Ethiopian calendar

Where the year begins

The year opens on Meskerem 1, which lands on 11 September, or 12 September when the year just gone was a leap year. The date is called Enkutatash, and it marks the end of the long rains rather than the middle of winter, which is why the Ethiopian year starts when it does.

Pagume, the thirteenth month

Twelve months of 30 days come to 360, and the remaining five days form Pagume. In a leap year it gets a sixth. Nothing about it is unusual inside Ethiopia, though it surprises people converting a date and finding a month number 13 they were not expecting.

Ethiopian leap years fall when the year divided by 4 leaves 3, so 2019 is one and 2023 will be the next.

Weekdays and fasting days

The week runs Sunday to Saturday as elsewhere, but Wednesday and Friday carry weight for Orthodox households as fasting days, and each day of the month is associated with a saint. That association is why monthly commemorations like Tsion Maryam on the 21st sit on the same day number every month rather than moving.

Fixed and moveable holidays

Most Ethiopian holidays are fixed to an Ethiopian date, so their Gregorian date barely moves: Meskel is Meskerem 17 every year. Fasika and the fasts leading to it follow the Orthodox Easter computation and move by several weeks, and the Islamic holidays follow the lunar Hijri calendar, so they shift about eleven days earlier each Gregorian year.