When is Mother’s day celebrated across the world?
Every year, on the second Sunday in May, people in many nations around the world celebrate Mother’s Day. The day honors the mother, maternal bonds and the role that mothers play in the society. It is the day when people across the globe take the opportunity to make their mother’s feel loved, honored, as well as important. It is the day when children pamper their mothers by giving them gifts, taking them out for lunch, dinner, or to the movies, or just spending the entire day with them.
Though Mother’s Day is a universal festival and is celebrated across the world with great enthusiasm, the date and even months in which it is celebrated vary from country to country. Though a majority of nations celebrate Mother’s Day either in March or May, some nations celebrate it in different months.
In the United States Mother’s Day is observed on the second Sunday of May. Here Mother’s Day celebration is a recent phenomenon and dates back to 1908. This Year, the United States will observe Mother’s Day on May 14. Other nations, which celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, India, Japan and many others.
Meanwhile, many nations also celebrate the day on the first Sunday of May. These are Angola, Cape Verde, Hungary, Lithuania, Mozambique, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. While in South Korea, the day is observed on May 8, in the nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, the day is observed on May 10.
In the United Kingdom, the day is known as Mothering Sunday and is celebrated in March, i.e. on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Other nations celebrating the Mothering Sunday are Nigeria, Ireland, Isle of Man, etc.
In some nations such as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Laos, Afghanistan, and some other nations, Mother’s Day is celebrated on March 8, which is the International Women’s Day. In Slovenia Mother’s Day is observed on March 25. Many countries also observe the day on March 21 and a few of these are – Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and a few other nations.
Some countries where Mother’s Day is celebrated in months other than March and May are Norway, where it is observed on the second Sunday of February; Armenia, on April 7; Mongolia, and Luxembourg in June; Thailand on August 12, which is the birthday of Queen Sirikit; Belarus and Argentina in October; North Korea and Russia in November; etc.
To get information on when is Mother’s Day celebrated in each nation refer to the table below.
| Gregorian calendar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occurrence | Month | Dates | Country |
| Second Sunday of February | February | Feb 14, 2016 Feb 12, 2017 Feb 11, 2018 | Norway |
| 03/03/18 | March | Georgia | |
| 8 March (with International Women’s Day) | March | Afghanistan | |
| Albania | |||
| Armenia | |||
| Azerbaijan | |||
| Belarus | |||
| Bulgaria | |||
| Kazakhstan | |||
| Kosovo | |||
| Laos | |||
| Macedonia | |||
| Moldova | |||
| Montenegro | |||
| Serbia | |||
| Slovenia | |||
| Tajikistan | |||
| Uzbekistan | |||
| Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday) | March | 6 Mar 2016 | |
| 26 Mar 2017 | |||
| 11 Mar 2018 | Guernsey | ||
| Ireland | |||
| Isle of Man | |||
| Jersey | |||
| Nigeria | |||
| United Kingdom | |||
| 21 March | |||
| (Spring equinox) | March | Bahrain | |
| Comoros | |||
| Djibouti | |||
| Egypt | |||
| Iraq | |||
| Jordan | |||
| Kuwait | |||
| Libya | |||
| Lebanon | |||
| Mauritania | |||
| Oman | |||
| Palestine | |||
| Qatar | |||
| Saudi Arabia | |||
| Somalia | |||
| Sudan | |||
| Syria | |||
| United Arab Emirates | |||
| Yemen | |||
| 25/03/18 | March | Slovenia | |
| 7 April (Annunciation day) | April | Armenia(Motherhood and Beauty Day) | |
| First Sunday of May | May | May 1, 2016 | |
| May 7, 2017 | |||
| May 6, 2018 | Angola | ||
