Whilst you gear up for your Christmas dinner on the 25^th December, you might start a conversation with the rest of your family about Christmas worldwide and how it’s different in other countries across the world. It’s a subject that interests lots of people simply because Christmas is such a huge annual event.

Whilst you have many countries across the world not celebrating Christmas for religious reasons, there are also many countries that celebrate the big day very differently. One of these countries is Russia, the giant nation that remains to this day an ambassador of older annual traditions. Here are a few reasons why Russia celebrates Christmas differently compared to the vast majority.

Christmas was actually hardly celebrated across the Soviet Union if you look back throughout history. Nowadays it is widely celebrated, but not on the day you might think. In fact, Russia’s Christmas has already gone this year, about 11 months ago today.

Russia celebrates Christmas on the 7^th January because they stick to the older “Julian” calendar when referring to religious events. Advent, the catholic celebration, lasts for 40 days in Russia, unlike in the UK where it traditionally lasts from the 1^st Sunday of the Christmas season to the last. In the UK this year, the first Sunday of advent was on the 1^st December and the last will be on the 22^nd.

So if you’re getting your gifts ready to send internationally this year and you have a friend in Russia, you might want to consider that they celebrate Christmas Day on the 7^th January. Wherever you choose to send your parcel, make sure you use the RAND Logistics services this Christmas!