The year’s 2020, right? Check the calendar. Yup, that definitely says 2020!
What if someone were to tell you that it wasn’t? What if someone said that the year is actually 108, or if they went the other way and said that it was 4717? Would you believe them?
Well, we’re here to offer you a few different perspectives from around the world. Not all countries have the same calendar. So, whilst you’re going about your day, they might just be celebrating their New Year.
North Korea
Did you know that North Korea, whilst still running on a Gregorian calendar, does so with a modified version? The calendar is actually known as the Juche calendar and is based on the year in which their first leader, Kim Il Sung was born. This year, 1912, is known as year one on the Juche calendar, leaving their system around 1912 years behind ours. The current year in North Korea is 109. When we’ll all move into 2020, they’ll only be moving up to 109.
The Juche calendar is named after the Juche system, which is the official state ideology of North Korea. North Korea is known as a largely isolated state, which is why you must join one of many North Korea Tours to enter the country. Consequently, on 8 July 1997, the North Korean government decided that one of the ways in which to stress their own independence was by adopting this slightly altered calendar.
However, since 2003, to make things even more complicated, North Korea has – instead of in typical Gregorian fashion – started to celebrate the new year during the lunar new year. This is the same as their southerly neighbor South Korea, and the huge country to the west: China.
How to celebrate the New Year in North Korea
Whilst some things in North Korea might require a guide to get used to, the country celebrates the New year in a pretty similar manner as other countries. On the day (or night if you want to get really technical) they take to the streets in Pyongyang to see a