Today's Date in Ethiopian Calendar

The Ethiopian calendar is a unique timekeeping system that’s been in use for centuries, and it’s quite fascinating! It’s based on the ancient Coptic calendar, which itself derives from the Egyptian calendar, but with some distinct twists that reflect Ethiopia’s cultural and religious heritage.

Here’s how it works:

1. Structure: The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months. Twelve of these months have 30 days each, and the 13th month, called Pagumē, has 5 or 6 days depending on whether it’s a leap year. This makes the total year either 365 or 366 days, similar to the Gregorian calendar we’re familiar with.
2. Year Offset: One of the most striking differences is that the Ethiopian calendar is about 7 to 8 years behind the Gregorian calendar. For example, while it’s 2025 in the Gregorian system today (February 27, 2025), it’s currently the year 2017 in Ethiopia. This gap comes from a different calculation of the date of the Annunciation (when Jesus was conceived), which Ethiopian tradition places later than the Western tradition.
3. New Year: The Ethiopian New Year, called Enkutatash, starts on September 11 in the Gregorian calendar (or September 12 in a Gregorian leap year). This timing ties to the end of Ethiopia’s rainy season and has deep cultural significance.
4. Leap Years: Like the Gregorian calendar, the Ethiopian calendar has a leap year every four years. The extra day is added to Pagumē, making it 6 days long instead of 5. The leap year occurs in the year before the Gregorian leap year—so, for instance, the Ethiopian year 2015 was a leap year, aligning with the Gregorian 2024 leap year cycle.
5. Months: The names of the months are in Ge’ez, the ancient liturgical language of Ethiopia. They are: Meskerem, Tikimt, Hidar, Tahsas, Tir, Yekatit, Megabit, Miyazia, Ginbot, Sene, Hamle, Nehase, and Pagumē. Each of the first 12 months has exactly 30 days, which keeps things simple until the short Pagumē wraps up the year.
6. Timekeeping: Ethiopia also uses a different system for telling time daily. The day starts at what we’d call 6:00 AM in the Gregorian system. So, 7:00 AM Gregorian is “1:00” in Ethiopian time, and it counts forward from there. This reflects the natural rhythm of sunrise in the region, close to the equator.

Religiously, it’s tied to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which uses it for feasts and fasts—like Christmas (Genna) on January 7 Gregorian (Tahsas 29 or 30 in Ethiopia). Culturally, it’s a point of pride, setting Ethiopia apart as a nation that resisted colonialism and kept its own traditions intact.