Happy New Year, Ethiopia — welcome to 2019! 🇪🇹🎉
While much of the world is living in 2026, Ethiopia entered the year 2019 today, 11 September, according to the Ethiopian calendar. The occasion is Enkutatash, Ethiopian New Year, listed as a public holiday on Time and Date’s 2026 holiday calendar.
Why is Ethiopia celebrating 2019?
Ethiopia follows a calendar closely related to the ancient Coptic and Alexandrian traditions. Its year numbering differs from the Gregorian calendar because of an ancient difference in calculating the Christian era. Depending on the time of year, the numbered year is seven or eight years lower than its Gregorian counterpart.
That does not mean Ethiopia is living in the past. The same day can carry different dates in different calendar systems. Today is a clear example: 11 September 2026 in the Gregorian calendar corresponds to the beginning of 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar. Read more about the Ethiopian calendar.
A calendar with 13 months
The Ethiopian calendar contains twelve months of exactly 30 days, followed by a short thirteenth month called Pagume. Pagume has five days in an ordinary year and six in a leap year. Its structure is a reminder that the familiar January-to-December arrangement is one way of organising the year, rather than the only possible system.
Enkutatash: the gift of jewels
Enkutatash is traditionally translated as “gift of jewels.” Ethiopian tradition connects the name with the Queen of Sheba’s return from visiting King Solomon, when she was welcomed with gifts of jewels. This is the celebration’s traditional origin story, rather than a claim that the account has been independently established as historical fact. Read more about Enkutatash and its traditions.
The New Year arrives as the long rainy season draws to a close in the highlands. Green landscapes and yellow flowers associated with the season give the celebration its distinctive atmosphere of renewal. Families and communities mark the occasion with gatherings, meals, songs and well-wishes.
Meskel follows on 27 September
Later this month, Ethiopia marks Meskel, a major religious and cultural festival. In 2026, it falls on Sunday, 27 September—exactly sixteen days after Enkutatash. Both dates appear in the country’s 2026 public-holiday calendar.
Different calendars, the same shared present
The most fascinating part of this story is not the suggestion that a country is “seven years behind.” That language can turn a difference in calendar conventions into an unfair judgment about a civilisation.
Ethiopia is counting the same passage of time through a different historical system. The number on a calendar is not a measure of a country’s progress, intelligence or place in the modern world.
Calendars don’t change time itself—they change how civilisations organise and name it. 🌍⏳
From MaryChuks.com, happy Enkutatash to everyone celebrating in Ethiopia and across the diaspora. May 2019 bring peace, renewal and possibilities worth building together.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration, not a photograph of today’s celebrations.
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