Birthday

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Birthday cakes are very commonplace in birthday celebrations. Here, a Black Forest cake is adorned with candles and a topper indicating the recipient's 40th birthday. Foret-noire - 2.jpg
Birthday cakes are very commonplace in birthday celebrations. Here, a Black Forest cake is adorned with candles and a topper indicating the recipient's 40th birthday.

A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage.

Contents

Many religions celebrate the birth of their founders or religious figures with special holidays (e.g. Christmas, Mawlid, Buddha's Birthday, Krishna Janmashtami, and Gurpurb).

There is a distinction between birthday and birthdate (also known as date of birth): the former, except for February 29, occurs each year (e.g. January 15), while the latter is the complete date when a person was born (e.g. January 15, 2001).

In most legal systems, one becomes a legal adult on a particular birthday when they reach the age of majority (usually between 12 and 21), and reaching age-specific milestones confers particular rights and responsibilities. At certain ages, one may become eligible to leave full-time education, become subject to military conscription or to enlist in the military, to consent to sexual intercourse, to marry with parental consent, to marry without parental consent, to vote, to run for elected office, to legally purchase (or consume) alcohol and tobacco products, to purchase lottery tickets, or to obtain a driver's licence. The age of majority is the age when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of their parents or guardians over and for them. Most countries set the age of majority at 18, though it varies by jurisdiction.

A one-year-old girl playing with her birthday balloons in Bangladesh One year baby is playing with birthday balloons.JPG
A one-year-old girl playing with her birthday balloons in Bangladesh

Cultural conventions

A 90th birthday celebration at home 90. rodendan - torta.jpg
A 90th birthday celebration at home

Many cultures have one or more coming of age birthdays:

The birthdays of historically significant people, such as national heroes or founders, are often commemorated by an official holiday marking the anniversary of their birth.

An individual's Beddian birthday, named in tribute to firefighter Bobby Beddia, [4] occurs during the year that their age matches the last two digits of the year they were born. [5]

In many cultures and jurisdictions, if a person's real birthday is not known (for example, if they are an orphan), then their birthday may be adopted or assigned to a specific day of the year, such as January 1. [6] The birthday of Jesus is celebrated at Christmas. Racehorses are reckoned to become one year old in the year following their birth on January 1 in the Northern Hemisphere and August 1 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Traditions

Child with Snow White cake, circa 1910-1940. Child with Snow White cake 1910-1940.jpg
Child with Snow White cake, circa 1910–1940.
A Korean child's birthday party at home Dol.jpg
A Korean child's birthday party at home
A voicemail from a child wishing his mother a happy birthday

In certain parts of the world, an individual's birthday is celebrated by a party featuring a specially made cake. It may be decorated with lettering and the person's age, or studded with the same number of lit candles as the age of the individual. The celebrated individual may make a silent wish and attempt to blow out the candles in one breath; if successful, superstition holds that the wish will be granted. In many cultures, the wish must be kept secret or it will not "come true".

Presents are bestowed on the individual by the guests appropriate to their age. Other birthday activities may include entertainment (sometimes by a hired professional, i.e. a clown, magician, or musician), and a special toast or speech by the birthday celebrant. The last stanza of Patty Hill's and Mildred Hill's famous song, "Good Morning to You" (unofficially titled "Happy Birthday to You") is typically sung by the guests at some point in the proceedings. In some countries, a piñata takes the place of a cake.

Name days

In some historically Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries, [lower-alpha 1] it is common to have a 'name day', otherwise known as a 'Saint's day'. It is celebrated in much the same way as a birthday, but it is held on the official day of a saint with the same Christian name as the birthday person; the difference being that one may look up a person's name day in a calendar, or easily remember common name days (for example, John or Mary); however in pious traditions, the two were often made to concur by giving a newborn the name of a saint celebrated on its day of confirmation, more seldom one's birthday. Some are given the name of the religious feast of their christening's day or birthday, for example, Noel or Pascal (French for Christmas and "of Easter"); as another example, Togliatti was given Palmiro as his first name because he was born on Palm Sunday.

