In most places around the world, Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25. Christmas Eve which is also celebrated is December 24. In Germany and some other countries around the world, the Christmas celebrations commence on Christmas Eve, and the 24th holds more significance than the 25th for celebration. The Armenian Apostolic Church observes Christmas on January 6. Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on the Julian version of 25 December, which is January 7.

Helpful Resources: Wikipedia: Christmas This is the Wikipedia on Christmas, it is useful for learning about various customs and traditions as well as the etymology of Christmas. This site is easy to navigate and full of facts to help you learn about Christmas. Various Means of Celebration This is a great website for learning about the various means of celebration and various traditions associated with Christmas all around the world. Easy to use site with plenty of great information. Christmas Around the World This is a great site for learning the way Christmas is celebrated all over the world. It discusses the differences in tradition from country to country, as well as the various ways it is celebrated in the US. Learning About Christmas This is a fun site to use to learn about Christmas as it is full of trivia and facts. You can browse the site to learn why it is celebrated, traditions over the years, and of course funny, off the wall things about the holiday. Religious Facts About Christmas This is a great religion inspired site that teaches readers many interesting facts about Christmas, and how certain traditions came about, why we kept them, and more. Fun to browse site. Christmas Trivia This is a great site for finding fun Christmas trivia about all aspects of Christmas. It is a fun place to find party trivia, or just to learn a few obscure facts about the widely celebrated holiday. The North Pole This is a fun site that explores the intricacies of the North Pole. It has all of the folklore and legend surrounding the North Pole and lets you see their depiction of Santa's set up with the reindeer and elves. All Things Christmas This is a fun site that explains all things Christmas. This site offers a look at various traditions, recipes, gifts, stories, party ideas, and much much more to make your Christmas celebrations memorable. Celebrating Christmas Over the Internet This is a website that helps you celebrate Christmas over the internet. It offers countries that have various Christmas traditions, coloring pages, stories, articles, and even recipe swapping and sharing. How Stuff Works: Christmas This is a how stuff works article about Christmas, how it is celebrated, why it is celebrated, and how celebrations vary around the world. It is informative and easy to follow, and a good way to learn about Christmas.

Why this date? Well, there is no real evidence in Christian religion that points specifically to this date, however, there is a very widespread theory that Christmas began in Rome as a response to pagan festivities centering around the winter solstice. This festivity was celebrated on the 25th of December. This is a pagan celebration, but was called The Birth of the Invincible Sun. The holiday was established by the Roman emperor Aurelian in AD 274.

There is evidence that some years earlier Christians had made a sincere attempt to calculate the actual date of Jesus' birthday, but either were unsuccessful, or some people believe religious leaders saw advantage to establishing the holiday on the same date as a pagan holiday in order to replace it. However, despite this belief, the fact is that Christmas was in place first, and the date of the pagan holiday was probably set in an effort to take away from Christmas.

Another belief or assumption as to why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th is that in ancient Judaism there was a common belief that the prophets of Israel died on the on the same date as their birth or conception. According to ancient western calculations, Jesus was crucified on the 25th of March, so they assumed that the 25th of March was the date of Jesus' conception. So, if you do the math, nine months after March 25th is December 25th, which would be the birthday of Jesus Christ if all those assumptions and calculations were correct. While we now know this is not the case, it still shows that in some ways the date of celebration has Christian origin.

Christmas has been celebrated since around 335 AD, as far as anyone has been able to deduce from history. Because Christmas is the holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ, it has been around for centuries, but maybe was not as prominent for a while. The prominence of Christmas Day increased after Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day in 800. Around the 12th century it grew more popular when the remnants of the former Saturnalian traditions of the Romans were transferred to the Twelve Days of Christmas (25 December - 5 January).

