Top 10 Countries That Don’t Celebrate 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