What Month Is It In Ethiopia? Why You’re Actually Living in 2018

Right now, while most of the world is checking their watches and flipping their 2026 calendars, Ethiopia is vibrating on a totally different frequency.

If you landed in Addis Ababa today, you wouldn't just be in a different time zone. You'd basically be in a different decade.

So, what month is it in Ethiopia? As of mid-January 2026, Ethiopia is currently in the month of Tir, in the year 2018.

Yeah, you read 그 right. 2018. While you're worried about 2026 problems, Ethiopia is just getting settled into what they call their "Year of Mercy." It's not a joke or a marketing gimmick for tourists. It’s the way the country actually functions, from government offices to school schedules.

The Month of Tir: Why January Isn't Really January

In the Ethiopian calendar, or the Ge'ez calendar, we are currently in Tir (pronounced "Teer").

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Tir roughly overlaps with the Gregorian month of January. Specifically, Tir started back on January 9th and it’s going to run all the way until February 7th. Honestly, if you're a fan of celebrations, this is the month to be there.

Why? Because Tir is the month of Timkat.

Timkat is the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of Epiphany, which happens on Tir 11 (January 19th for the rest of us). It is massive. Thousands of people dress in white, priests carry the Tabots (replicas of the Ark of the Covenant) on their heads, and there’s a whole lot of splashing holy water. It’s easily one of the most visually stunning festivals on the planet.

Wait, Why Is Ethiopia Eight Years Behind?

This is the part that usually breaks people's brains. It’s not that Ethiopians are "slow" to update or that they missed a memo. It’s actually because they stuck to their guns when the rest of the world changed.

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Basically, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church believes that Jesus was born about seven to eight years later than what the Catholic Church decided. Back in the day, when the Gregorian calendar was being pushed by Pope Gregory XIII in the 1500s, Ethiopia just... didn't adopt it. They kept the ancient calculations.

• Gregorian Calendar: Calculated the birth of Christ differently.
• Ethiopian Calendar: Follows the Alexandrian calculation, placing the "Annunciation" (when Mary was told she'd have a baby) on a different timeline.

The result? A seven-year difference from September to December, and an eight-year difference from January to September. Since we just crossed into 2026 in the West, but Ethiopia hasn't reached its next New Year yet, the gap is currently at its widest: eight years.

13 Months of Sunshine (Literally)

You might have seen the tourism slogan "Ethiopia: 13 Months of Sunshine." It sounds like a poetic exaggeration, but it’s a literal fact of their calendar.

The Ethiopian year has 12 months that are exactly 30 days long. No "30 days hath September" rhymes needed here. It’s very tidy. But since 12 times 30 is only 360, they have a 13th month called Pagumē to catch the remaining five or six days.

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Pagumē is like a "bonus" month at the end of the year, usually falling in early September. It’s a time of transition, rain, and preparation for the New Year, which is called Enkutatash.

The Calendar at a Glance

To help you wrap your head around it, here is how the months roughly line up right now:

1. Meskerem (Starts mid-September): The New Year.
2. Tikimt (Starts mid-October).
3. Hidar (Starts mid-November).
4. Tahsas (Starts mid-December).
5. Tir (Starts mid-January): Where we are now.
6. Yekatit (Starts mid-February).
7. Megabit (Starts mid-March).
8. Miyazya (Starts mid-April).
9. Ginbot (Starts mid-May).
10. Sene (Starts mid-June).
11. Hamle (Starts mid-July).
12. Nehasse (Starts mid-August).
13. Pagumē (The 5-6 day "mini" month in September).

Don't Forget the Clock

If the month and year weren't confusing enough, the time of day is also different. In Ethiopia, the day doesn't start at midnight. It starts at dawn.

When a local says it's "1 o'clock," they usually mean one hour after sunrise (which would be 7:00 AM to you). 6 o'clock is noon. It actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it—the day starts when the sun comes up. But if you’re booking a bus ticket, you’ve got to be incredibly careful to clarify if they mean "Ethiopian time" or "International time."

Actionable Tips for Navigating Ethiopian Time

If you’re planning to visit or work with people in Ethiopia, knowing what month it is helps, but these steps will save your life:

• Always Double-Check Appointments: If someone says "Let's meet at 2," ask "Is that 2 European or 2 Ethiopian?" (2 Ethiopian is 8:00 AM).
• Check Your Visa Dates: Most Ethiopian visas use the Gregorian calendar for international travelers, but some internal documents might use the local date. Look at the year carefully.
• Embrace the Holiday Shifts: Remember that Ethiopian Christmas (Ganna) isn't December 25th. It's January 7th. If you want to see the "real" celebrations, you need to time your trip for the Ethiopian dates, not the Western ones.
• Use a Converter App: There are plenty of "Ethiopian Calendar" apps on the App Store. Download one. It’s much easier than doing the mental math every time you need to know if it's Tuesday or Wednesday.

Ethiopia is one of the few places left where time feels like a local tradition rather than a global mandate. It’s a bit dizzying at first, but once you realize you've technically gained eight years of your life back just by stepping off a plane, it's kinda cool.