Days Until Christmas
Days until Christmas
About Christmas
December 25 is the date Western Christian churches celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, though the Bible itself doesn't specify a date and the choice of December 25 is widely believed by historians to have been formalized in the 4th century, possibly overlapping with existing Roman winter solstice-adjacent festivals.
Eastern Orthodox churches that still follow the Julian calendar for religious dates (rather than the Gregorian calendar most of the world uses civilly) celebrate Christmas on a date that currently falls on January 7 in the Gregorian calendar — a genuine, real difference in observance, not a single universal date.
Beyond its religious origins, December 25 is a public holiday and major cultural gift-giving occasion in a large number of countries regardless of individual religious observance.
Retailers in the US alone generate well over half a trillion dollars in holiday-season sales in a typical year, and the specific December 25 date also anchors a cluster of related countdowns on this site, from Christmas Eve the night before to Boxing Day the day after.
In the Philippines, Christmas-season observances traditionally begin as early as September, among the longest Christmas seasons anywhere in the world, another genuine regional variation in how the same December 25 date is approached.
Frequently asked questions
Is December 25 the actual historical birth date of Jesus?
No date is given in the Bible; December 25 was adopted by Western churches centuries later, and historians don't treat it as an established historical birth date.
Why do some Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas in January?
Because they follow the older Julian calendar for religious dates, which currently runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar most countries use for civil purposes.
Related countdowns
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