Not everyone agrees what year it is
Right now, somewhere in the world, the year is not what you think it is. While most international business, aviation, and diplomacy runs on the Gregorian calendar, billions of people also use a completely different calendar in their daily lives — one where the year number, the number of months, and even the length of the year itself may be entirely different. In Thailand, the year is always 543 ahead of the Gregorian count. In Ethiopia, it is seven or eight years behind. In Iran, the year number is roughly 621 less than the Gregorian year. And in Israel, the year count stretches back nearly six millennia.
These are not historical curiosities or museum pieces. They are living, functioning calendar systems used on government documents, in schools, on bank statements, and at kitchen tables. Understanding them reveals just how much our sense of time is shaped by culture, religion, and political history — and how the Gregorian calendar, for all its global dominance, is only one way of counting the years.
Thailand and the Buddhist Era
Thailand’s official calendar counts years from the passing of Gautama Buddha, an event traditionally dated to 543 BC in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. This system is known as the Buddhist Era, or BE. To convert a Gregorian year to the Thai year, you simply add 543. So in the Gregorian year 2026, Thailand is in the year 2569 BE. In 2030, it would be 2573 BE. The offset never changes.
The Buddhist Era is not merely ceremonial. It appears on Thai national identity cards, driving licenses, birth certificates, government contracts, and legal documents. Thai banks print it on statements. Newspapers use it in datelines. School textbooks teach history using BE dates. When a Thai citizen reads that an event happened in the year 2475, they know instantly that it corresponds to 1932 in the Gregorian calendar — the year of the Siamese revolution that transformed the country from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional one.
Thailand adopted the Buddhist Era officially in 1912, during the reign of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), though the system had been in informal use for centuries. Before that, Thailand used a variety of era systems, including one based on the founding of Bangkok. The switch to BE was part of a broader modernization effort, but notably, it was a modernization that chose to anchor the country’s sense of time in its own religious tradition rather than adopting the Christian-rooted Gregorian year count.
Other Theravada Buddhist countries, including Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, also recognize the Buddhist Era, though they differ slightly on the exact starting calculation. Myanmar, for instance, uses a version that differs by one year. In everyday practice, however, Thailand is the country where the Buddhist Era is most visibly and consistently used in modern civil life.
Japan and the Imperial Era
Japan’s calendar system is unique in that the year count resets every time a new emperor ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne. Each emperor’s reign defines an era, and years are counted from the start of that era. The current era, Reiwa, began on May 1, 2019, when Emperor Naruhito took the throne. The Gregorian year 2026 is therefore Reiwa 8. The year 2019 was Reiwa 1 (from May onward; before that, it was still the final months of the Heisei era).
The modern era system, known as gengo, has produced five era names since the Meiji Restoration of 1868: Meiji (1868–1912), Taishō (1912–1926), Shōwa (1926–1989), Heisei (1989–2019), and Reiwa (2019–present). Each era name is chosen by the government and carries symbolic meaning. Reiwa, for example, is typically translated as "Beautiful Harmony." The name is announced shortly before or at the moment of the new emperor’s accession, and it immediately begins appearing on all official documents.
The era system is deeply embedded in Japanese bureaucracy. Government forms, tax filings, pension records, and official correspondence all use era-based dates. A Japanese driver’s license might list an expiration date as "Reiwa 10" rather than 2028. Hospital records, school diplomas, and legal contracts commonly use era years. While younger Japanese people increasingly use the Gregorian year in casual conversation, the era system remains the standard for formal and official contexts.
Japan also has an older continuous year count, the kōki system, which counts from the legendary founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu in 660 BC. Under this count, the Gregorian year 2026 would be the year 2686. The kōki system was used officially during the nationalist period before and during World War II but fell out of favor afterward. Today it appears mainly in historical and ceremonial contexts, while the era system dominates official use.
Ethiopia and the Ge’ez calendar
Ethiopia’s calendar is one of the most striking examples of calendrical divergence. The Ethiopian calendar, also called the Ge’ez calendar, runs roughly seven to eight years behind the Gregorian calendar. The exact gap depends on the time of year: between Ethiopian New Year (which falls on September 11 or 12 in the Gregorian calendar) and December 31, the difference is seven years. From January 1 to September 10, it is eight years. So during most of the Gregorian year 2026, Ethiopia is in the year 2018, switching to 2019 in September.
The reason for this gap lies in a disagreement about the date of the Annunciation — the moment when, according to Christian tradition, the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear Jesus. The Gregorian calendar and the Ethiopian calendar both count from this event, but they calculate the date differently. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church follows the older calculation of Annianus of Alexandria, which places the Annunciation about seven or eight years later than the Western calculation adopted by Dionysius Exiguus (the monk whose work eventually led to the Gregorian system).
