Christmas or
Christmas Day (
Old English:
Crīstesmæsse, literally "
Christ's
mass") is an annual commemoration of
the birth of
Jesus Christ,
[5][6] celebrated generally on
December 25[2][3][4] as a
religious and
cultural holiday by billions of people
around the world. A
feast central to the
Christian liturgical year, it closes the
Advent season and initiates the
twelve days of
Christmastide.
[7] Christmas is a
civil holiday in
many of the world's nations,
[8][9][10] is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians,
[1][11][12] and is an integral part of the
Christmas and holiday season.
The precise day of
Jesus’ birth, which historians place between 7 and 2 BC, is unknown.
[13] In the early-to-mid 4th century, the
Western Christian Church first placed Christmas on December 25, a date later adopted also in the East.
[14][15] Theories advanced to explain that choice include that it falls exactly nine months after the Christian celebration of the
conception of Jesus,
[16] or that it was selected to coincide with either the date of the
Roman winter solstice[17] or of some ancient
winter festival.
[16][18]
The original date of the celebration in
Eastern Christianity was January 6, in connection with
Epiphany, and that is still the date of the celebration for the
Armenian Apostolic Church and in
Armenia, where it is a
public holiday. As of 2011, there is a difference of 13 days between the
Julian calendar and the more generally used
Gregorian calendar. Those who use the Julian calendar or its equivalents thus celebrate December 25 and January 6 on what for the majority of people is January 7 and January 19. For this reason, Ethiopia celebrates Christmas, both as a Christian feast and as a public holiday on what in the Gregorian calendar is January 7.
[19]
Many of the popular celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have
pre-Christian or
secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include
gift giving,
Christmas music and
caroling, an exchange of
Christmas cards,
church celebrations, a
special meal, and the display of various
decorations, including
Christmas trees,
lights,
nativity scenes,
garlands,
wreaths,
mistletoe, and
holly. In addition, several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known as
Santa Claus,
Father Christmas,
Saint Nicholas and
Kris Kringle among other names, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions and lore.
[20] Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.
