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Top 10 Countries That Don’t Celebrate Christmas
Christmas being one of the biggest holiday and festival every years still has some countries that don’t celebrate. Some of this countries ha
Christmas is one of the festivals that bring families and friends together as well as a session to show and spread love to remind ourselves of the bond we share as humans that transcends beyond race, tribe, religion, race country, continent, or belief, but there are places, countries that don’t celebrate Christmas.
Some of these countries that don’t celebrate Christmas or observe the festival celebration have created a holiday around Christmas day to celebrate a particular event, like the marking of democracy day, the birth of a founder, or national or public holidays without attaching the significance to Christmas.
Meanwhile, others don’t celebrate or mark the day to be a holiday or special day, in these countries, it is just like any other day of the week, with no special meaning to it. Additionally, in some countries that don’t celebrate Christmas, it has become an event like St. Valentine’s Day where friends and lovers show love to one another.
Below is the table containing the list of the Countries that don’t Celebrate Christmas.
1. China
The Great China is one of the countries where Christmas is not recognized or celebrated on a national level and it is also not honored or considered as a public holiday. Christmas is “another working day” in China, where “schools, offices, and shops all remain open. Because China is a secular state, Christmas used to be outright forbidden.
Authorities started “cracking down on Christmas” in 2018, and residents were told to focus on promoting traditional Chinese culture. Christmas Day is a Christian holiday in many parts of the world that honors the birth of Jesus Christ. However, only about 3-5% of people in China are Christians, making Christmas more of a secular season of feasting and shopping. Commercial establishments and malls use seasonal sales to draw customers by capitalizing on the holiday spirit.
Christmas is a time for family gatherings in Western nations, but it is more of a Valentine’s Day celebration in China. Young people celebrate with small gifts on this fun day with their partners. Additionally, they hang out to go to a movie, or karaoke venue, or shop with friends.
2. North Korea
North Korea is another country in East Asia that doesn’t celebrate Christmas. Christmas in North Korea “is kind of a non-event,” according to The Independent. The total outlawing of all things Christmas is the result of the nation’s extreme, authoritarian interpretation of atheism as purportedly outlined in communist doctrine.
The North Korean government makes every effort to prevent knowledge of religious holidays from reaching the so-called hermit kingdom. Anyone who failed to observe the holiday risked being “arrested, tortured, or put to death.” However, while it is illegal to celebrate Christmas in North Korea, it is acceptable to honor the deceased grandmother of Kim Jong-Un, Kim Jong-Suk, on her birthday. The revolutionary idol’s birthday, which falls on Christmas Eve, is celebrated by pilgrimages to Hoeryong, a town in the northeast (her birthplace).
Well according to an Independent Co.Uk correspondent when he was a resident of North Korea, claimed he was unaware of any Christians, adding, “I did not know any Christians or anyone who believed in God. The North Korean government controls all of the media and the Internet, and the people I met do not know who Jesus is.
However, things haven’t always been this way. Before the Korean War, which split the peninsula into a communist North and a capitalist South, Pyongyang was something of a place full of Christianity, and many Christian preachers were in fact from the north of the country. Additionally, according to Kang, “About 60 years ago, it was a very Christian nation; people referred to it as the “Jerusalem of the East”.”
3. Comoros
The Comoros island in the Indian Ocean is strongly opposed to Christianity because it is 98% Sunni Muslim. Following a referendum in 2018, Sunni Islam became the official religion of the country, which according to World Watch Monitor was “expected to have a tough impact on the country’s small Christian minority.”
According to WorldAtlas, openly practicing Christianity is forbidden, and Comoros has “been on the World Watch list for the persecution of Christians for the past 22 years.” It is one of the countries that don’t celebrate Christmas.
4. Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the countries where Christianity does not thrive, it is an Islamic state, where the fraction of Christians is somewhat close to nothing. Meanwhile, according to the news website Parhlo, the extremely small Christian population of the nation “remains full of insecurity” about celebrating Christmas and there may be a “threat to the lives of the people celebrating the events.”
