​Ethiopian Calendar

Ethiopian Calendar is an online Ge'ez calendar converter and blog. It features an interactive Ethiopia calendar widget and information about important Ethiopian dates, public holidays, Orthodox Tewahedo fasting dates. Read more

Ethiopian Calendar Today

The Ethiopian calendar is Ethiopia's official calendar, making the country one of a few countries in the world with its own calendar. The calendar is also used in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo churches, where it was first used.

The Ethiopian calendar is similar to the Coptic Egyptian calendar since both have 13 months, 12 of which have 30 days, and an intercalary month at the end of the year called Pagume, which means 'forgotten days' in Greek. This last month has five days or six days in a leap year.

Ethiopian Calendar
Ethiopia's calendar is also similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar as both have a year with 365 days and 366 days in a leap year, which is every fourth year. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, where the calendar first found its roots in Ethiopia, has also influenced the calendar.

The Ethiopian year starts on the 11th of September in the Gregorian calendar or on the 12th of September in a leap year. It is also seven to eight years behind the Gregorian year owing to alternate calculations in determining the date of the annunciation of Jesus's birth.

Ethiopia’s calendar differs from both the Coptic and Julian calendars; the Coptic and Ethiopian calendar difference are 276 years. Despite this, Ethiopia's calendar is closely associated with the rules and the different calculations influenced by the Coptic Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.


Ethiopian Date and Time FAQs​
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• What is the Ethiopian date today? The date in Ethiopia today is 4/0/2013.

• What year is it in Ethiopia now? The year in the Ethiopian calendar today is 2012, and the next new Ethiopian year starts on September 11, 2020.

• How many Ethiopian months are there? The Calendar in Ethiopia has 13 months. The 12 months have 30 days each and the thirteenth month, called Pagume, has five or six days depending on the year.

• When is New Year in Ethiopia? The Ethiopian year starts on September 11.

• Why is Ethiopia seven years behind the world? Although the Ethiopian calendar uses Christ's date of annunciation as the starting point, it calculates this date differently, making it seven years behind the Gregorian and similar calendars. Ethiopia started the new millennium on the 11th of September 2007.

• What is the time in Ethiopia now? Ethiopia is in the Eastern Africa Time zone all year and does not have daylight saving. The current time in Ethiopia is