Ri'se Awde Amet (HAPPY NEW YEAR) - Ethiopian New Year Celebration

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM GRAPHITTI NEWS TO ALL OUR READERS IN ETHIOPIA

President conveys 2007 New Year best wishes to Ethiopians. (Screengrab/Photo: ERTV)

President Dr Mulatu Teshome has expressed his best wishes to the people of Ethiopia in connection with the turn of the 2007 Ethiopian New Year.

In the message he conveyed on behalf of the government and on his own, the president wished the New Year to be a year of success for all nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia.

The president also called on all Ethiopians to join hands so as to realize the renaissance of the country.

The president further underlined the need to give due attention towards attracting investment in the manufacturing sector.

Abel Mesfin, 8, dances with other youth at a celebration for the Ethiopian New Year at the Ethiopian Community in Seattle community center in the Rainier Beach neighborhood on Sept. 7, 2014. The Ethiopian New Year always falls on September 11 except for leap years, when it falls on September 12. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

As part of the New Year, President Dr Mulatu has granted amnesty to 995 inmates.

The president urged the pardoned prisoners to be peaceful and productive citizens once they are back into the society.

Unique Calendar

Ethiopia runs a calendar which is seven years behind the calendar of the rest of the world. Enkutatash is the word for the Ethiopian New Year in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, while it is called Ri'se Awde Amet (Head Anniversary) in Ge'ez, the term preferred by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It occurs on September 11 in the Gregorian calendar, except for leap years, when it occurs on September 12. 

The Ethiopian calendar year 1998 'Amätä Məhrät ("Year of Mercy") began on September 11, 2005. However, the Ethiopian years 1996 and 1992 AM began on September 12, 2003 and 1999, respectively.

This date correspondence applies for the Gregorian years 1900 to 2099. 

The Ethiopian leap year is every four without exception, while Gregorian centurial years are only leap years when divisible by 400; thus a set of corresponding dates will most often apply for a single century. As the Gregorian year 2000 is a leap year, the current correspondence lasts two centuries instead.