{"id":12896,"date":"2024-06-28T09:44:29","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T09:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=12896"},"modified":"2024-06-28T09:44:29","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T09:44:29","slug":"inside-the-country-where-its-technically-still-2016-for-over-120-million-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=12896","title":{"rendered":"Inside the country where it’s technically still 2016 for over 120 million people"},"content":{"rendered":"

The African country is due to ring in the 2017 New Year this September<\/h2>\n

While most countries on Earth are separated solely by a few hours, one country is so far \u2018behind\u2019 the US in terms of time that it\u2019s still 2016.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right now, there are six principal calendars in use; the Gregorian, Jewish, Islamic, Indian,\u00a0Chinese<\/a>, and Julian Calendars.<\/p>\n

While the Gregorian calendar is the most widely utilised, there are thought to be around 40 calendars used in\u00a0the world<\/a>\u00a0today.<\/p>\n

One of those is the Ethiopian calendar, commonly known as the Ge’ez calendar.<\/p>\n

While based on the same\u00a0astronomical calculations<\/a>\u00a0behind the Gregorian calendar and its predecessor, the Julian calendar, the Ge’ez calendar differs in numerous ways.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Locals<\/div>\n

Locals in Ethiopia will begin celebrating the 2017 New Year this September. (Emad Alijumah\/Getty stock image)<\/cite><\/div>\n

For example, a year on the Ge’ez calendar consists of 12 months, each totalling 30 days and includes an unusual 13th month, called Pagume.<\/p>\n

Pagume comes from the\u00a0Greek<\/a>\u00a0word \u2018epagomene\u2019,<\/em>\u00a0which means \u2018days forgotten when a year is calculated\u2019.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, this 13th month is usually only five days long, except in a leap year when it\u2019s six. These extra days are tacked on to the very end of the year to sync up correctly with the solar cycle.<\/p>\n

Another difference between the Ge’ez and the Gregorian calendars is that Ethiopia is considered to be seven years and eight months \u2018behind\u2019 the latter.<\/p>\n

This is because the Ethiopian Orthodox Church plotted the birthdate of\u00a0Jesus Christ<\/a>\u00a0at 7 BC, thought to be 5,500 years after God\u2019s promise to\u00a0Adam and Eve<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So while it\u2019s 2024 for most of the world, in Ethiopia they only just welcomed in 2016 last September.<\/p>\n

\n
\"A<\/div>\n

A year on the Ge’ez calendar consists of 12 months, each totalling 30 days and includes an unusual 13th month, called Pagume. (EDUARDO SOTERAS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

James McCann, an emeritus professor of history at Boston University, wants to change the narrative on the country\u2019s date difference.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Miami Herald, he\u00a0said<\/a>: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say they\u2019re behind us. That kind of conveys that there\u2019s something wrong with it. It\u2019s just different.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as a date difference, time works differently in Ethiopia too.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because instead of operating from a\u00a024-hour clock<\/a>, locals employ a 12-hour clock and divide the day into two 12-hour slots.<\/p>\n

The first slot therefore begins at dawn to dusk and the second cycle from dusk to dawn. .<\/p>\n

Despite the Ge’ez calendar having been in operation since around 4 A.D, many official institutions deviate from social norms and elect to use the Gregorian calendar and 24-hour clock.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\u201cI<\/div>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say they\u2019re behind us. That kind of conveys that there\u2019s something wrong with it. It\u2019s just different.\u201d (J. Countess\/Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

Speaking on the subject, Ethiopia historian Verena Krebs said: \u201cIn Ethiopia, the two dating systems often coexist, and their use is relational.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0government<\/a>\u00a0branches or any official correspondence often also use the \u2018Western\u2019 calendar for official documents.\u201d<\/p>\n

So if you find yourself traveling to Ethiopia any time soon, it\u2019s advised by Krebs that you \u2018use your common sense\u2019 to navigate the time and date change.<\/p>\n

Be sure to clarify exactly what time you\u2019re meant to be someone because you don\u2019t want to end up somewhere eight hours too early\u2026 Or eight hours too late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The African country is due to ring in the 2017 New Year this September While…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":101,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}