Public holidays in Egypt

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Holidays in Egypt have many classifications. There are a set of public holidays celebrated by the entire population. Since Islam is the state religion, the Islamic holidays are observed by all Egyptians. Christian holidays are not national holidays (except eastern Christmas), however the Christians are permitted to observe these holidays.

National holidays

The following holidays are celebrated across the country, with the government offices and ministries closed. These holidays are either national secular holidays or important religious holidays.

Date	English Name	Description
January 7	Christmas (Old Calendarists)	Celebrates the nativity of Jesus Christ, according to the Oriental Coptic Orthodox Church (Old calendarist)
January 25	National Police Day	Celebrates the Egyptian National Police, and commemorates the deaths of 50 Egyptian policemen defending the Ismailia police headquarters from British troops in 1952.
April 25	Sinai Liberation Day	Celebrates the final withdrawal of all Israeli military forces from the Sinai Peninsula in 1982.
May 1	Labour Day
July 23	Revolution Day	Celebrates the Egyptian Revolution of 1952
October 6	Armed Forces Day	Celebrates the crossing of the Suez Canal by Egyptian forces during the October War

Some government-related offices, including most universities, are also closed on the Coptic Orthodox date of Epiphany, 19 January.

Movable holidays

The following days are public holidays but the date on which each occurs varies, according to its corresponding Coptic or Islamic calendar, and thus has no set date. In order in which they occur:

English Name	Description
Sham El Nessim (Spring festival)	The Monday following Orthodox Easter
Islamic New Year	The first day of the year based on the lunar Islamic calendar (1 Muharram)
Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (Sunni)	The birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, according to the Sunni account (12 Rabi al-Awwal)
Eid al-Fitr	Breaking of the fast of Ramadan, for three days (1-3 Shawwal)
Eid al-Adha	End of the Hajj and commemoration of the Sacrifice of Abraham, for four days (10-13 Dhu al-Hijjah)

Other holidays

These holidays are widely celebrated, yet government offices, public institutions and ministries remain open.

Date	English Name	Description
January 1	New Year's Day	The New Year according to the Gregorian calendar
March 3	Sportsmen's day	Celebrates all Egypt's sportsmen
March 21	Mother's Day	Celebrates all mothers
June 18	Evacuation Day (Eid el-Galaa)	Celebrates the final withdrawal of all British forces from Egypt on this date in 1956.
August 15	Flooding of the Nile (Wafaa Elnil)	Celebrates the beginning of the Nile floods
October 21	Egyptian Naval Day	Celebrates the sinking by the Egyptian Navy of the Israeli destroyer Eilat in 1967
October 24	Suez Day / Popular Resistance Day	Celebrates the resistance of local citizens in Suez during the October War.
December 23	Victory Day	Celebrates the ending of the Tripartite Aggression in 1956.

References

• "World Holidays -> Egypt 2006". Oanda Corporation. http://www.oanda.com/cgi/world_holiday.pl?hdnAction=search&country=63&year=2006. 
• "Egypt Holidays". Planetware. http://www.planetware.com/national-information/egypt-tourist-offices-national-holidays-egy.htm#holidays. 

External links

Select Egypt Ancient Egypt Festivals and holidays