Official birthdays

Colored lanterns at the Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul, South Korea, celebrating the anniversary of the Buddha's birthday Coloured lanterns at the Lotus Lantern Festival.jpg
Colored lanterns at the Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul, South Korea, celebrating the anniversary of the Buddha's birthday

Some notables, particularly monarchs, have an official birthday on a fixed day of the year, which may not necessarily match the day of their birth, but on which celebrations are held. Examples are:

Distribution through the year

Interactive heat map of the birth ratio of each day of the year to the annual average in the US (top) and in England and Wales (bottom). Numbers over 1 (shown in red) indicate more births than average were recorded for that day. Most common birthdays.svg
Interactive heat map of the birth ratio of each day of the year to the annual average in the US (top) and in England and Wales (bottom). Numbers over 1 (shown in red) indicate more births than average were recorded for that day.
A birthday cake for an 18th birthday Tarta de cumpleanos (RPS 10-09-2014) 18 anos.png
A birthday cake for an 18th birthday
Some restaurants place a birthday candle on the dessert of a birthday customer's choice Chocolate Birthday Cake with ice Cream.jpg
Some restaurants place a birthday candle on the dessert of a birthday customer's choice
A young child preparing to extinguish the candle of his first birthday - 1983 A young child preparing to extinguish the candle of his first birthday - 1983-11-30.jpg
A young child preparing to extinguish the candle of his first birthday – 1983

Birthdays are fairly evenly distributed through the year, with some seasonal effects. [8] [9]

In the United States, there tend to be more births in September and October. [10] This may be because there is a holiday season nine months before (the human gestation period is about nine months), or because the longest nights of the year also occur in the Northern Hemisphere nine months before. However, it appears the holidays have more of an effect on birth rates than the winter: New Zealand, a Southern Hemisphere country, has the same September and October peak with no corresponding peak in March and April. [11] The least common birthdays tend to fall around public holidays, such as Christmas, New Year's Day and fixed-date holidays such as July 4 in the US.

In the United States between 1973 and 1999, September 16 is the most common birthday in the United States and December 25 the least common birthday (other than February 29, because of leap years). [12] In 2011, October 5 and 6 were reported as the most frequently occurring birthdays. [13]

In New Zealand, the most common birthday is September 29, and the least common birthday is December 25. The ten most common birthdays all fall within a thirteen-day period, between September 22 and October 4. The ten least common birthdays (other than February 29) are December 24–27, January 1–2, February 6, March 22, April 1 and April 25. This is based on all live births registered in New Zealand between 1980 and 2017. [11]

Positive and negative associations with culturally significant dates may influence birth rates. The study shows a 5.3% decrease in spontaneous births and a 16.9% decrease in Caesarean births on Halloween, compared to dates occurring within one week before and one week after the October holiday. In contrast, on Valentine's Day there is a 3.6% increase in spontaneous births and a 12.1% increase in Caesarean births. [14]

In Sweden 9.3% of the population is born in March and 7.3% in November when a uniform distribution would give 8.3%. [15]

Leap day

In the Gregorian calendar (a common solar calendar), February in a leap year has 29 days instead of the usual 28, so the year lasts 366 days instead of the usual 365.

A person born on February 29 may be called a "leapling" or a "leaper". [16] In common years, they usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28. In some situations, March 1 is used as the birthday in a non-leap year since it is the day following February 28.

Technically, a leapling will have fewer birthday anniversaries than their age in years. This phenomenon is exploited when a person claims to be only a quarter of their actual age, by counting their leap-year birthday anniversaries only. In Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance , Frederic the pirate apprentice discovers that he is bound to serve the pirates until his 21st birthday rather than until his 21st year. For legal purposes, legal birthdays depend on how local laws count time intervals.

Statistical risk of dying

Some studies show people are more likely to die on their birthdays, with explanations including excessive drinking, suicide, cardiovascular events due to high stress or happiness, efforts to postpone death for major social events, and death certificate paperwork errors. [17]

By religion

Judaism

In Judaism, the rabbis are divided about celebrating this custom, although it is accepted by the majority of the faithful. In the Torah the only mention that is made of the birthday, refers to the celebration of Pharaoh's birthday in Egypt, as recorded in Genesis (Parashat Vaieshev) 40:20. [18]

Christianity

Early centuries

Origen in his commentary "On Levites" wrote that Christians should not only refrain from celebrating their birthdays, but should look on them with disgust as a pagan custom. [19] Saint's days were typically celebrated on the anniversary of their martyrdom or death, considered the occasion of or preparation for their entrance into Heaven or the New Jerusalem.

