Gregorian. They finally adopted the Gregorian calculation of Easter in 1774. The remaining provinces of the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...
adopted the Gregorian calendar on 12 July 1700 (Gelderland), 12 December 1700 (Overijssel and Utrecht), 12 January 1701 (Friesland and Groningen) and 12 May 1701 (Drenthe).


Sweden

Sweden's transition to the Gregorian calendar was difficult and protracted. Sweden started to make the change from the Julian calendar and towards the Gregorian calendar in 1700, but it was decided to make the (then 11-day) adjustment gradually by excluding the leap days (29 February) from each of 11 successive leap years, 1700 to 1740. Meanwhile, the Swedish calendar would be out of step with both the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar for 40 years; also, the difference would not be constant but would change every four years. This system had potential for confusion when working out the dates of Swedish events in this 40-year period. To add to the confusion, the system was poorly administered, and the leap days that should have been excluded in 1704 and 1708 were not excluded. The Swedish calendar (according to the transition plan) should have been 8 days behind the Gregorian but was 10 days behind. King Charles XII recognised that the gradual change to the new system was not working, and he abandoned it. Rather than proceeding directly to the Gregorian calendar, it was decided to revert to the Julian calendar. This was achieved by introducing the unique date 30 February in 1712, adjusting the discrepancy in the calendars from 10 back to 11 days. Sweden finally adopted the solar portion of the Gregorian calendar in 1753, when Wednesday, 17 February, was followed by Thursday, 1 March. What became later
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
was an integral part of the Swedish kingdom at that time, hence it did the same.Mike Spathak
Old Style and New Style Dates and the change to the Gregorian Calendar: A summary for genealogists
/ref> The Russian Empire's 1809
conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...
of
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
did not revert this, since autonomy was granted, but government documents in Finland were dated in both the Julian and Gregorian styles. This practice ended when independence was gained in 1917.


Great Britain and its colonies

Through enactment of the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750,
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
and its possessions (including parts of what is now the United States) adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, by which time it was necessary to correct by 11 days. Wednesday, 2 September 1752, was followed by Thursday, 14 September 1752. In Great Britain, the term "New Style" was used for the calendar and the Act omits any acknowledgement of Pope Gregory: the Annexe to the Act established a computation for the date of Easter that achieved the same result as Gregory's rules, without actually referring to him. With the same Act, the Empire (except Scotland, which had already done so from 1600) changed the start of the civil year from 5 April to 1 January. Consequently, the custom of dual dating (giving a date in both old and new styles) can refer to the Julian/Gregorian calendar change, or to the start of year change, or to both.


Adoption in the Americas

The European colonies of the Americas adopted the change when their mother countries did.
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
and New Spain had adopted the new calendar in 1582. The Gregorian calendar was applied in the British colonies in Canada and the future United States east of the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...
in 1752.
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
remained on the Julian calendar along with the rest of Russia until 1867, when it was sold to the United States. At noon on Saturday, 7 October 1867 (Julian), the date changed to Friday, 18 October 1867 (Gregorian). Although the Julian calendar was 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar, only 11 days were skipped because Alaska also moved from the European side of the International Date Line to the American side.


Adoption in Eastern Europe

Many of the countries of
eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
were Eastern Orthodox or
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic and adopted the Gregorian calendar much later than western Christian countries. Catholic countries such as the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
adopted the "new style" (N.S.) Gregorian calendar in 1582 (switched back in 1795 after Third Partition of Poland), but the switch to the Gregorian calendar for secular use occurred in Eastern Orthodox countries as late as the 20th century and some religious groups in some of these countries still use the "old style" (O.S.) Julian calendar for ecclesiastical purposes. The Kingdom of Bulgaria changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1916 during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. 31 March was followed by 14 April 1916. The
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
's Rumi calendar, used for fiscal purposes, was realigned from a Julian to a Gregorian starting on 16 February / 1 March 1917. The beginning of the year was reset to 1 January starting in 1918. The numbering of the years, though, remained uniquely Turkish until the Gregorian calendar was introduced for general purposes on 1 January 1926.


