About Christmas
Christmas is an annual holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed on December 25 by Catholics, Protestants, and most Western Christian denominations. The date is also widely celebrated as a secular cultural holiday across much of the world, regardless of religious affiliation.
The December 25 date was established in the 4th century and formalised in the Roman church by 336 AD. The Nativity of Christ had been observed on various dates before that; December 25 was chosen in part to align with existing Roman winter festivals.
December 25 vs January 7
Two main dates exist for Christmas:
- December 25 — observed by the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant denominations, Anglican churches, and many secular traditions worldwide. Also followed by Orthodox churches in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and several others that use the Revised Julian Calendar.
- January 7 — observed by the Russian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Georgian Orthodox Church, and others that follow the traditional Julian calendar, which currently runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.
Both dates commemorate the same event; the difference is purely calendrical.
How Widely Is Christmas Celebrated?
Christmas on December 25 is a public holiday in over 160 countries. Even in countries where Christianity is not the dominant religion, the cultural and commercial aspects of the holiday — gift-giving, decorated trees, seasonal music — have spread widely. In Japan, for example, Christmas Eve is widely observed as a popular occasion despite Christianity representing a small fraction of the population.
The Countdown
The calculator counts down to midnight at the start of December 25 in your local time zone. When the date arrives, the timer resets to the following year automatically.