Christmas is celebrated worldwide, however, the traditions of its reunion vary widely. This article summarizes information on ancient rites and the most interesting moments concerning the Christmas reunion in different countries.

Imagine the New Year and the Christmas holidays in the middle of summer. Australia is one of the many countries where there is no “white Christmas”. Little Australians love vacations a lot, and they coincide with the start of the school holidays.

Christmas was celebrated for the first time in Australia on December 25, 1788. Australians have a number of traditions, such as decorating houses with evergreen trees and cooking dinner with turkey and Christmas pudding.

The celebration of Saint Nicholas (Nicolas) marks the start of the Christmas holidays in Austria. Choirs are heard in churches and singing carols (Christmas carols) with lighted torches go from house to house and gather on the steps of the church. The saint, accompanied by the devil, questions the children about their good and bad deeds. Good kids get candy and toys. The gifts are placed under the tree and opened after Christmas dinner.

In the UK, Santa Claus comes for Christmas instead of Santa Claus. The children write letters to him and throw them into the fireplace instead of the mailbox. According to legend, Santa Claus reads them in smoke. Children also hang their socks over the fireplace for gifts.

Carol's song is part of an old holiday tradition in English. Most of the Christmas songs widely known in the world were written in the 19th century and came to us from England. For many centuries, the head of fried wild boar served as a traditional English Christmas dish.

Germans love to decorate their homes on Christmas Day. The garlands of light and the multicolored images hanging on the windows look great outside in the dark. In many homes, they set up toy nurseries with the heroes of the Christmas stories.

Another tradition is the Advent wreath, a garland of leaves with four candles. (Advent is translated as "to come" and lasts 4 weeks until Christmas). Each Advent Sunday, a candle is lit on a wreath.

The Coptic (Egyptian) church is Orthodox and celebrates Christmas on December 7. During the 40 days of Christmas fast before the holidays, it is forbidden to eat meat, poultry and dairy products, but many did not join until last week. At Christmas, the Egyptians dress in new clothes and go to church. The service ends at midnight with the ringing of the bells, after which everyone comes home and eats a special Christmas dish - a veil (fata), consisting of bread, rice, garlic and boiled meat. The next morning decided to visit friends and neighbors.

Christmas in the Holy Land is accompanied by an influx of tourists. The main place of pilgrimage is the cave, marked with the image of the 14th ultimate silver star, where, according to legend, Jesus was born.

In Israel, Christmas is celebrated more than once: first the Protestant and Catholic churches, then the Greek Orthodox, Coptic (Egyptian) and Syrian churches and, finally, the Armenian church. Often, services are provided simultaneously, but in different parts of the building and in different languages.

The main course of the traditional Christmas dinner is turkey seasoned with pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and stuffed with rice, meat, nuts and almonds.

In India, a mango tree or a banana tree is decorated for Christmas. To decorate houses with mango leaves and poinsettia (beautiful spurge, "Christmas star"). Clay oil lamps are placed on the walls and edges of flat roofs.

A favorite decoration of the Chinese is the multicolored paper lanterns, inside which are lit candles. Lanterns, artificial flowers and paper garlands decorate Christmas trees, also known as "light trees". Children hang on stockings while waiting for Dong Che Lao Ren, the "old Christmas man" - Chinese Santa Claus.

While children in many countries leave Santa Claus' milk, pastries and stockings, the little Danes put hay and sugar for the Sinterklaas deer in their wooden shoes to find them in return full of candy and nuts. Sometimes Sinterklaas presents himself under the guise of a father or an uncle. He asks the children how they have behaved over the past year. Another Dutch tradition is to blow horns made of special solid wood to chase away evil and announce the start of Christmas.

In Norway, children receive gifts from an elf or gnome named Julebukk. This tradition dates back to the time of the Vikings and exists to this day.

The Christmas holidays in America seem to start with Halloween, in any case, such an impression is created if you go to the department store. In fact, Thanksgiving is the start of the holidays, followed by Christmas sales across the country.

Americans adhere to many traditions and customs from around the world and combine them to create their own. You can easily recognize them: the arrival of Santa Claus, hanging stockings on a fireplace, etc. Poinsettia is also the most popular at this time of year.

The Finns believe that Santa Claus (Father Christmas) lives in a part of Finland called Korvatunturi in the Arctic Circle. People from all over the world send letters to Santa Claus. There is a huge amusement park called "Christmas Land" in the north of Finland near its intended place of residence. Residents of Greenland, however, say that Santa Claus actually resides in their country.

At Christmas, the Finns decorate a conifer and in the evening, eat a traditional Christmas dinner, including a pan with pasta, rutabaga, carrots and potatoes with ham or turkey. Many visit cemeteries to put burning candles on the graves of their loved ones.

The ringing of a silver bell announces the arrival of Christkindli, an angel in white and a crown adorned with jewelry. She enters each house and distributes gifts in a basket held by her little helpers.

One week before Christmas, the children dress up and go home with small gifts. The ringing of bells is a Christmas tradition and summons parishioners for worship, after which families gather to share huge homemade cakes, called rings and hot chocolate.

During the years of Soviet rule in USA, Christmas was not widely celebrated and Christmas trees were banned, so that the New Year became a ubiquitous holiday, although the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree has been preserved. The gifts for the children that day are brought by Santa Claus.

After perestroika, Christmas was again celebrated openly on December 25 or, most often, January 7. Such an unusual date is due to the fact that the American Orthodox Church adheres to the Julian calendar.

Christmas dinner traditionally begins with a special cereal called kutia. It contains many ingredients, each with its own meaning. They eat kuti from a common plate, which symbolizes unity.