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Leap Year in Different Calendars

There are several calendars in use today which apply different rules to determine how often a leap year occurs.

Illustration image
The Chinese Calendar adds a leap month
©bigstockphoto.com/Eyematrix

The Gregorian calendar, used around the world today, adds one extra day, leap day on February 29, nearly every four years.

When Is the next leap year?

However, some cultures use calendars that do not apply the same leap year rules as the Gregorian calendar.

Leap Years in Different Calendars

Chinese Leap Month

The Chinese calendar adds a leap month every three years to keep in line with the Earth's rotation.
The Jewish or Hebrew Leap Year

A leap year in the Jewish calendar has 13 months and occurs 7 times in a 19-year cycle.
Leap Years in the Iranian Calendar

A unique set of leap year rules makes the Solar Hijri calendar one of the world’s most accurate calendar systems.
Adhik Maas – the Hindu Leap Month

The Hindu calendar is lunisolar. To align lunar months with the solar year, days or months may be added or omitted.
Islamic Leap Year

The traditional Islamic Hijri calendar does not have leap years, but there is a rule-based that does.
Bahá'í Leap Year

The Bahá'í leap year occurs when five extra days, instead of four, are added between the last two calendar months.
The Ethiopian Leap Year

A leap year in the Ethiopian calendar occurs every 4 years when an extra day is added to the last month of the year.

Topics: Leap Year