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Birthdays Around the World

Lots of people around the world use different calendars. This means some folks celebrate their birthdays in unusual ways, says writer Erin Craig.

”When I turned 40 for the third time, I started wondering what was up. The first time I turned 40, I was busy and not really prepared for feeling old all of a sudden. I thought I was only 38! Then a few months later, I turned 40 again. I've never been great at math but was still confused. After turning 41 a few times and 40 again, something clearly wasn't right with time. “

Multiple Birthdays

It turns out many cultures are fine having multiple years or ages happen at the same time. Right now, in 2023 everywhere, but in Myanmar it's also 1384. Thailand is way ahead in 2566! Moroccans use 1444 for religious events but 2972 for farming things. Ethiopians are still in 2015, which for them has 13 months. I live in South Korea where everyone turns a year older on New Year's Day - so that explains turning 40 three times!

Korean age depends on two dates: your birthday and January 1st. From your birthday until December 31st, you're one year older in Korea than the rest of the world. Then from January 1st to your next birthday, add two years!

South Koreans are born age one. From there they have two or three official ages: one for Korea, one counting from zero for other countries, plus the whole country gets a year older together on January 1st. (Or at Lunar New Year too, to represent new beginnings).

Koreans can also choose to celebrate their personal birthday by the normal calendar or old lunar calendar. I technically could have had six birthdays with the system, but who wants that many 40th parties?

Having different ages and calendars was strange to me as an American. I thought time was something all humans agreed on. People did measure time differently long ago, like with Stonehenge as a giant calendar. But I didn't expect some cultures to still use other calendars now, especially together. Mostly I didn't think much about how we keep time.

The Path to Our Calendar Today

The dates we know, like January 1st 2023, come from a specific system - in this case, the Gregorian calendar.

You'd think the Gregorian calendar would be super accurate and efficient since it's the global standard for things like travel and government. Actually nope! It mostly got popular because European culture happened to influence much of the world.

Adoption of the Gregorian Calendar

Pope Gregory XIII developed the calendar in the 1500s to fix issues between Catholic events and the real solar year. The old Julian calendar was slowly getting more out of sync with the seasons - by Gregory's time it was 10 whole days off.

Gregory's new calendar fixed things to be just 26 seconds off per year. But in 1582 when it started, not everyone wanted a pope changing time: Protestant Christians and Orthodox Churches ignored it.

So, at first only Catholic parts of Europe used the Gregorian calendar and celebrated the year 1600. Other regions slowly switched over the next centuries: Germany/Netherlands by 1700; Britain and colonies by 1800. Faraway places like Japan and Egypt took it up around 1900, yet Orthodox countries like Romania, Russia and Greece held out until the 1900s. Most of Europe finally united to arrive at 2000 together.

However, major empires had already spread the Gregorian calendar to over 80 percent of the world by the mid-1800s, as they colonized and ruled other regions. Around then there was also a movement by American and European scientists for one World Calendar for better business. With no other options, the Gregorian became that common calendar by default.

Lebanon and Japan's Gregorian Calendar

In places Europe didn't conquer, the Gregorian calendar still took over in other ways. Historian Vanessa Ogle suggests capitalism, religious missionaries, and wanting scientific standards did more for the calendar than imperialism. Lebanon used it under Ottoman Turkish rule in the 1800s. Japan adopted it in 1872 without ever being colonized! Accepting the Gregorian probably felt easier since countries knew they could still use other calendars too.

In the past, ancient Egypt and Mayan cultures both had one calendar for religion and another for government business. Korea specifically invented two systems in the 1400s - one from China and one from the Arabic calendar. In 1880s Lebanon, people used four different calendars just in regular life! Japan may have switched to Gregorian dates officially, but still uses old imperial calendars, lucky day calendars, and 24 seasonal calendars too - even now.

One Country - Many Calendars

Social anthropologist Clare Oxby coined the term "calendar pluralism" to mean using multiple calendar systems together, like legal pluralism with multiple legal systems. It sounds tricky but works fine: the Berber tribes in Africa might use one calendar for farming, another for Muslim holidays, and the Gregorian calendar to file taxes. Being in multiple timelines can make sense!

We're kind of used to this idea already - schools and financial institutions have different year systems. It just depends where you start counting from.

"Having parallel calendars is probably much more common today than we realize," says Oxby. Of course, calendars always evolve over time. "You may end up with different ones. Human culture always changes."

A New Calendar Pluralism

As we've expanded online into a digital world, fiber optic cables have taken old trade routes to spread the Gregorian calendar everywhere that European colonizers didn't reach before. For now, being connected online has created a new type of calendar pluralism.

Nepal Has Four Calendars in Use

Nepal is one of the only countries that doesn't officially use the Gregorian calendar - it's either 2079 or 1143 here depending on the system. Overall, at least four calendars are used between ethnic groups, with different new year dates. Nepal also has its own time zone, 15 minutes different! Clearly, Nepal has its own thing going on with time.

Despite this variety, individuals like Sanjeev Dahal have only ever used one main calendar in daily life.

Two Diverse Calendars in Hindi Culture

"I've only used the Bikram calendar," he says. His parents don't use Gregorian dates at all. But Dahal's friends use the Western calendar for business and Nepali calendars for family events - a split between function and culture.

And while social media goes by Gregorian dates, those don't work for important aspects of Hindu culture like auspicious days and moon cycles. The Gregorian probably won't become an official calendar soon because of this.

Code Switching Time and Space

However, Dahal is a graduate student in America studying Nepalis abroad. So, despite only needing one calendar system growing up, now he lives "in two spaces and times." His laptop is set to 2023 and smartphone to 2079. An app helps him switch between the two systems day-to-day.

Dahal notices younger generations handle multiple calendars, but older folks don't see the need for Western dates at all. Still, no one calendar works perfectly: the Gregorian misses key Nepali he Hindi Culture cultural events, while only partly serving tech needs. For that reason, Dahal doubts the Gregorian calendar will become truly dominant anytime soon.

Saudi Arabian Adopts Gregorian Calendar

History tends to repeat itself. Like the failed 1900s World Calendar movement, there have been recent pushes to unify calendars globally for economic reasons. In 2016 Saudi Arabia had government workers switch to the Gregorian calendar to save money.

South Korea Renders Traditional Ages Useless

And just in December 2022, South Korea passed a law to stop using traditional ages since it's considered inefficient. The law starts sometime this year - so my next birthday may only come once or twice!

But what happens when places force a uniform calendar system that doesn't fit local cultural needs?

"Governments gain more control over a central calendar, but may lose cultural history and diversity," explains Oxby. "Minority groups can feel undervalued nationally."

Yet after 150 years connecting the world, calendar pluralism continues. Calendars change more often than they totally disappear. And adapting to change might be humanity's one real skill.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's the start of 2023 - so I have a birthday to get to!

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

TheRachele