Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday observed generally on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity.
The date is not known to be the actual birthday of Jesus, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived, the date of the wintersolstice on the ancient Roman calendar, or one of various ancient winter festivals.
Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season , and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.
Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins.
Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly.
In addition, several similar mythological figures, known as Saint Nicolas, Father Christmas and Santa Claus among other names, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season.
Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses.
The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.
Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in most countries of the world, even in many whose populations are mostly non-Christian.
In some non-Christian countries, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration (e.g. Hong Kong); in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday.
Countries such as Japan and Korea, where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small number of Christians, have adopted many of the secular aspects of Christmas, such as gift-giving, decorations and Christmas trees.
Notable countries in which Christmas is not a formal public holiday include People's Republic of China, (excepting Hong Kong and Macao), Japan , Saudi Arabia , Algeria , Thailand , Nepal , Iran , Turkey and North Korea.
Among countries with a strong Christian tradition, a variety of Christmas celebrations have developed that incorporate regional and local cultures.
For many Christians, participating in a religious service plays an important part in the recognition of the season. Christmas, along with Easter, is the period of highest annual church attendance.
In many Catholic countries, the people hold religious processions or parades in the days preceding Christmas.
In other countries, secular processions or parades featuring Santa Claus and other seasonal figures are often held.
Family reunions and the exchange of gifts are a widespread feature of the season.
Gift giving takes place on Christmas Day in most countries.
Others practise gift giving on December 6, Saint Nicholas Day, and January 6,Epiphany.
SANTA CLAUSE
A number of figures of both Christian and mythical origin have been associated with Christmas and the seasonal giving of gifts.
Among these are Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, Père Noël, and theWeihnachtsmann ; Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas; the Christkind; Kris Kringle; Jouluppuki; Babbo Natale; Saint Basil; and Father Frost.
The most famous and pervasive of these figures in modern celebration worldwide is Santa Claus, a mythical gift bringer, dressed in red, whose origins have diverse sources.
The name Santa Claus is a corruption of the Dutch Sinterklaas, which means simply Saint Nicholas.
Nicholas was Bishop of Myra, in modern day Turkey, during the 4th century.
Among other saintly attributes, he was noted for the care of Children, generosity, and the giving of gifts.
His feast on the 6th of December came to be celebrated in many countries with the giving of gifts.
Saint Nicholas traditionally appeared in bishoply attire, accompanied by helpers, and enquired about the behaviour of children during the past year before deciding whether they deserved a gift or not.
By the 13th century Saint Nicholas was well known in the Netherlands, and the practice of gift-giving in his name spread to other parts of central and southern Europe.
At theReformation in 16th–17th century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, corrupted in English to Kris Kringle, and the date of giving gifts changed from December the 6th to Christmas Eve.
The modern popular image of Santa Claus, however, was created in the United States, and in particular in New York.
The transformation was accomplished with the aid of six notable contributors including Washington Irving and the German American cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840–1902). Following the American Revolutionary War, some of the inhabitants of New York City sought out symbols of the city's non-English past.
New York had originally been established as the Dutch colonial town of New Amsterdam and the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition was reinvented as Saint Nicholas.
In 1809, the New-York Historical Society convened and retroactively named Sancte Claus the patron saint of New Amsterdam, the Dutch name for New York City.
At his first American appearance in 1810, Santa Claus was drawn in bishops' robes.
However as new artists took over, Santa Claus developed more secular attire. Nast drew a new image of "Santa Claus" annually, beginning in 1863.
By the 1880s, Nast's Santa had evolved into the robed, fur clad, form we now recognize, perhaps based on the English figure of Father Christmas.
Father Christmas, a jolly, well nourished, bearded man who typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, predates the Santa Claus character.
He is first recorded in early 17th century England, but was associated with holiday merrymaking and drunkeness rather than the bringing of gifts.
In Victorian Britain, his image was remade to match that of Santa.
The French Pere Noel evolved along similar lines, eventually adopting the Santa image.
In Italy, Babbo Natale acts as Santa Claus, while La Befana is the bringer of gifts and arrives on the eve of the Epiphany.
It is said that La Befana set out to bring the baby Jesus gifts, but got lost along the way.
Now, she brings gifts to all children. In some cultures Santa Claus is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, or Black Peter.
In other versions, elves make the toys. His wife is referred to as Mrs. Claus.
There has been some opposition to the narrative of the American evolution of Saint Nicholas into the modern Santa.
It has been claimed that the Saint Nicholas Society was not founded until 1835, almost half a century after the end of the American War of Independence.
Moreover, a study of the "children's books, periodicals and journals" of New Amsterdam by Charles Jones revealed no references to Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas.
However, not all scholars agree with Jones's findings, which he reiterated in a booklength study in 1978; Howard G. Hageman, of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, maintains that the tradition of celebrating Sinterklaas in New York was alive and well from the early settlement of the Hudson Valley on.
Current tradition in several Latin American countries (such as Venezuela and Colombia) holds that while Santa makes the toys, he then gives them to the Baby Jesus, who is the one who actually delivers them to the children's homes, a reconciliation between traditional religious beliefs and the iconography of Santa Claus imported from the United States.