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Today is February 29, 2020. It’s “Leap Day” in Spain and maybe in your country too.
We will have to wait another four years before we can write February 29 on a check, a letterhead, an essay paper. Four more years will pass before we will see February 29 written on a wall calendar or agenda. The post office date stamp won’t read February 29 for four more years!
However, have you ever wondered if every country in the world has a “Leap Year” and a “Leap Day”? Is today “Leap Day” everywhere in the world?
I have wondered. My “cultural curiosity” was sparked!
I decided to put on my cultural awareness glasses and find out.
Here’s what I discovered.
No! The answer to the question, “Is today ‘Leap Year’ everywhere in the world?” is NO! It is not!
“Leap Years”—Who and Where?
“Leap Years” only affect the Gregorian Calendar, today’s internationally accepted civil calendar. This calendar is also known as the Western or Christian calendar and is the most widely used calendar in the world today.
So, if a country, region, or people doesn’t use the Gregorian Calendar, do they have “Leap Year”?
NO!
Although the Gregorian Calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world, it is certainly not the only calendar.
“Some cultures use calendars that do not apply the same leap year rules as the Gregorian calendar. The Iranian calendar, for instance, doesn’t observe February 29 as a leap day. Other calendars, such as the Chinese calendar, add a leap month instead of a leap day.”
Time and Table
Why Do We Need “Leap Years”?
“Leap days keep our modern-day Gregorian calendar in alignment with Earth’s revolutions around the Sun. It takes Earth approximately 365.242189 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds, to circle once around the Sun. However, the Gregorian calendar has only 365 days in a year. If we didn’t add a leap day on February 29 almost every four years, each calendar year would begin about 6 hours before the Earth completes its revolution around the Sun.”
Time and Table
There are other calendars that don’t have leap days and leap years. For example, the traditional Islamic calendar is an observational lunar calendar, directly tied to the timing of the Moon phases. As a result, it does not have or need leap years.
On the other hand, the Hindu calendar tries to reflect the movements of the Moon and the Sun over long periods of time. Leap days and leap months can be added and omitted to the Hindu Calendar throughout the year as needed. (Time and Table)
Check out Time and Table’s list of other calendars around the world and their inclusion—or not—of leap years.
So, depending on where you travel in the world today, February 29, 2020, it may not be February 29 after all!
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
MY GIFT TO YOU—GET YOUR FREE EBOOK—“THE 5-DAY JOURNEY TO CULTURAL AWARENESS”!
LET’S WEAVE CULTURES!
What about you? Did you know about “Leap Year” and why and where it exists? I sure didn’t!
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures”! Write about them in the comment box below.