Russia

In
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
, the Gregorian calendar was accepted after the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...
. On 24 January 1918 the
Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
issued a
decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...
that Wednesday, 31 January 1918, was to be followed by Thursday, 14 February 1918, thus dropping 13 days from the calendar. With the change, the October Revolution itself, once converted, took place on 7 November. Articles about the October Revolution which mention this date difference tend to do a full conversion to the dates from Julian to the Gregorian calendar. For example, in the article "The October (November) Revolution" the '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' uses the format of "25 October (7 November, New Style)" to describe the date of the start of the revolution.


Others

Other countries of eastern Europe, most notably Eastern Orthodox countries, adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 1910s or early 1920s. By the 20th century, the date on the Julian calendar was 13 days behind that on the Gregorian calendar.
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
adopted the Gregorian in 1919, with 31 March 1919 being followed by 14 April 1919. The last country of Eastern Orthodox Europe to adopt the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes was Greece, at the time under military administration following the 11 September 1922 Revolution, effective on 1 March 1923. Thus, on the Greek calendar, Wednesday 15 February 1923 was followed by Thursday 1 March 1923.
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
adopted it on 1 January 1926. The Soviet decree expressly limited the reform to lay (i.e. non-religious) matters, as did the Greek decree. None of these reforms affected the dates of religious holidays. (See below.)


Non-adoption by Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches

While the civil administrations of eastern European countries adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 1910s or early 1920s, none of the national Eastern Orthodox Churches have recognised the Gregorian calendar for church or religious purposes. Instead, a Revised Julian calendar was proposed in May 1923 at the . It uses a different leap year rule, modifying a proposal of 1785 in such a way as to maximise the time before its dates start to diverge from Gregorian. There will be no difference between the two calendars until 2800. The
Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, el, Πατριαρχεῖον Ἱεροσολύμων, ''Patriarcheîon Hierosolýmōn;'' he, הפטריארכיה היוונית-אורתודוקסית של ירושלים; ar, كنيسة الرو� ...
,
Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
, Serbian Orthodox Church,
Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...
,
Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church ( pl, Polski Autokefaliczny Kościół Prawosławny), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. T ...
, Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Greek Old Calendarists did not accept the Revised Julian calendar, and continue to celebrate Christmas on 25 December in the Julian calendar, which is 7 January in the Gregorian calendar until 2100. All of the other Eastern churches, the Oriental Orthodox churches (
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...
, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church,
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( ti, ቤተ ክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ኤርትራ) is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. Its autocephaly was recognised by Pope Shenouda III of Alexandri ...
, and Syriac Orthodox Church) continue to use their own calendars, which usually result in fixed dates being celebrated in accordance with the Julian calendar. This is most interesting in the case of the Syriac Orthodox Church, as one of its Patriarchs
Ignatius Nemet Allah I Ignatius Niʿmatallah ( ar, البطرك نعمة اللّٰه, la, Nehemias, syr, ܦܛܪܝܪܟܐ ܢܥܡܗ̈ ܐܠܗ) was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1557 until his resignation in 1576. Biography Early ...
was one of the nine scholars who devised the Gregorian calendar. The Indian Orthodox Church uses the Gregorian calendar along with their autonomous Syriac Orthodox counterparts in India, the Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church. The
Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...
adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1923, except in the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, where the old Julian calendar is still in use.


Countries that used lunisolar calendars


Adoption in East Asia

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
, and China started using the Gregorian calendar on , , and , respectively. They previously used
lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, combining lunar calendars and solar calendars. The date of Lunisolar calendars therefore indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year, that is the position of the Sun in ...
s. The Old Style and New Style dates in these countries usually mean the older lunisolar dates and the newer Gregorian calendar dates respectively. In these countries, the old style calendars were similar but not all the same. The Arabic numerals may be used for both calendar dates in modern Japanese and Korean languages, but not for Chinese old-style dates.


