Ethiopian calendar

The Ethiopian calendar (Amharic: ዓውደ ወር; Ge'ez: ዓዉደ ወርሕ; Tigrinya: ዓዉደ ኣዋርሕ), or Geʽez calendar (Geʽez: ዓዉደ ወርሕ; Tigrinya: ዓዉደ ኣዋርሕ, Amharic: የኢትዮጲያ ዘመን ኣቆጣጠር) is the official state civil calendar of Ethiopia and serves as an unofficial customary cultural calendar in Eritrea, and among Ethiopians and Eritreans in the diaspora.

A gap of seven to eight years between the Ethiopian and Gregorian calendars results from an alternative calculation in determining the date of the Annunciation.

[2][3] The Ethiopian months begin on the same days as those of the Coptic calendar, but their names are in Geʽez.

The Ethiopian calendar years 1992 and 1996, however, began on the Gregorian dates of 12 September in 1999 and 2003 respectively.

[5] To indicate the year, followers of the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches today use the Incarnation Era, which dates from the Annunciation of the Incarnation of Jesus on 25 March AD 9 (Julian), as calculated by Annianus of Alexandria c. 400; thus, its first civil year began seven months earlier on 29 August AD 8.

[6] Around AD 400, an Alexandrine monk called Panodoros fixed the Alexandrian Era (Anno Mundi = in the year of the world) and the date of creation, on 29 August 5493 BC.

Bishop Anianos preferred the Annunciation as New Year's Day, 25 March.

Thus he shifted the Panodoros era by about six months (to begin on 25 March 5492 BC).