Christmas Around the World

How to compare Christmas between countries

Three questions separate one country's Christmas from another's more than anything else: which day the family actually gathers, who is said to bring the presents, and what goes on the table. The table below answers the first two for every country guide on the site, straight from each country page, so you can scan the differences before you read a full guide.

One notable detail from each guide

Every country page carries one detail worth knowing before you read the rest. Here they are together.

• Germany: The Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt is one of the oldest Christmas markets in the world, with records going back to the 17th century.
• Austria: Silent Night was first performed in Oberndorf bei Salzburg on Christmas Eve 1818 and is now sung in hundreds of languages worldwide.
• Slovenia: Many Slovenian families keep all three gift bringers alive at home, giving children three small celebrations across December and early January.
• United Kingdom: Boxing Day, on December 26, is a public holiday and a major day for sport, sales and family walks.
• United States: NORAD, the joint US-Canadian air defence command, has tracked Santa Claus on Christmas Eve every year since 1955.
• Japan: Japanese strawberry shortcake, light sponge layered with cream and strawberries, has been the iconic Christmas cake in Japan since the 1920s.
• Italy: Pandoro was patented in 1884 by the Veronese pastry chef Domenico Melegatti, inspired by a local dessert called Levà that was prepared in Verona on Christmas Eve.
• France: In Provence the table ends with 13 desserts, a number that refers to Christ and his 12 apostles. There is no fixed list, but the four mendiants, dates, nougat and gibassier are typical.
• Sweden: Around three million Swedes tune in at three o'clock on Christmas Eve for the Kalle Anka Disney cavalcade, a public service tradition that has charmed audiences since the 1960s.
• Mexico: The flor de nochebuena, the poinsettia, is one of Mexico's biocultural inheritances. For the Mexica it symbolised purity and new life, and Franciscan missionaries adapted that ritual use by placing it in Nacimientos.
• Poland: In Greek Catholic and Orthodox families in Poland, Wigilia is kept on either December 24 or January 6, with similar dishes on the table and the supper opening with a prayer.
• Finland: The Declaration of Christmas Peace, read at midday on Christmas Eve from Finland's second capital Turku, is a tradition Visit Finland dates back around 700 years.
• Norway: Every year since 1947 a Christmas tree has travelled from Oslo to London's Trafalgar Square, sent by Norway as a thank you after the Second World War.
• Philippines: A giant lantern in San Fernando's festival stands about 20 feet tall and is made from thousands of coloured bulbs, with their dancing lights driven manually by a Kapampangan innovation called a rotor.