Ethiop ian Ca lendar re E Ethiopia has its own ancient calendar. The Ethiopian Calendar has more in common with the Coptic Egyptian Calendar. The Ethiopic and Coptic calendars have 13 months, 12 of 30 days each and an intercalary month at the end of the year of 5 or 6 days depending whether the year is a leap year or not. The Ethiopian calendar is much more similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar having a year of 13 months, 365 days and 366 days in a leap year (every fourth year) and it is much influenced by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which follows its ancient calendar rules and beliefs. The year starts on 11 September in the Gregorian Calendar or on the 12th in (Gregorian) Leap Years. The Coptic Leap Year follows the same rules as the Gregorian so that the extra month always has 6 days in a Gregorian Leap Year. The Ethiopic calendar differs from both the Coptic and the Julian calendars. The difference between the Ethiopic and Coptic is 276 years. In spite of this, the Ethiopic Calendar is closely associated with the rules and the different calculations influenced by the Coptic Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. Based upon the ancient Coptic Calendar, the Ethiopian Calendar is seven to eight years behind the Gregorian Calendar, owing to alternate calculations in determining the date of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus. The names of the months and their starting dates are as follows: Egyptian Ethiopian Start Date (regular) Start Date (leap year) Thuout Meskerem 11 Sept 12 Sept Paopi Tikemet 11 Oct 12 Oct Athor Hidar 10 Nov 11 Nov Khoiak Tahesas 10 Dec 11 Dec Tobi Tir 9 Jan 10 Jan Mekhir Yekatit 8 Feb 9 Feb Fameno or Baramhat Megabit 10 Mar - Farmou or Baramouda Miyaza 9 Apr - Pakhon Ginbot 9 May - Paony Sene 8 Jun - Epep Hamle 8 Jul - Mesori Nehase 7 Aug - Nasie Pagume 6 Sep - The Coptic New Year is a holiday in Ethiopia. Christmas falls on the 7th of January as in the Orthodox "old" calendar. Likewise, Epiphany is on the 19th of January. Easter would appear to be calculated according to the Orthodox calendar also. Christmas and Epiphany also do not appear to move by one day during Leap Years as they would if they were being set by the above calendar. Thus, it would seem that Christian feasts are set according to the Orthodox calendar rather than according to the Coptic. An Egyptian Coptic source simply describes the date of Easter as being "the second Sunday after the first full moon in Spring." These are the major public holidays: Date (in Western Calendar) Ethiopian public holiday January 7 Ethiopian Christmas (Genna) January 19 Ethiopian Epiphany (Timkat) March 2 Victory of Adwa Day March 13 Id Al Fitir (End of Ramadan) April 6 Patriots Victory Day April 17 Id Al Adha (Arafa) April 25 Ethiopian Good Friday April 27 Ethiopian Easter (Fasika) May 28 Downfall of the Dergue (Since 1991) July 17 Birth of Prophet Mohammed (Moulid) Sepember 11 Ethiopian New Year (Enqutatash) September 27 Feast of the True Cross (Meskal)