12 months of 30 days each, plus a 13th short month (Pagumē) of 5 days (6 in leap years) — 365 or 366 days total. Leap year rule: every 4th year is a leap year, similar to the Julian calendar, with no centurial exceptions (unlike the Gregorian calendar's more refined leap-year math). Different epoch (starting point): it counts years from the Annunciation/Incarnation, but Ethiopian and Coptic theologians calculated this date differently than Rome did — roughly 7-8 years later than the Gregorian Anno Domini reckoning. That's the main reason the Ethiopian year number (2018) trails the Gregorian one (2026). New Year (Enkutatash) falls on Meskerem 1, which lands around September 11 (or September 12 in the Gregorian leap year before it) — tied to the end of the rainy season.
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