A national holiday is a statutory holiday enacted by a country to commemorate the country itself. It is usually the anniversary of the country's independence, the signature of its constitution, or other significant event; in some cases it is the saint's day of the country's patron saint.
Note: Many countries also use the term "National holiday" to refer to a generic public holiday.
Independent states
January
February
March
April
May
Israel's Independence Day is specified on the Hebrew calendar on the 5th day of Iyyar, and so it does not have a fixed date in the Gregorian calendar; it usually falls somewhere in May or late April. The Gregorian date of Israel's independence itself was May 14, 1948.
June
July
- July 1: Canada (Canada Day, formerly Dominion Day)
- July 4: United States (Independence Day)
- July 5: Isle of Man (Tynwald Day)
- July 6: Lithuania (State Day - King Mindaugas of Lithuania crowned 1253)
- July 8: Pakistan (Day of Mourning in memory of Fatima Jinnah, since 1967)
- July 9: Argentina (Independence Day, 1816)
- July 13: Montenegro (Independence Day, 1878)
- July 14: France (Bastille Day and Fête de la Fédération)
- July 20: Colombia (Independence Day, 1810)
- July 21: Belgium (Nationale feestdag, On 21 July 1831 Leopold I, the first king of Belgium, was inaugurated.)
- July 22: Poland (Poland was liberated after WW2)
- July 29: Faroe Islands (Ólavsøka)
- July 30: Pakistan (Fatima Jinnah Day, 1893)
- July 31: Pakistan (K2 Day, since 1954)
August
September
- September 1: Uzbekistan (Independence Day, 1991)
- September 6: Pakistan (Defence Day, since 1965)
- September 7: Pakistan (Pakistan Airforce|PAF Day)
- September 7: Brazil (Independence Day, 1822)
- September 8: Macedonia (Independence Day, 1991)
- September 11: Pakistan (Official Day of National mourning in the memory of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a tribute to the beloved Founder, since 1948)
- September 15: Costa Rica (Independence Day, 1821)
- September 15: El Salvador (Independence Day, 1821)
- September 15: Guatemala (Independence Day, 1821)
- September 15: Honduras (Independence Day, 1821)
- September 15: Nicaragua (Independence Day, 1821)
- September 16: Mexico (Independence Day, 1810)
- September 18: Chile (Independence Day, 1810)
- September 30: Pakistan (Pakistan's United Nations Day celebrations, 1947)
October
November
December
Note: In Japan, besides National Foundation Day on February 11, which is a National Day, there is also a National Holiday (国民の休日, kokumin no kyujitsu, which translates to "Citizens' day off") on May 4, between Constitution Day on May 3 and Kodomo no hi (Children's Day) on May 5. The whole nation takes a holiday for three consecutive days, giving the term National Holiday a different meaning.
Some
nations (in the cultural sense) have their own national holidays. Often they have an
autonomous status within a larger
state. In the case of
Ireland, the national holiday is statutory in both an independent state, the
Republic of Ireland, plus the semi-autonomous province of
Northern Ireland, which is part of the
United Kingdom (See
Partition of Ireland). In cases in which the nation is represented by a
subnational government in a larger state, that government may make the holiday statutory.
Some subnational entities also commemorate themselves with statutory holidays.
See also
Holidays | National symbols
Nationalfeiertag | Nationalfeiertag | Fiesta nacional | Nacia tago | Fête nationale | Nasjonale feestdei | Nationale fiesdaag | Nemzeti ünnep | Hari Kebangsaan | Nationale feestdag | Nasjonaldag | Nasjonaldag | Kansallispäivä | Nationaldag | Quốc khánh | 国庆日