Beyond the year difference, the Ethiopian calendar has a completely different structure. It consists of twelve months of exactly 30 days each, plus a thirteenth month called Pagumè that has five days in a normal year and six in a leap year. This thirteenth month is a full part of the calendar, not an afterthought — Ethiopians sometimes describe their country as having "thirteen months of sunshine," a phrase that doubles as a tourism slogan. The leap year cycle follows a four-year pattern, with the extra day added to Pagumè.
Ethiopia’s New Year, called Enkutatash, is celebrated with great festivity. It falls at the end of the rainy season, when the countryside bursts into bloom with yellow Meskel daisies. The holiday carries both religious and secular significance and marks the start of the Ethiopian year. For visitors, the experience of arriving in Ethiopia and discovering that the year is different can be genuinely disorienting — a vivid reminder that the Gregorian calendar is not the universal standard it sometimes pretends to be.
Iran and the Solar Hijri calendar
Iran’s official calendar, the Solar Hijri (also called the Persian calendar or Shamsi calendar), counts years from the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD — the same starting event as the Islamic Hijri calendar. The crucial difference is that the Solar Hijri uses solar years rather than lunar ones. Because solar years are about 11 days longer than lunar years, the Solar Hijri year count has drifted ahead of the lunar Hijri count over the centuries. In the Gregorian year 2026, Iran is approximately in the year 1404 or 1405 (depending on the month, since the Persian New Year falls around March 20–21).
The Solar Hijri calendar is a masterpiece of astronomical precision. Its year begins at the exact moment of the vernal equinox as observed from Tehran — not from a fixed rule or formula, but from actual astronomical observation. This makes it one of the most accurate calendars in existence. The average length of a Solar Hijri year over its full cycle matches the tropical year more closely than the Gregorian calendar does. Leap years are determined by a complex cycle that keeps the calendar tightly aligned with the seasons.
The Persian calendar has twelve months. The first six months each have 31 days, the next five have 30 days, and the last month has 29 days (or 30 in a leap year). This asymmetry reflects the actual varying speed of Earth’s orbit around the Sun — Earth moves faster when it is closer to the Sun (around the Northern Hemisphere winter) and slower when it is farther away, so the seasons are not all the same length.
Iran and Afghanistan both use the Solar Hijri calendar officially, though the Afghan version (called the Hijri Shamsi) has different month names. In Iran, the calendar permeates daily life: school years, fiscal years, government planning, and personal milestones are all reckoned in Solar Hijri years. Nowruz, the Persian New Year at the vernal equinox, is one of the most important holidays in Iranian culture and is also celebrated across Central Asia, the Caucasus, and parts of the Middle East.
Israel and the Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar counts years from the creation of the world as calculated by rabbinic scholars in the 2nd century AD. According to this tradition, creation occurred in 3761 BC. To find the Hebrew year, you add 3760 to the Gregorian year (or 3761 after the Hebrew New Year in the fall). The Gregorian year 2026 falls mostly in the Hebrew year 5786, an age that dwarfs every other calendar system in common use.
The Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar, meaning it uses lunar months but periodically adds an extra month to stay aligned with the solar year and the agricultural seasons. A regular Hebrew year has twelve months alternating between 29 and 30 days, totaling 353 to 355 days. About seven times in every 19-year cycle, a thirteenth month (Adar II) is intercalated, making a leap year of 383 to 385 days. This 19-year Metonic cycle ensures that Jewish holidays, which are tied to specific seasons, do not drift through the calendar the way Islamic holidays do.
In Israel, the Hebrew calendar has official status alongside the Gregorian calendar. Hebrew dates appear on government documents, and Jewish holidays determined by the Hebrew calendar are public holidays. However, everyday commerce, international business, and most secular life in Israel runs on the Gregorian calendar. The Hebrew calendar’s primary domain is religious observance: it determines the dates of Rosh Hashanah (New Year), Yom Kippur, Passover, Sukkot, and all other Jewish festivals. Jewish communities around the world, not just in Israel, follow the Hebrew calendar for religious purposes.
The Hebrew calendar’s year count gives it a distinctive sense of deep time. While the Gregorian calendar places us in the low two-thousands, the Hebrew calendar’s year 5786 evokes a sense of continuity stretching back to the very beginning of the world as understood by the tradition that created it.
The Islamic Hijri calendar
The Islamic calendar, known as the Hijri calendar, is used across the Muslim world and is the official calendar of Saudi Arabia. Like the Solar Hijri calendar of Iran, it counts from Muhammad’s migration to Medina in 622 AD. But unlike the Iranian system, the Hijri calendar is purely lunar. Each month begins with the sighting of the new crescent moon, and a year consists of twelve lunar months totaling approximately 354 or 355 days — about 11 days shorter than a solar year.