Medieval

Ordinary folk celebrated their saint's day (the saint they were named after), but nobility celebrated the anniversary of their birth.[ citation needed ] The "Squire's Tale", one of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, opens as King Cambuskan proclaims a feast to celebrate his birthday. [20]

Modern

The Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Protestantism, i.e. the three main branches of Christianity, as well as almost all Christian religious denominations, consider celebrating birthdays acceptable or at most a choice of the individual. An exception are Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not celebrate them for various reasons: in their interpretation this feast has pagan origins, was not celebrated by early Christians, is negatively expounded in the Holy Scriptures and has customs linked to superstition and magic. [21]

Islam

The birthday does not reflect Islamic tradition, and because of this, the majority of Muslims refrain from celebrating it. Others do not object, as long as it is not accompanied by behavior contrary to Islamic tradition. [22] [23] A good portion of Muslims (and Arab Christians) who have emigrated to the United States and Europe celebrate birthdays as customary especially for children, while some abstain. [24]

There is also much controversy regarding the permissibility of celebrating Mawlid, (the anniversary of the birth of Muhammad), as some Muslims judge the custom as an unacceptable practice according to Islamic tradition. [25]

Buddhism (Mahayana)

Many monasteries celebrate the anniversary of Buddha's birth, usually in a highly formal, ritualized manner. They treat Buddha's statue as if it was Buddha himself, as if he were alive; bathing, and "feeding" him. [26]

Hinduism

Hindus celebrate the birth anniversary day every year when the day that corresponds to the lunar month or solar month (Sun Signs Nirayana System – Sourava Mana Masa) of birth and has the same asterism (Star/Nakshatra) as that of the date of birth. That age is reckoned whenever Janma Nakshatra of the same month passes.

Hindus regard death to be more auspicious than birth, since the person is liberated from the bondages of material society. Also, traditionally, rituals & prayers for the departed are observed on 5th and 11th day with many relatives gathering.

Sikhism

Sikhs celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak and other Sikh Gurus which is known as Gurpurb.

By region

Ancient Persia

According to Herodotus (5th century BC), of all the days in the year, the one which the Persians celebrate most is their birthday. It was customary to have the board furnished on that day with an ampler supply than common: the richer people eat wholly baked cow, horse, camel, or donkey (Greek: ὄνον), while the poorer classes use instead the smaller kinds of cattle. [27] [28]

Ancient Rome

The Romans enthusiastically celebrated birthdays with hedonistic parties and generous presents. [29]

China

The Chinese word for "year(s) old" ( t 歲 , s 岁 ,suì) is entirely different from the usual word for "year(s)" ( 年 , nián), reflecting the former importance of Chinese astrology and the belief that one's fate was bound to the stars imagined to be in opposition to the planet Jupiter at the time of one's birth. The importance of this duodecennial orbital cycle only survives in popular culture as the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, which change each Chinese New Year and may be used as a theme for some gifts or decorations. Because of the importance attached to the influence of these stars in ancient China and throughout the Sinosphere, East Asian age reckoning previously began with one at birth and then added years at each Chinese New Year, so that it formed a record of the suì one had lived through rather than of the exact amount of time from one's birth. This method—which can differ by as much as two years of age from other systems—is increasingly uncommon and is not used for official purposes in the PRC or on Taiwan, although the word suì is still used for describing age.

Traditionally, Chinese birthdays—when celebrated—were reckoned using the lunisolar calendar, which varies from the Gregorian calendar by as much as a month forward or backward depending on the year. Celebrating the lunisolar birthday remains common on Taiwan while growing increasingly uncommon on the mainland. Birthday traditions reflected the culture's deep-seated focus on longevity and wordplay. From the homophony in some dialects between 酒 ("rice wine") and 久 (meaning "long" in the sense of time passing), osmanthus and other rice wines are traditional gifts for birthdays in China. Longevity noodles are another traditional food consumed on the day, [30] although western-style birthday cakes are increasingly common among urban Chinese. Hongbaos —red envelopes stuffed with money, now especially the red 100 RMB notes —are the usual gift from relatives and close family friends for most children. Gifts for adults on their birthday are much less common, although the birthday for each decade is a larger occasion that might prompt a large dinner and celebration.

Japan

The Japanese reckoned their birthdays by the Chinese system until the Meiji Reforms. Celebrations remained uncommon or muted until after the American occupation that followed World War II.[ citation needed ] Children's birthday parties are the most important, typically celebrated with a cake, candles, and singing. Adults often just celebrate with their partner.

