... of the Hijri calendar! As many Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia uses the Islamic calendar. Unlike our Gregorian calendar, it is a lunar calendar which has twelve months of 29 to 30 days, which add up 354 or 355 days per year. Since the lunar year is 11 or 12 days shorter than our seasonal calendar, the months don't correspond to the seasons, which is why the month of Ramadan is not always the same period of the year. This year is especially bad: it will fall in August, the hottest period of the year!
We're currently in the year 1432 of the Hijri calendar. Luckily, in most places and on most papers, the date is indicated as per the Gregorian calendar, since that's the system used for business. And most families have a dual calendar at home, like this one (click on the picture to enlarge it):
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| A dual calendar of this year: Gregorian and Hijri calendar |
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| A Kuwaiti newspaper indicating the date according to both calendars |
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