Because of this shorter year, the Hijri calendar does not stay aligned with the seasons. Over a roughly 33-year cycle, the Islamic year drifts through all four seasons of the Gregorian calendar. This is most visible with Ramadan, the holy month of fasting: it arrives about 11 days earlier each Gregorian year, cycling through summer, winter, spring, and autumn over the decades. A person who fasts during Ramadan in a northern country will experience dramatically different fasting hours depending on which Gregorian season Ramadan happens to fall in that year.
The Gregorian year 2026 corresponds approximately to the Hijri year 1447–1448 (since the Hijri new year falls at a different Gregorian date each year). The lunar Hijri year count has fallen further behind the Gregorian count than the Solar Hijri because lunar years are shorter, so more of them have elapsed since 622 AD.
Saudi Arabia uses the Hijri calendar for all official government business, and it is the basis for determining the dates of the two Eid celebrations (Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha) and the Hajj pilgrimage. Other Muslim-majority countries use the Hijri calendar for religious purposes while running civil affairs on the Gregorian calendar. The question of exactly when each month begins — by direct observation of the moon or by astronomical calculation — varies between countries and Islamic authorities, which is why the start of Ramadan is sometimes announced on different days in different places.
North Korea and the Juche calendar
North Korea’s Juche calendar is one of the youngest alternative calendar systems in the world. Introduced in 1997, three years after the death of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung, it counts years from his birth year of 1912, which is designated Juche 1. The calendar does not change the months or days — it simply replaces the Gregorian year number. The Gregorian year 2026 is Juche 115.
The Juche calendar is named after the state ideology of Juche, or "self-reliance," which forms the philosophical basis of the North Korean political system. By resetting the year count to start with Kim Il-sung’s birth, the calendar places the founder at the center of the country’s sense of time itself. All of North Korean history before 1912 is expressed in negative Juche years or, more commonly, simply described using the Gregorian system.
In practice, the Juche calendar is used alongside the Gregorian calendar in North Korea. Official documents, newspapers, and broadcasts typically show both: a date might read "Juche 115 (2026)." The Gregorian year is included in parentheses for clarity, particularly in international contexts. Despite its ideological purpose, the Juche calendar does not alter the underlying structure of timekeeping — it is, in effect, a renumbering of the Gregorian year.
Taiwan and the Minguo calendar
Taiwan uses the Minguo calendar, also known as the Republic of China calendar, which counts from the founding of the Republic of China in 1912. The Gregorian year 2026 is Minguo year 115. Like the Juche calendar, the Minguo system simply replaces the year number while keeping the Gregorian months and days intact.
The Minguo calendar has been in official use since the establishment of the Republic of China, and it survived the government’s relocation to Taiwan in 1949. Today, it is used on Taiwanese government documents, identity cards, official forms, and in legal contexts. Dates on Taiwanese driving licenses, tax forms, and national identification documents use the Minguo year. A Taiwanese ID card issued in the Gregorian year 2026 would show the year as 115.
In everyday life, Taiwanese people freely switch between the Minguo and Gregorian systems. International business, technology, and most casual conversation use Gregorian years, but the Minguo calendar remains firmly embedded in official and bureaucratic life. Converting between the two is trivial — just subtract 1911 from the Gregorian year — but it remains a source of occasional confusion for foreigners dealing with Taiwanese paperwork for the first time.
How these calendars coexist with the Gregorian system
The Gregorian calendar’s dominance in international affairs is undeniable. Air travel, global finance, the internet, scientific research, and diplomacy all run on Gregorian dates. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO 8601) defines dates using the Gregorian system, and every country in the world uses Gregorian dates for at least some purposes.
But dominance is not the same as universality. In each of the countries described above, the local calendar is not a relic or a curiosity — it is a living system that shapes how people experience time. A Thai student counting years in the Buddhist Era, an Iranian family celebrating Nowruz at the vernal equinox, an Ethiopian marking the start of a new year in September, a Japanese bureaucrat filing paperwork in Reiwa years — all of these people are navigating a world where two or more calendar systems coexist, sometimes on the same document.
This coexistence is remarkably smooth in practice. Most countries that use an alternative calendar also use the Gregorian calendar for international purposes. Computer systems handle the conversion. Banks and airlines operate bilingually, in calendrical terms. People learn the mental arithmetic needed to convert between systems — add 543 for Thailand, add 3760 for Israel, subtract 621 and adjust for the Solar Hijri — much as bilingual speakers switch between languages without thinking.
The persistence of these calendars tells us something important about human culture: time is not just a measurement, it is a story. The year number on a calendar encodes an origin story — the death of the Buddha, the founding of a republic, the creation of the world, the migration of a prophet. Changing the year number to match the Gregorian count would not just be a practical adjustment; it would mean abandoning a narrative about where a culture’s sense of time begins. For most of these societies, that is not a trade they are willing to make.
The next time you write a date, consider that somewhere on Earth, someone is writing a completely different year — and that their year is every bit as real as yours.