Japan

Japan decided to officially replace its traditional lunisolar calendar with the Gregorian calendar in 1872, so the day following as became , locally known as . (The Japanese rendering of the Western months is simply ''ichi-gatsu'' or "One-month" for January, ''ni-gatsu'' or "Two-month" for February, etc.) This brought Japan's calendar in alignment with that of the major Western powers (excluding Russia). To this day, however, it is common to use reign names (nengō), especially for official documents; for instance, '' Meiji'' 1 for 1868, '' Taishō'' 1 for 1912, '' Shōwa'' 1 for 1926, '' Heisei'' 1 for 1989, '' Reiwa'' 1 for 2019, and so on. The months and days are those of the Gregorian calendar, but the year is either the "Western calendar" (西暦, ''seireki'') year number per the
Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
or
Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord" ...
system, or a year of the nengō of the emperor on the throne. Since 1873, an era and the first year of that era has begun on the day of the year that the emperor ascended the throne. The second year of that era began on the next 1 January even if the first year contained only a few days. All subsequent years of that era began on 1 January until that emperor died or abdicated. For example, the first year of the Showa Era, that of Emperor Hirohito, contained only the last six days of 1926, while Showa 64, his last year, contained only the first seven days of 1989. The current Gregorian year corresponds to Reiwa .


Korea

Replacing its years numbered from 1392, the founding of the Joseon dynasty,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
started using the Gregorian calendar on 1 January 1896, which was the 17th day of the 11th lunar month not only in Korea but also in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, which still used the lunisolar calendar. Yet
Korean era name Korean era names were titles adopted in historical Korea for the purpose of year identification and numbering. Era names were used during the period of Silla, Goguryeo, Balhae, Taebong, Goryeo, Joseon, and the Korean Empire. Various Korean regi ...
s were used for its years through 1910; and between 1910 and 1945, when Korea was under Japanese rule, Japanese era names were used to count the years of the Gregorian calendar used in Korea. In
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, from 1945 until 1961, Gregorian calendar years were also counted from the foundation of Gojoseon in 2333 BC (regarded as year one), the date of the legendary founding of Korea by Dangun, hence these Dangi (단기) years were 4278 to 4294. This numbering was informally used with the Korean lunar calendar before 1945 but is only occasionally used today. Since 1997,
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
officially counts years based on the Juche era, the first year of which is 1912, the year of Kim Il-Sung's birth, with Gregorian months and days. The current Gregorian year corresponds to Juche year .


China and Taiwan

The Republic of China (ROC) government under Provisional President
Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
abolished the lunisolar Chinese calendar and adopted the Gregorian calendar at its founding on . The public, however, resisted the change and continued to observe traditional holidays. President Yuan Shikai switched to a dual-calendar policy, under which the Gregorian calendar was to be used for most purposes except traditional holidays, which were to be timed according to the Chinese calendar, including the short-lived Empire of China. With the unification of China under the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...
in October 1928, the Nationalist government decreed that effective the Gregorian calendar would be used. The
Republic of China calendar The Republic of China calendar, often shortened to the ROC calendar or the ''Minguo'' calendar, is a calendar used in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. The calendar uses 1912, the year of the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC), as ...
would retain the Chinese traditions of numbering the months with a modified era system, determined according to the traditional custom of era names, but using the founding of the Republic of China government in 1912 as the start rather than the
regnal year A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year ...
of an emperor. The current Gregorian year corresponds to the ROC year . This system is still in use in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
where the ROC government retains control since 1945. Upon its foundation in 1949, the People's Republic of China continued to use the Gregorian calendar with numbered months and adopted Western numbered years, but timed traditional holidays according to the Chinese calendar and abolished the ROC Era System. Today mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore all observe traditional holidays based on the traditional calendar, such as Lunar New Year, while timing other holidays, especially national anniversaries, according to the Gregorian calendar. The adopted calendar in both mainland China and Taiwan are called the ''Public Calendar'' (), or "New Calendar" (). The
Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...
may distinguish old and new style dates in different ways: In speaking, people generally call the date in the Gregorian calendar month "No. ''dd''", for example, the Spring Festival of year 2017 is No. 28 of Month 1 () On the other hand, people never call dates on the Chinese calendar as "No. ''dd".'', which avoids any possible ambiguity. When referencing dates before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, the official Chinese calendar may either inherit the issues with earlier calendars to be historically correct or follow the proleptic Gregorian calendar if so specified.


