Due to discrepancies between the civil and church calendars, we are one of the few countries where Christmas is celebrated after the New Year, rather than the other way around. However, as Novye Izvestia notes, different parts of the planet have different chronologies.
In Japan, the 20th year of the reign of the current Emperor Akihito will begin, and the 2668th year if counting from the founding of the empire. Muslims living by the lunar calendar will celebrate the year 1429 AH – that is, since the migration of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina.
In China, on February 7, the arrival of the year 4706 – the Year of the Earth Rat – will be celebrated. And in North Korea, on the same day, the 97th year of the Juche era will begin, since chronology there is counted from the birth year of its first communist ruler, Kim Il-sung.
In India, the arrival of the year 1930 of the Saka era will be celebrated on March 21. Jews will welcome the year 5769 on September 30. On April 14-16, the celebration of the New Year, 1370, will take place in Burma (Myanmar). In April, Nepal will greet the year 2065, and Thailand the year 2551. On September 14, according to the Byzantine calendar from the creation of the world, which was used in Rus' until Peter I and is still used by the Russian Orthodox Church, the year 7516 will begin.
However, the very fact that we are entering precisely the year 2008 from the Nativity of Christ raises doubts among many scientists and even theologians.