North Korea

In North Korea, the Day of the Sun, Kim Il Sung's birthday, is the most important public holiday of the country, [31] and Kim Jong Il's birthday is celebrated as the Day of the Shining Star. [32] North Koreans are not permitted to celebrate birthdays on July 8 and December 17 because these were the dates of the deaths of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, respectively. More than 100,000 North Koreans celebrate displaced birthdays on July 9 and December 18 instead to avoid these dates. A person born on July 8 before 1994 may change their birthday, with official recognition. [33]

South Korea

South Korea was one of the last countries to use a form of East Asian age reckoning for many official purposes. [34] Prior to June 2023, three systems were used together—"Korean ages" that start with 1 at birth and increase every January 1st with the Gregorian New Year, "year ages" that start with 0 at birth and otherwise increase the same way, and "actual ages" that start with 0 at birth and increase each birthday. [35] First birthday celebrations were heavily celebrated, despite usually having little to do with the child's age. In June 2023, all Korean ages were set back at least one year and official ages henceforth are reckoned only by birthdays. [36]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vesak</span> Buddhist festival marking the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha

Vesak, also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as Tibet and Mongolia. It is among the most important Buddhist festivals. The festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment (Nibbāna), and death (Parinirvāna) of Gautama Buddha in Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism and Navayana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese New Year</span> Traditional holiday

The Japanese New Year is an annual festival that takes place in Japan. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, New Year's Day. Prior to 1872, traditional events of the Japanese New Year were celebrated on the first day of the year on the modern Tenpō calendar, the last official lunisolar calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Year's Day</span> First day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 1 January

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar New Year</span> Beginning of a year in a lunar calendar

Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally but more widely, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendars follow the lunar phase while lunisolar calendars follow both the lunar phase and the time of the solar year. The event is celebrated by numerous cultures in various ways at diverse dates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Autumn Festival</span> Chinese harvest festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-September to early October of the Gregorian calendar. On this day, the Chinese believe that the moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of autumn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean calendar</span> Traditional lunisolar calendar

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birthday cake</span> Dessert served to celebrate a birthday

A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of a birthday celebration. While there is no standard for birthday cakes, they are typically highly decorated layer cakes covered in frosting, often featuring birthday wishes and the celebrant's name. In many cultures, it is also customary to serve the birthday cake with small lit candles on top, especially in the case of a child's birthday. Variations include cupcakes, cake pops, pastries, and tarts.

This is a list of public holidays in North Korea. See also the Korean calendar for a list of traditional holidays. As of 2017, the North Korean calendar has 71 official public holidays, including Sundays. In the past, North Koreans relied on rations provided by the state on public holidays for feasts. Recently, with marketization people are able to save up money and buy the goods they need.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Observance of Christmas by country</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Name day</span> Traditional celebration in Christianity

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddha's Birthday</span> Birthday of Siddhartha Gautama

Buddha's Birthday or Buddha Day is a primarily Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of South, Southeast and East Asia, commemorating the birth of the prince Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition and archaeologists, Gautama Buddha, c. 563-483 BCE, was born at Lumbini in Nepal. Buddha's mother was Queen Maya Devi, who delivered the Buddha while undertaking a journey to her native home, and his father was King Śuddhodana. The Mayadevi Temple, its gardens, and an Ashoka Pillar dating from 249 BCE mark the Buddha's birthplace at Lumbini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Asian age reckoning</span> Traditional age reckoning in East Asia

Traditional East Asian age reckoning covers a group of related methods for reckoning human ages practiced in the East Asian cultural sphere, where age is the number of calendar years in which a person has been alive; it starts at 1 at birth and increases at each New Year. Ages calculated this way are always 1 or 2 years greater than ages that start with 0 at birth and increase at each birthday. Historical records from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam have usually been based on these methods, whose specific details have varied over time and by place. The South Korean government switched to the international system on June 28, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean New Year</span> Traditional Korean holiday

Seollal is a Korean traditional festival and national holiday commemorating the first day of the lunisolar calendar. It is one of the most important traditional holidays for ethnic Koreans, being celebrated in both North Korea and South Korea as well as Korean diaspora all around the world.

There are many and varied customs associated with the celebration of birthdays around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death anniversary</span> Anniversary celebrated on the day on which an individual died

A death anniversary is the anniversary of the death of a person. It is the opposite of birthday. It is a custom in several Asian cultures, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Myanmar, Iran, Israel, Japan, Bangladesh, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, as well as in other places with significant overseas Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, and Vietnamese populations, to observe the anniversary on which a family member or other significant individual died. There are also similar memorial services that are held at different intervals, such as every week.

