How many days until Christmas?
Quick answer
Christmas Day is on December 25. In 2026 it falls on a Friday, and the countdown below shows exactly how many days and weeks are left from where you are.
Countdown to Christmas Day
– days
The counter uses your device’s own date and time zone, so it’s correct wherever you are and updates on its own.
Christmas 2026 key dates
| Date | Day | What |
|---|---|---|
| November 26 | Thursday | Thanksgiving (US) |
| November 29 | Sunday | First Sunday of Advent |
| December 24 | Thursday | Christmas Eve |
| December 25 | Friday | Christmas Day |
| December 26 | Saturday | Boxing Day (UK, Canada, Australia and others) |
| January 7, 2027 | Thursday | Orthodox Christmas in many countries |
Why is Christmas on December 25?
The Bible doesn’t give a date for Jesus’s birth. The earliest record of Christians celebrating it on December 25 comes from Rome in the year 336.
Historians have two main explanations for the choice:
- Winter festivals. Late December was already a time of celebration in the Roman world, close to the winter solstice and the festival of the sun god Sol Invictus.
- A date calculation. Some early Christian writers believed Jesus was conceived on March 25. Counting forward nine months lands on December 25.
The two ideas aren’t mutually exclusive, and scholars still debate how much each one mattered.
Why do some people celebrate on January 7?
Several Orthodox churches, including those of Russia, Serbia and Georgia, follow the older Julian calendar for religious holidays. That calendar now runs 13 days behind the Gregorian one most of the world uses, so their December 25 lands on our January 7. Ethiopia celebrates on the same day using its own calendar.
Looking further ahead? There are 52 weeks and a day in a year, so Christmas moves one weekday later each year, or two after a leap day.
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