| CapeVerde | |||
| Hungary | |||
| Lithuania | |||
| Mozambique | |||
| Portugal | |||
| Romania | |||
| Spain | |||
| 08/05/18 | May | South Korea (Parents’ Day) | |
| 10/05/18 | May | El Salvador | |
| Guatemala | |||
| Mexico | |||
| Second Sunday of May | May | May 8, 2016 | |
| May 14, 2017 | |||
| May 13, 2018 | Anguilla | ||
| Antigua and Barbuda | |||
| Aruba | |||
| Australia | |||
| Austria | |||
| Bahamas | |||
| Bangladesh | |||
| Barbados | |||
| Belgium | |||
| Belize | |||
| Bermuda | |||
| Bhutan | |||
| Bonaire | |||
| Botswana | |||
| Brazil | |||
| Brunei | |||
| Canada | |||
| Cambodia | |||
| Chile | |||
| China | |||
| Colombia | |||
| Croatia | |||
| Cuba | |||
| Curaçao | |||
| Cyprus | |||
| Czech Republic | |||
| Denmark | |||
| Dominica | |||
| Ecuador | |||
| Estonia | |||
| Ethiopia | |||
| Fiji | |||
| Finland | |||
| Germany | |||
| Ghana | |||
| Greece | |||
| Grenada | |||
| Guyana | |||
| Honduras | |||
| Hong Kong | |||
| Iceland | |||
| India | |||
| Italy | |||
| Jamaica | |||
| Japan | |||
| Kenya | |||
| Latvia | |||
| Liberia | |||
| Liechtenstein | |||
| Macau | |||
| Malaysia | |||
| Malta | |||
| Myanmar | |||
| Namibia | |||
| Netherlands | |||
| NewZealand | |||
| Pakistan | |||
| PapuaNewGuinea | |||
| Peru[30] | |||
| Philippines | |||
| PuertoRico | |||
| SaintKittsandNevis | |||
| SaintLucia | |||
| SaintVincentandtheGrenadines | |||
| Samoa | |||
| Singapore | |||
| SintMaarten | |||
| Slovakia[29] | |||
| SouthAfrica[31] | |||
| SriLanka | |||
| Suriname | |||
| Switzerland | |||
| Taiwan | |||
| Tanzania | |||
| Tonga | |||
| TrinidadandTobago | |||
| Turkey | |||
| Uganda | |||
| Ukraine | |||
| UnitedStates | |||
| Uruguay | |||
| Vietnam[21] | |||
| Venezuela | |||
| Zambia | |||
| Zimbabwe | |||
| 15/05/18 | May | Paraguay(samedayasDíadelaPatria)[32] | |
| 19/05/18 | May | Kyrgyzstan(Russian:Деньматери,Kyrgyz:Энэкүнү) | |
| 26/05/18 | May | Poland | |
| 27/05/18 | May | Bolivia | |
| Last Sunday of May (sometimes First Sunday of June if the last Sunday of May is Pentecost) | May | May 29, 2016 | |
| May 28, 2017 | |||
| May 27, 2018 | Algeria | ||
| Dominican Republic | |||
| France | |||
| French Antilles ( FirstSunday of June if Pentecost occurs on this day ) | |||
| Madagascar | |||
| Morocco | |||
| Haiti | |||
| Mauritius | |||
| Senegal | |||
| Sweden | |||
| Tunisia | |||
| 30/05/18 | May | Nicaragua | |
| 01/06/18 | June | Mongolia (together with Children’s Day) | |
| Second Sunday of June | June | Jun 12, 2016 | |
| Jun 11, 2017 | |||
| Jun 10, 2018 | Luxembourg | ||
| First Monday of July | July | Jul 4, 2016 | |
| Jul 3, 2017 | |||
| Jul 2, 2018 | South Sudan | ||
| 12/08/18 | August | Thailand (birthday of Queen Sirikit ) | |
| 15 August (Assumption of Mary) | August | Costa Rica | |
| Antwerp ( Belgium) | |||
| Second Monday of October | October | Oct 10, 2016 | |
| Oct 9, 2017 | |||
| Oct 8, 2018 | Malawi | ||
| 14/10/18 | October | Belarus (since1996) | |
| Third Sunday of October | October | Oct 16, 2016 | |
| Oct 15, 2017 | |||
| Oct 21, 2018 | Argentina | ||
| 03/11/18 | November | Timor Leste | |
| 16/11/18 | November | North Korea | |
| Last Sunday of November | November | Russia | |
| 8 December (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) | December | Panama | |
| 22/12/18 | December | Indonesia | |
| Hebrew calendars | |||
| Occurrence | Equivalent Gregorian dates | Country | |
| Shevat 30 | Between 30 January and 1 March- Family Day | Israel | |
| 22/05/18 | Mother’s Day – new | Israel | |
| Hindu calendars | |||
| Occurrence | Equivalent Gregorian dates | Country | |
| Baisakh Amavasya (Mata Tirtha Aunsi) | Between 19 April and 19 May | Nepal | |
| Islamic calendars | |||
| Occurrence | Equivalent Gregorian dates | Country | |
| 20 Jumada al-Thani | 20 April 2014 | ||
| 10 April 2015 | |||
| 30 March 2016 | Iran |
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