About the Ethiopian Calendar Converter
This Ethiopian calendar converter translates a Gregorian date into the Ethiopian (Ge’ez) calendar — day, month and Ethiopian year — and converts an Ethiopian date back to the Gregorian calendar. It shows the Amharic month names, the weekday, whether the Ethiopian year is a leap year, and the Gregorian date of that year’s Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year).
Ethiopia uses this calendar as its official civil calendar, and the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches use it for feasts such as Genna (Christmas) and Meskel. It is handy for reading Ethiopian documents and birth certificates, filling in forms that ask for a Gregorian date of birth, planning around holidays, or working with family and colleagues in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian year has twelve months of 30 days plus a short thirteenth month, Pagume, of 5 days (6 in leap years). Its year count runs about 7 to 8 years behind the Gregorian one, and the new year starts on September 11 — or September 12 in the year before a Gregorian leap year. Days are counted midnight to midnight here; the traditional Ethiopian clock starting at dawn does not change the date.
How to use the ethiopian calendar converter
- 1Choose Gregorian → Ethiopian or Ethiopian → Gregorian.
- 2Enter the Gregorian date, or the Ethiopian day, month and year.
- 3Read the converted date and the day of the week.
- 4Check the leap-year status and the date of Enkutatash for that year.
- 5Use the month table to see when each Ethiopian month starts and ends.
Formula and method
The Ethiopian calendar descends from the ancient Egyptian and Coptic calendars. Every month has 30 days except Pagume, which has 5 days, or 6 when the year number leaves a remainder of 3 when divided by 4. Leap years follow the Julian rule with no century exceptions, so every fourth year is a leap year.
The converter counts days from the Ethiopian epoch — 1 Meskerem of year 1, which is 29 August 8 CE in the Julian calendar (Julian Day Number 1,724,221) — and translates that day count to and from the proleptic Gregorian calendar. For the reverse step the year is ⌊(4 × days since epoch + 1463) ÷ 1461⌋, following Reingold and Dershowitz’s Calendrical Calculations.
- y, m, d
- Ethiopian year, month (1–13) and day
- JDN
- Julian Day Number, a continuous count of days
Worked examples
September 29, 2026 in the Ethiopian calendar
Ethiopian New Year 2019 fell on September 11, 2026, so September 29 is the 19th day of Meskerem 2019. Because 2019 divided by 4 leaves 3, it is an Ethiopian leap year and Pagume will have 6 days.
Ethiopian Christmas (Genna) 2027
Genna is celebrated on 29 Tahsas. In Ethiopian year 2019 that is Thursday, January 7, 2027 — the 119th day of the Ethiopian year (3 full months of 30 days plus 29).
The leap day Pagume 6
Pagume 6, 2019 is the extra leap day and falls on September 11, 2027. The next day, September 12, 2027, is Enkutatash 2020 — which is why the new year moves to September 12 in the year before a Gregorian leap year.
Frequently asked questions
What year is it in the Ethiopian calendar?+
Ethiopian year 2019 began on September 11, 2026 and ends on September 11, 2027; year 2020 begins on September 12, 2027. From January to early September the Ethiopian year is 8 behind the Gregorian year, and from September to December it is 7 behind.
Why is the Ethiopian calendar 7 or 8 years behind?+
The Ethiopian Church dates the Annunciation and birth of Christ differently from the calculation by Dionysius Exiguus that the Western calendar uses. The Ethiopian Year of Mercy (Amete Mihret) therefore starts about seven years and eight months after 1 AD.
Why does the Ethiopian calendar have 13 months?+
It has twelve equal months of 30 days, which makes 360 days, plus a thirteenth month called Pagume with the remaining 5 days, or 6 in a leap year. That is the origin of the tourism slogan “13 months of sunshine.”
When is Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash)?+
Enkutatash, 1 Meskerem, falls on September 11 in most years and on September 12 in the year just before a Gregorian leap year (for example September 12, 2027, because 2028 is a leap year).
Does the Ethiopian time of day affect the date?+
Traditional Ethiopian clock time counts 12 hours from about 6 a.m., so 1 o’clock in Ethiopian time is 7 a.m. That changes how hours are named, but the calendar date itself changes at midnight as in the converter, so the conversion is unaffected.