Which countries do not use the Gregorian calendar?

Time is one of the most important and interesting concepts in human life. Minutes, hours, days, weeks and months, in short, everything about time and time, is one of the most defining elements of our daily life. Like time, history has a huge impact on human life. So what is time and date literally? What do these two concepts, which play an extremely important role in our lives, really mean? Answering these questions is not easy. However, it may be helpful to take a closer look at the calendars, especially the Gregorian calendar, to get an answer. Although the Gregorian calendar is the dominant calendar in the world, it is not valid everywhere, at least not by itself! Today, some human communities around the world still calculate the date using different calendars. In fact, some cultures use more than one calendar at a time, so these cultures live by more than one date at a time! So why and how is the Gregorian calendar considered the dominant calendar? Let’s look together at the differences in the perception of history and time by mankind and the development of the Gregorian calendar…

What is the Gregorian calendar?

The Gregorian calendar, or commonly known as the Gregorian calendar, was adopted by Pope XIII in 1582. A calendar commissioned by Gregory to replace the Julian calendar, allowing the Earth to revolve around the Sun in 365 days and 6 hours per year. The calendar takes the year of Jesus’ birth as a milestone and counts the date from there.

It was also designed to correct the shift between the Catholic calendar and the solar year, which was arranged according to the Julian calendar. Compared to the Julian calendar, it was much more successful and functional. But in order for the calendar to become widespread, it was not enough just to be technically successful. The world was not yet ready to radically change the perception of time …

For the first time in 1582, Pope XIII. The calendar, compiled during the reign of Gregory, was a product of Renaissance Christian teachings and science.

Moreover, it was more functional than the Julian calendar, which was a regular calendar before it. He managed to reduce the 10-day discrepancy between seasons to 26 seconds. However, it was the Catholic calendar prepared by the Pope. For this reason, Orthodox and Protestants abandoned the use of the Gregorian calendar.

It was not until the 1600s that the Gregorian calendar became popular only among Catholic communities. Orthodox countries such as Russia, Romania, and Greece were in no way inclined to use the Gregorian calendar. So much so that the calendar was not a common instrument in Europe until the 20th century!

How did the Gregorian calendar become the dominant calendar?

Although the Gregorian calendar was not accepted among Protestants and Orthodox, it was accepted much more easily in different geographic regions of the world. For example, the Gregorian calendar was used in Beirut in the 1880s and in Japan in 1872. The biggest reason for this situation was the European imperialism that affected the whole world in the 19th century.

During the colonial period, almost 80% of the globe was under the control of European states. That is why the Gregorian calendar has spread throughout the world. In the subsequent period, the adoption of the Gregorian calendar as the international standard in many different fields, from economics to science, was another factor that increased the popularity of the calendar.

Globalization has led to an increase in the popularity of the Gregorian calendar.

For example, in 2016, Saudi Arabia switched payroll calendars for civil servants from the Hijri calendar to the Gregorian calendar. In addition, technology and cultural imperialism allowed the Gregorian calendar to be transferred to geographical regions that even colonialism could not reach.

In the past, ideas about history and time were much more cultural.

Accordingly, many ancient societies in the past used more than one calendar at a time. For example, ancient Egypt and the Mayan civilization had two different calendars, one religious and one administrative. The Gregorian calendar was one of 4 calendars used in Beirut in the 1880s! In the 1400s, both Chinese and Arabic calendars were used in Korea. In short, many societies in the past used more than one calendar for cultural or technical reasons.

Although the Gregorian calendar has become the standard calendar over the years, the perception of time and date can vary from country to country even today.

Because communities continue to exist today that continue to have different perceptions of time and date and therefore use different calendars together… For example, most of the world has just met 2023 and Ethiopia is only 8 years away from entering 2023! Myanmar in 1384, Thailand in 2566! Nepal lives in 2079 according to one calendar and 1143 according to another calendar. And officially!

In South Korea, you can celebrate more than one birthday a year! Because even today in South Korea, both the Gregorian and the lunar calendar are used simultaneously. In Japan, various calendars are used alongside the Gregorian calendar, showing imperial dates, auspicious days, and seasonal changes. In short, history and time continue to develop differently in different parts of the world.

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