How Christmas is celebrated has also changed a lot over time, and still has many different expressions of celebration. Today we celebrate with worship, parties, decorations, gift giving, hanging stockings on a mantel, and more. Many of these traditions came from the Middle Ages when Christmas was a public festival, incorporating ivy, holly, and other evergreens, as well as gift-giving. However, the worship of Christ, the reason for Christmas is still very prevalent, and the Nativity is often displayed and celebrated, both through decorations, Christmas cards, and more. In short, Christmas is often a festivity that combined religious and non-religious customs. It is usually a combination of the observation of the nativity as well as various cultural customs and traditions including Santa Claus, Christmas trees, gift exchanges, caroling and more. Generally, however, no matter how Christmas is celebrated the spirit of it, or theme, is the same: The promotion of Peace on Earth and Goodwill toward all men.

Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also celebrated and observed by many non-Christians as well as a few other religions. Also, although it is a Christian holiday, not all Christian denominations celebrate Christmas, including Jehovah's Witnesses, certain Seventh Day Adventist churches, and Members of the Living Church of God.

Let's look at some of the ways Christmas is celebrated around the world:

US: In the US Christmas is celebrated with a variety of traditions, many of which come from spin offs, or exact replicas of other traditions around the world. Every family has their own set of ways of celebrating the holiday, but in general the celebration includes some sort of worship, such as a midnight mass, and a display of the nativity, and then the more secular celebrations with Santa Claus. The Children believe that Santa Claus comes down the chimney to fill their stockings with gifts or coal depending on whether they were good or bad during the year. He comes in a sleigh pulled by eight (or nine) reindeer. He wears red, is fat and jolly. Children leave milk and cookies for him, and often leave carrots for his reindeer. He is believed to live at the North Pole, and have elves that help him make toys for the girls and boys that are good. Homes usually are adorned with a Christmas tree which is decorated with lights and ornaments, and where wrapped gifts are placed. On Christmas Day families usually gather and exchange gifts and eat meals. For the more religious, they will probably read the scriptural account of the birth of Christ, or do something else to commemorate his birth. In the more secular versions of celebration, Santa Claus takes center stage.

Denmark: In Denmark they have a Santa as well, but he is known as Julemanden and he arrives in a sleigh pulled by reindeer with a sack full of gifts, much like he does in US. Danish children know the elves as Juul Nisse, but believe that they live in the attics of their homes, not at a workshop in the North Pole. Instead of cookies and glasses of milk, they leave rice pudding and saucers of milk out for them.

England: England is thought to be responsible for the modern Christmas tree. In addition to that, they have a celebration the day after Christmas called Boxing Day, where small wrapped boxes with food and sweets, or small gifts, or coins are given to anyone who comes calling that day. In England, Santa is known as Father Christmas, and wears long red robes and had sprigs of holly in his hair. Instead of mailing Santa their Christmas wish list they throw it in the fireplace, and Father Christmas is believed to be able to read the smoke. They started the tradition of hanging stockings by the chimney. This tradition began due to the fact that Father Christmas once accidentally dropped some gold coins on his way down the chimney which got caught in a drying stocking. Unlike US children, English children wait until the afternoon to open their gifts.

India: In India, houses are decorated with strings of mango leaves. Lights are place on the window sills and walls and a star is hung outside to commemorate Christmas. A sweet holiday treat is made called thali and it is brought to neighbors and friends.

Belgian: The children in Belgian believe it is kindly Saint Nicholas who brings them their presents. They believe he rides a horse, not a sleigh pulled by reindeer. They often leave hay and carrots and water for the horse just outside the house on December 6th.

Canada: Christmas trees are decorated and stockings are hung on the fireplace for Santa Claus to fill with gifts. Cards and gifts are exchanged with friends and relatives. Children put on pageants and go caroling. The traditions are very similar to those in the US.

China: The Christians in China that celebrate Christmas light their homes with beautiful paper lanterns. Santa is called Dun Che Lao Ren and the children hang stockings just as children in the US do.

Spain: The children of Spain leave their shoes on the windowsills filled with straw, carrots, and barley for the horses of the Wise Men. They believe the three Wise Men reenact their journey to Bethlehem every year, and that one of them, called Balthazar, leaves the children gifts. They call Christmas Eve Nochebuena. Usually on Christmas Eve families gather together to rejoice and share a meal around the Nativity scene.

As you can see, while there are similarities, families around the world have their own unique ways of celebrating Christmas, some more focused on Christ, and some more focused on the commercialized side with Santa, gift giving, etc.