Adoption in Southeast Asia

The Gregorian calendar replaced the
Burmese calendar The Burmese calendar ( my, မြန်မာသက္ကရာဇ်, , or , ; Burmese Era (BE) or Myanmar Era (ME)) is a lunisolar calendar in which the months are based on lunar months and years are based on sidereal years. The calendar i ...
in several mainland Southeast Asian kingdoms in the second half of the 19th century. This took place in Cambodia in 1863 and Laos in 1889. In 1889, Siam also switched to the Gregorian calendar as the official civil calendar, with the Rattanakosin Era (with 1782 as Year 1). The Thai lunar calendar remains in use for religious purposes. Since the British conquest of the
Konbaung dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
in 1886, the Gregorian calendar has been used alongside the Burmese calendar in
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.


Islamic calendar

The
Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 ...
is a lunar one, so that there are twelve lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days, being 11 days shorter than a solar year. Consequently, holy days in Islam migrate around the solar year on a 32-year cycle. Some countries in the Islamic world use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes, while retaining the Islamic calendar for religious purposes. For example,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...
adopted the Gregorian calendar for the purpose of paying public sector staff effective 1 October 2016; private sector employers had already adopted the Gregorian calendar for pay purposes.


Present situation

Today, the vast majority of countries use the Gregorian calendar as their sole civil calendar. The four countries which have not adopted the Gregorian calendar are Ethiopia ( Ethiopian calendar), Nepal ( Vikram Samvat and Nepal Sambat), Iran and Afghanistan ( Solar Hijri calendar).M. Heydari-Malayeri
A concise review of the Iranian calendar
Paris Observatory.
Some countries use other calendars alongside the Gregorian calendar, including India ( Indian national calendar), Bangladesh ( Bengali calendar), Pakistan (
Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 ...
), Israel (
Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel ...
) and Myanmar (
Burmese calendar The Burmese calendar ( my, မြန်မာသက္ကရာဇ်, , or , ; Burmese Era (BE) or Myanmar Era (ME)) is a lunisolar calendar in which the months are based on lunar months and years are based on sidereal years. The calendar i ...
), and other countries use a modified version of the Gregorian calendar, including Thailand ( Thai solar calendar), Japan (
Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...
), North Korea ( North Korean calendar) and Taiwan ( Minguo calendar). While many religious organizations reckon their liturgical year by the Gregorian civil calendar, others have retained their own calendars. Alternative calendars are used in many regions of the world today to mark cycles of religious and astrological events.


Possible date conflicts

Use of different calendars had potential to cause confusion between contemporaries. For example, it is related that one of the contributory factors for
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
's victory at the
Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz ...
was the confusion between the Russians, who were using the Julian calendar, and the Austrians, who were using the Gregorian calendar, over the date that their forces should combine. However, this tale is not supported in a contemporary account from a major-general of the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army, Karl Wilhelm von Stutterheim, who tells of a joint advance of the Russian and Austrian forces (in which he himself took part) five days before the battle, and it is explicitly rejected in Goetz's 2005 book-length study of the battle.Robert Goetz, ''1805: Austerlitz: Napoleon and the Destruction of the Third Coalition'' (Greenhill Books, 2005).


Timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:38 PlotArea = left:20 right:20 bottom:30 top:10 Colors = id:noir value:black id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:gris value:gray(0.80) id:grilleMajor value:rgb(0.80,0.80,0.80) id:bleuclair value:rgb(0.56,0.56,0.86) id:rouge value:red id:rougeclair value:rgb(0.86,0.56,0.56) id:bleuclair value:rgb(0.76,0.76,0.96) id:grilleMinor value:rgb(0.86,0.86,0.86) Period = from:1550 till:2050 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy AlignBars = justify ScaleMinor=unit:year increment:50 start:1550 gridcolor:grilleMinor ScaleMajor=unit:year increment:100 start:1600 gridcolor:grilleMajor BackgroundColors=canvas:canvas bars:canvas BarData= bar:epoque barset:evennement PlotData= bar:epoque shift:(0,0) width:30 from:start till:end color:gris # Arri?re plan from:start till:1581 text:" Julian~ calendar" color:rougeclair anchor:from from:1582 till:end text:"Gregorian~ calendar" color:rouge barset:evennement color:noir shift:(2,0) width:25 from:1582 till:1582 text:"1582~Spain, Portugal, and their possessions,~Italy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth" shift:(2,5) from:1582 till:1582 text:"1582~France, Netherlands (Brabant, Zeeland and the Staten-Generaal), Savoy, Luxembourg" from:1582 till:1735 text:"1582 –1735~Duchy of Lorraine" color:bleuclair anchor:from from:1583 till:1583 text:"1583~Austria, Netherlands (Holland and modern Belgium), Catholic Switzerland and Germany" from:1584 till:1584 text:"1584~Bohemia and Moravia" from:1587 till:1587 text:"1587~Hungary" from:1605 till:1710 text:"1605 –1710~Nova Scotia" color:bleuclair anchor:from from:1610 till:1610 text:"1610~Duchy of Prussia" from:1648 till:1648 text:"1648~Alsace" from:1682 till:1682 text:"1682~Strasbourg" #To start again the indentation in top barset:break at:1700 #blank line at:1700 #blank line at:1700 #blank line at:1700 #blank line from:1700 till:1700 text:"1700~Protestant Germany, Netherlands (the northern provinces),~Switzerland, Denmark (incl. Norway, Iceland, and Faroe Islands)" shift:(2,5) from:1752 till:1752 text:"1752~Great Britain and its possessions" from:1753 till:1753 text:"1753~Sweden (incl. Finland)" from:1760 till:1760 text:"1760~Lorraine (Habsburg → France)" from:1811 till:1811 text:"1811~Swiss canton of Grisons" from:1867 till:1867 text:"1867~Alaska (Russia → USA)" from:1873 till:1873 text:"1873~Japan" from:1875 till:1875 text:"1875~Egypt" from:1889 till:1889 text:"1889~Siam (Thailand)" from:1896 till:1896 text:"1896~Korea" #To start again the indentation in top barset:break from:1912 till:1912 text:"1912~Albania" from:1912 till:1929 text:"1912 and 1929~China" color:bleuclair anchor:from from:1915 till:1915 text:"1915~Latvia, Lithuania" from:1916 till:1916 text:"1916~Bulgaria" from:1917 till:1917 text:"1917~Ottoman Empire" from:1918 till:1918 text:"1918~Russia, Estonia" from:1919 till:1919 text:"1919~Romania, Yugoslavia from:1923 till:1923 text:"1923~Greece" from:2016 till:2016 text:"2016~Saudi Arabia" #To start again the indentation in top barset:break The date when each country adopted the Gregorian calendar, or an equivalent, is marked against a horizontal time line. The vertical axis is used for expansion to show separate national names for ease in charting, but otherwise has no significance.


Notes


References


Works cited

*Barsoum, I. A., & Moosa, M. (2003). ''The scattered pearls : a history of Syriac literature and sciences / by Ignatius Aphram I Barsoum ; translated and edited by Matti Moosa ; with a foreword by Cyril Aphrem Karim.'' Gorgias Press. *Fruin, R. (1934), ''Handboek der Chronologie, voornamelijk van Nederland''. Alphen a/d Rijn: N. Samson. *Lee, Peter H. (Ed.) (1996)
''Sourcebook of Korean Civilization: Vol.2: From the seventeenth century to the modern period''
Columbia University Press. . *Lee, P.H. & de Bary, W. T. (Eds., with Yongho Ch'oe & Kang, H. H. W.) (2000). ''Sources of Korean Tradition,'' (Vol. 2). New York: Columbia University Press. *Sumner, Charles. (1875)
The cession of Russian America to the United States
in ''The Works of Charles Sumner'', vol. 11. Boston: Lea and Shepard.


External links


The Perpetual Calendar Gregorian Calendar adoption dates for many countries.

What is the Gregorian calendar? with adoption dates for many countries and regions
{{Chronology Gregorian calendar 1582 in Christianity