Public Holidays around the World!
Let’s be honest, everyone loves a public holiday! That extra day off in which you, by law, get paid for not working, sweet!
Whether it’s religious or to celebrate events of significance in a country’s history; the truth is, they are normally a good occasion to get together with family and friends. Among the most popular and widely celebrated are:
- New Year (1st January) – the oldest celebrated!
- Christmas (Christian, 25th December) – the day Jesus was born
- Eid al-Fitr (Muslim, varies) - end of Ramadan fasting
- Diwali (Hindu, October-November) – Festival of lights
People celebrate them in very different ways from place to place and holiday to holiday. A common thing to do is to try to escape the city or extend the party nights out. But in some cases, as for instance the list above, its all about following the traditional rituals.
The number of public holidays each country celebrates varies a lot too, but doesn't necessarily reflect how lucky or unlucky its citizens are. For example in Korea, the official count of public holidays includes all Sundays. The country is supposed to break the record of number of public holidays next year with 67 of them! No wonder why.
On the other hand, the law in some countries with large number of public holidays may grant only a few more days of annual leave to workers compared to other peers. Argentina is a good example, with 19 public holidays but only 9 days of annual leave for workers.
In any case, here’s a list of what different sources on the internet count as the top countries for the higher number of public holidays per year:
- Sri Lanka (25)
- Cambodia (20)
- Argentina (19)
- Colombia (18)
- Japan, China, Egypt, Hong Kong (16)
- Thailand, Indonesia, India, Morocco (15)
Saudi Arabia is on the opposite end with only 3!
Do you know of other countries with many public holidays? How many do you celebrate in your country? How do you celebrate them? Let us know by posting below!