Iranian Calendars

Iranian Calendar
Three calendars are in common use in Iran: the Persian solar calendar is the one in official and everyday use; the Muslim lunar calendar is used for Islamic religious matters; and the Western (Gregorian) calendar is used in dealing with foreigners and in some history books. Newspapers carry all three dates. When entering Iran the stamp in your passport will be in Farsi and refer to the Persian calendar. Be sure to confirm the Western date so you don’t overstay your visa; check www.payvand.com/calendar.

Persian Calendar
The modern Persian solar calendar, a direct descendant of the ancient Zoroastrian calendar, is calculated from the first day of spring in the year of the Hejira, the flight of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina in AD 622. It has 365 days (366 every leap year), with its New Year (No Ruz) falling on 21 March according to the Western calendar. The names of the Persian months are as follows:

Season Persian Month Appr. Equivalent Season Persian Month Appr. Equivalent
Spring
(Bahar)		 Farvardin 21 Mar–20 Apr Autumn
(Pa’iz)		 Mehr 23 Sep–22 Oct
Ordibehesht 21 Apr–21 May Aban 23 Oct–21 Nov
Khordad 22 May–21 Jun Azar 22 Nov–21 Dec
Summer
(Tabestan)		 Tir 22 Jun–22 Jul Winter
(Zamestan)		 Dei 22 Dec–20 Jan
Mordad 23 Jul–22 Aug Bahman 21 Jan–19 Feb
Shahrivar 23 Aug–22 Sep Esfand 20 Feb–20 Jan

Muslim Calendar
The Muslim calendar starts from the month before the Hejira and is based on the lunar year of 354 or 355 days, so it is out of step with the Persian solar calendar by some 40 years. The website www.rabiah.com/convert converts Islamic (Hijri) dates to Western (Gregorian) ones and vice versa.

Zoroastrian Calendar
The Zoroastrian calendar works to a solar year of 12 months of 30 days each, with five additional days. The week has no place in this system, and each of the 30 days of the month is named after and presided over by its own angel or archangel. The 1st, 8th, 15th and 23rd of each month are holy days. As in the Persian calendar, the Zoroastrian year begins in March at the vernal equinox and except for Andarmaz, which replaces Esfand, the months are the same.