According to the Ethiopian calendar, the current year in Ethiopia is 2016. The Ethiopian year starts on September 11th or 12th of the Gregorian calendar, depending on whether it is a leap year or not. The Ethiopian calendar is based on the same astronomical calculations as the Julian and Gregorian calendars, but it is not quite the same. It is a solar calendar with 13 months in a year, with 12 months of 30 days each and the last month having 5 days in a common year and 6 days during a leap year. The Ethiopian calendar is 7 to 8 years behind the Gregorian calendar, and Ethiopians celebrate Christmas on January 7th instead of December 25th as is the case in the Gregorian calendar.