Pakistan observes a public holiday on December 25 in honor of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s birthday, who is regarded as the country’s founder rather than the birth of Jesus.
5. Mongolia
One of the countries that don’t celebrate Christmas is the Mongolians, a country in East Asia that is predominantly Buddhist. Few Christians reside in Mongolia, which is primarily a Buddhist country, and no public holidays are observed around Christmas. The first day of the year is a public holiday, but people also celebrate the Mongolian Lunar New Year, or Tsagaan Sar, over three days at the beginning of the first lunar month.
Meanwhile, according to the US Department of State Report, which state that, “the most recent national census, which was conducted in 2020. It shows 59.4% of people aged 15 and older identify as religious, while 40.6% say they have no religious affiliation. Additionally, 87.1 percent of those who indicated their religious affiliation are Buddhist, 5.4 percent are Muslims. Likewise, 4.2 percent are Shamanists, 2.2 percent are Christians, and 1.1 percent are members of other faiths.
Mahayana Buddhism is practiced by the majority of Buddhists. Shamanism is often combined with other religions, particularly Buddhism, by many people who practice it. Protestants make up the majority of Christians. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Church of Jesus Christ) and the Roman Catholic Church are two additional Christian organizations in the nation.
6. Libya
In this country with a large Muslim population, Christmas is not currently observed. But there’s reason to celebrate because December 24 is the nation’s independence day. It is among countries that do not celebrate Christmas or reference it by making it a national holiday or commanding its citizens to celebrate it.
7. Tunisia
Christmas is not prohibited in Tunisia, but there are very few public celebrations of the holiday and it is a typical working day there. it is among the many countries in the world that give to accordance or make a holiday around the day or the period even if it is not Christmas.
8. Brunei
Since 2015, the relatively small, oil-rich Islamic nation of Brunei has prohibited the public celebration of Christmas. Anyone found in violation of the ban faces up to five years in prison, a fine of US $20,000, or both.
Non-Muslims are permitted to observe the holiday in their communities, but they are not permitted to discuss their plans with the nation’s Muslims, who make up roughly two-thirds of the population. The laws are “intended to control the act of celebrating Christmas excessively and openly, which could harm the aqidah (creed) of the Muslim community,” according to the nation’s Ministry of Religious Affairs.
9. Israel
In comparison to other countries, Israel does not observe many Christmas celebrations. Christmas is not a widely celebrated holiday in Israel due to the small percentage of Christians in the country about 1.9% and the fact that it is not one of the national holidays.
Although the Christian story took place in Israel and the personality of the festival Jesus Christ was set to be born in Israel about 2000+ years ago, that doesn’t make Israel a more Christian country, it is one of the countries that don’t celebrate Christmas even though they have loads of pilgrims who flock into the country yearly to visit the holy city.
10. Afghanistan
The country, which has a majority of Muslims, has a troubled history with Christianity and its festivals. This was particularly severe during the Taliban era in the 1990s, and John Pontifex of The Times noted that “two decades on, there is little sign that the Taliban has changed.”
Now that the extremist group is once again in charge of the nation, there will likely still be tension in Afghanistan between Christians and members of other minority faiths. According to Pontifex, the takeover resulted in “a catastrophe” for those religious organizations. Christmas is hardly ever observed in this country and those who do run the risk of being persecuted.
Countries That Don’t Celebrate Christmas
Below is the table containing the list of the Countries that don’t Celebrate Christmas:
| Rank | Countries | Continents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | Asia |
| 2 | North Korea | Asia |
| 3 | Comoros | Africa |
| 4 | Pakistan | Asia |
| 5 | Mongolia | Asia |
| 6 | Libya | Africa |
| 7 | Tunisia | Africa |
| 8 | Brunei | Asia |
| 9 | Israel | Asia |
| 10 | Afghanistan | Asia |
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