The countries that have two Christmases

ADULTS take the adage “Christmas comes but once a year” as an excuse to splurge on gifts. For children, it is a warning of the limits of Utopia. The tots would no doubt be angered to learn that in some places it is not true. This year Ukraine recognised December 25th as an official holiday, along with the traditional Orthodox Christmas on January 7th. It thus became the world’s fifth country with two Christmases, joining Belarus, Eritrea, Lebanon and Moldova.

The sources of this yuletide surplus lie deep in history. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII approved a reform of the Julian calendar, which dated from 45BC. Many European countries quickly switched over, though others took centuries. Russia only adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1918, after the Soviets came to power. But the Russian, Serbian and Georgian Orthodox churches stuck with the Julian one, which now runs 13 days late.