Christmas Around The World

1. Australians celebrate with a Carols by Candlelight service where famous Australian artists perform carols. Different cities host the service and it is broadcasted nationally across towns and cities.

2. The Chinese usually celebrate with parades across cities putting up plastic trees and decorative lanterns for Christmas. The ironic part is that although Christmas isn't widely celebrated in China, majority of the world’s Christmas decorations are manufactured here.

3. A special sweet biscuit known as Kahk is given as a gift to family and friends in Egypt.

4. The Netherlands has their own version of Santa Claus known as Sinterklaasand his accompanying elves known as the ZwartePietern, which transaltes to Black Peters as they celebrate Christmas on 5th December having traveled from Spain on a steam boat. All the children receive gifts on the 6th of December as her returns back.

5. In rural parts of Croatia, people bring straws on Christmas eve as a symbolic gesture of prosperity for future crops. The more straw you bring, the prosperous you are!

6. A common tradition in Canada is to send Christmas cards to loved ones. A great place to find Christmas cards is from PopJoyCards.

7. In some parts of France, 13 types of desserts are eaten to celebrate Christmas. All of these desserts are made of fruits, nuts and pastries. One of the famous desserts is known as ‘Galette des Rois’ or Almond Cake.

8. German glass ornaments made from hand blown glass is extremely popular in Germany around Christmas time. These are used for decorating trees.

9. Since pine trees don't grow in all parts of the world, Indians use banana or mango trees as their Christmas tree and decorate them every December.

10. Italians showcase the Nativity crib scene in great detail as an important part of Christmas. Using a crib to demonstrate the birth of Jesus is placed in a lot of Italian homes as well as in public places.

11. Spending time with family is the most important thing for Nigerians over Christmas. Parties are thrown by many families, some lasting all night long. Traditional caroling is also commonplace.

12. In the Phillippines, families host a Noche Buena or a party where doors are wide open for the entire family. The best prepared and special meals are cooked including roasted pig, ham, rice cakes and fruit salad amongst many other dishes.

13. Not much is known of how Christmas is celebrated in North Korea, except that one can go to prison if seen with a Bible or celebrating Christmas. Which is why all celebrations are done in secret

14. Puerto Ricans have special Catholic masses known as Misa de Aguinaldos held for 9 days leading up to Christmas. Carollers sing to traditional Puerto Rican musical instruments such as the cuatro (a guitar), guiros (a percussion instrument) and maracas.

15. In Zimbabwe, Christmas is a time to spend with family where money go out to rural areas to spend time with their loved ones. Many don't believe in Santa Claus but those that do believe that he gifts them with 3 presents, to be shown to their friends and family on Christmas day.