published in 2009-12-22 09:33:00
Christmas or Christmas Day is an aion gold annual Christian vacantion commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on December 25 except this date is not known to be Jesus' actual ...
Christmas or Christmas Day is an aion gold annual Christian vacantion commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on December 25 except this date is not known to be Jesus' actual birthday and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months behind some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived a historical Roman festival or the date of the northern hemisphere's winter solstice.Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide which lasts twelve days.
Although traditionally a Christian holiday Christmas is also widely celebrated by many non-Christians and some of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving music an exchange of aion kinah greeting cards cathedral celebrations a special meal and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees lights garlands mistletoe nativity scenes and holly. In addition Father Christmas (known like Santa Claus in some areas including North America Australia and Ireland) is a popular mythological figure in many runescape gold countries associated with the bringing of gifts for children.
Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in most countries of the world even in many whose populations are not majority Christian. In some non-Christian countries periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration; in others Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. Major exceptions where Christmas is not a formal public holiday include China (excepting Hong Kong and Macao) Japan Saudi Arabia Algeria Thailand Nepal Iran Turkey and North Korea.
While most countries congratulate Christmas on December 25 each year some eastern national churches including those of Russia Georgia Egypt Armenia the Ukraine Macedonia and Serbia celebrate on January 7. This is since of their use of the traditional Julian Calendar under which December 25 falls on January 7 as measured by the standard Gregorian Calendar.
Around the world Christmas celebrations can vary markedly in form reflecting differing cultural and national traditions. Countries such as Japan and Korea where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small number of Christians have adopted many of the secular aspects of Christmas such as gift-giving decorations and Christmas trees.