This is a list of holidays and festivals celebrated within the Buddhist tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Day of the Sun</span> National holiday on April 15 in North Korea

The Day of the Sun is an annual public holiday in North Korea on 15 April, the birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, founder and Eternal President of North Korea. It is the most important national holiday in the country, and is considered to be the North Korean equivalent of Christmas. Kim's birthday, which had been an official holiday since 1968, was renamed Day of the Sun in 1997, three years after his death. The name takes its significance from his name: Il-sung.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Day of the Shining Star</span> Annual observance in North Korea celebrating the birth of Kim Jong-il

The Day of the Shining Star is a public holiday in North Korea falling on 16 February, the anniversary of the birth of the country's second leader, Kim Jong Il. Along with the Day of the Sun, the birthday of his father Kim Il Sung, it is the most important public holiday in the country.

Day of <i>Songun</i> Public holiday in North Korea (25 August)

The Day of Songun is a public holiday in North Korea celebrated on 25 August annually to commemorate the beginning of Kim Jong Il's Songun (military-first) leadership in 1960.

References

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  10. ↑ "Anybirthday.com Birthdate Search". American Automated Systems. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. 1 2 "Most common birthday in New Zealand". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
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  14. ↑ Greenwood, Michael. (2011-10-10) Halloween, Valentine’s Day Found to Influence Birth Timing Archived 2013-06-09 at the Wayback Machine . Publichealth.yale.edu. Retrieved on 2013-01-01.
  15. ↑ "Swedish statistics board" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  16. ↑ Hall, C. (February 29, 2008), "Leap Year Babies Hop Through Hoops of Joy, Pain of Novelty Birthday", Detroit Free Press
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  19. ↑ John Bugge (1975). Early Christians,” notes The World Book Encyclopedia, “considered the celebration of anyone’s birth to be a pagan custom.” The ancient Greeks, for instance, believed that each person had a protective spirit that attended the person’s birth and thereafter watched over him. That spirit “had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born,” says the book The Lore of Birthdays. Birthdays also have a long-standing and an intimate link with astrology and the horoscope.11 Besides rejecting birthday customs on account of pagan and spiritistic roots, God’s servants of old likely rejected them on principle as well. Why? These were humble, modest men and women who did not view their arrival in the world as so important that it should be celebrated. (Micah 6:8; Luke 9:48) Rather, they glorified Jehovah and thanked him for the precious gift of life.—Psalm 8:3, 4; 36:9; Revelation 4:11. Virginitas: an essay in the history of a medieval ideal, Springer ISBN   9024716950, p. 69
  20. ↑ Margaret Hallissy (1995) A Companion to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales Archived 2023-09-06 at the Wayback Machine , Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN   0313291896, p. 300
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  29. ↑ Kathryn Argetsinger (1992). "Birthday Rituals: Friends and Patrons in Roman Poetry and Cult". Classical Antiquity. 11 (2): 175–193. doi:10.2307/25010971. JSTOR   25010971.
  30. ↑ Li Xiaoxiang. Origins of Chinese People and Customs (2004) p. 101. Asiapac Books (Singapore). ISBN   9812293841.
  31. ↑ MacLeod, Calum (26 April 2013). "Korean defectors recall 'Day of the Sun'". USA Today. Contributing: Jueyoung Song, Duck Hwa Hong. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  32. ↑ Neville, Tim (15 February 2015). "Happy birthday? North Korea celebrates Kim Jong Il's legacy". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  33. ↑ Ju Seongha (2011-12-30) 北 김정은 시대 北 12월 17일生 사라진다. Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine news.donga.com
  34. ↑ Kelly Ng; Yuna Ku. "South Koreans become younger under new age-counting law". BBC. Archived from the original on 2023-07-28. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  35. ↑ "The Unique Age Counting System of Korea 상세보기|Citizen JournalistsEmbassy of the Republic of Korea to Norway". overseas.mofa.go.kr. Archived from the original on 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  36. ↑ Kim, Min Joo (8 December 2022), "South Koreans to Become Year Younger after Scrapping Traditional Age System", The Washington Post, Seattle: Nash Holdings, archived from the original on 25 March 2023, retrieved 5 March 2023.

Notes

  1. ↑ Examples include Italy, Spain, France, parts of Germany, Poland, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, and throughout Latin America.
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