Language/Multiple-languages/Culture/Calendars-and-Clocks

This is a list of calendar and timekeeping around the world.

Calendar

Gregorian calendar

• The epoch is the year of presumed birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• The start of a year is the presumed day of circumcision of Jesus of Nazareth.
• There are 12 months in a year.
• Days for months are 31, 28 (without leap), 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31.
• The start of a day is the midnight in Greenwich added or subtracted by multiples of 1 hour, and in some cases further adding or subtracting 1/2 or 1/4 hours.
• There is 1 leap day every 4 years added to the second month, except when the year is divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400.
• (There are about 1 leaps in 4 years.)

Arakanese Kawza calendar

• The epoch is possibly the year of the usurpation by the King Popa Sawrahan.
• The epoch begins with the year zero.
• The start of a year is the day when Sun enters Aries.
• There are 12 (without leap) months in a year.
• There are 29 (without leap) days in months of an odd number, 30 days in months of an even number.
• A month is divided into two parts: waxing and waning.
• The 15^th day in a month is the day of full moon.
• The start of a day is at sunrise.
• There is 1 leap month added after spring equinox (the 1^st month) in a small or big leap year, for year 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 in a 19-year cycle.
• There is 1 leap day added to the 1^st month in a big leap year, irregularly.
• (There are about 7 leap months in 19 years.)

Burmese Kawza calendar

• The epoch is possibly the year of the usurpation by the King Popa Sawrahan.
• The epoch begins with the year zero.
• The start of a year is the day when Sun enters Aries.
• There are 12 (without leap) months in a year.
• There are 29 (without leap) days in months of an odd number, 30 days in months of an even number.
• A month is divided into two parts: waxing and waning.
• The 15^th day in a month is the day of full moon.
• The start of a day is at sunrise.
• There is 1 leap month added after summer solstice (the 4^th month) in a small or big leap year, for year 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 in a 19-year cycle.
• There is 1 leap day added to the 3^rd month in a big leap year, irregularly.
• (There are about 7 leap months in 19 years.)

Chinese agricultural calendar

• The epoch is the year of presumed enthronement of Yellow Thearch.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• The start of a year is possibly the presumed day of enthronement of Thearch Shun.
• There are 12 (without leap) months in a year.
• The first month is the month with winter solstice.
• The first day of a month is the day with new moon.
• (There are 29 or 30 days in a month.)
• The start of a day is the midnight.
• The leap month is placed after the first month without a solar term of an even number.
• (There are about 7 leaps in 19 years.)

Hebrew calendar

• The epoch is the creation of the world in Genesis.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• The start of the year one is the presumed day of creation of the world in Genesis.
• There are 12 (without leap) months in a year.
• The start of a day is at sunset.
• There are 13 months for year 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19 in a 19-year cycle.
• The leap month is placed at the end of the year.
• (There are about 7 leaps in 19 years.)

Japanese calendar

• The epoch is the year of the reign of the current Emperor.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• The start of the year one is the presumed day of circumcision of Jesus of Nazareth.
• There are 12 months in a year.
• Days for months are 31, 28 (without leap), 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31.
• The start of a day is the midnight in Greenwich added by 9 hours.
• There is 1 leap day every 4 years added to the second month, except when the year is divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400.
• (There are about 1 leaps in 4 years.)

Korean agricultural calendar

• The epoch is the year of the foundation of Gojoseon.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• The start of a year is possibly the presumed day of enthronement of Thearch Shun.
• There are 12 (without leap) months in a year.
• The first month is the month with winter solstice.
• The first day of a month is the day with new moon.
• (There are 29 or 30 days in a month.)
• The start of a day is the midnight.
• The leap month is placed after the first month without a solar term of an even number.
• (There are about 7 leaps in 19 years.)

lunar Hijri calendar

• The epoch is the year of Hijrah.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• There are 12 months in a year.
• The first day of a month is the day with the first sight of the crescent.
• (There are 29 or 30 days in a month.)
• The start of a day is at sunset.

Republic of China calendar

• The epoch is the year of presumed foundation of the Republic of China.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• The start of the year one is the presumed day of circumcision of Jesus of Nazareth.
• There are 12 months in a year.
• Days for months are 31, 28 (without leap), 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31.
• The start of a day is the midnight in Greenwich added by 8 hours.
• There is 1 leap day every 4 years added to the second month, except when the year is divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400.
• (There are about 1 leaps in 4 years.)

scheduled lunar Hijri calendar

• The epoch is the year of Hijrah.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• There are 12 months in a year.
• There are 30 days in months of an odd number, 29 days in months of an even number, 29 (without leap) days for the last month.
• There are 30 days in the last month, if the number of the year in a 30-year cycle multiplied by 11/30 minus the number of past leaps in the 30-year cycle is higher than 1/2. (Years with a leap in the 30-year cycle are 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, 29.)
• The start of a day is at sunset.
• (There are 11 leaps in 30 years.)

solar Hijri calendar

• The epoch is the year of Hijrah.
• The epoch begins with the year one.
• The start of a year is the spring equinox.
• There are 12 months in a year.
• There are 31 days in the first 6 months, 30 days in the next 5 months, 29 (without leap) days in the last month.
• The start of a day is at sunset.
• (There are about 8 leaps in 33 years.)

Thai solar calendar

• The epoch is the year of death of Siddhārtha Gautama.
• The epoch begins with the year zero.
• The start of a year is the presumed day of circumcision of Jesus of Nazareth.
• There are 12 months in a year.
• Days for months are 31, 28 (without leap), 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31.
• The start of a day is the midnight in Greenwich added by 7 hours.
• There is 1 leap day every 4 years added to the second month, except when the year is divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400.
• (There are about 1 leaps in 4 years.)

Further reading: Is There a Perfect Calendar?

Timekeeping

European timekeeping

• A day is divided by 12 units ‘hour’ (in English) evenly.
• An hour is divided by 60 units ‘minute’ (in English) evenly.
• A minute is divided by 60 units ‘second’ (in English) evenly.
• A leap second is added to the last minute of a day irregularly.

Burmese timekeeping

• A day is divided into 2 parts evenly.
• Every such part is divided into 4 units ‘ဗဟို’ evenly.
• Every ဗဟို is divided into 7.5 units ‘နာရီ’ evenly.
• Every နာရီ is divided into 4 units ‘ပါဒ်’ evenly.
• Every ပါဒ် is divided into 15 units ‘ဗီဇနာ’ evenly.
• Every ဗီဇနာ is divided into 6 units ‘ပြန်’ evenly.
• Every ပြန် is divided into 10 units ‘ခရာ’ evenly.
• Every ခရာ is divided into 12 units ‘ခဏ’ evenly.
• Every ခဏ is divided into 4 units ‘လယ’ evenly.
• Every လယ is divided into 1.25 units ‘အနုခရာ’ evenly.

Chinese timekeeping

• A day is divided by 12 units ‘時’ evenly.
• A 時 is divided into 2 parts ‘初’, ‘正’ evenly.
• Every such part is divided by 4 units ‘刻’ evenly.

Thai timekeeping

• A day is divided by 4 periods ‘...โมงเช้า’, ‘บ่าย...โมง’, ‘...ทุ่ม’, ‘ตี...’ evenly.
• Every such period is divided into 6 parts evenly.