Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Esfand

Esfand is the twelfth and final month of the Solar Hijri calendar, the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan. Esfand has twenty-nine days normally, and thirty during leap years. It begins in February and ends in March of the Gregorian calendar.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
430 w
Citations
5
Source
Esfand
Native name
CalendarSolar Hijri calendar
Month number12
Number of days29 (Common Years) or 30 (Leap Years)
SeasonWinter
Gregorian equivalentFebruary–March
alt=Refer to caption
Solar Hijri calendar: Cover of Najm al-Dawlah Isfahani's Persian Almanac. source ↗

Esfand (Persian: اسفند, Persian pronunciation: [esˈfænd]1) is the twelfth and final month of the Solar Hijri calendar, the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan.1 Esfand has twenty-nine days1 normally, and thirty during leap years.2 It begins in February and ends in March of the Gregorian calendar.

Esfand is the third and last month of the winter season (Zemestan), and is followed by Farvardin.1

Events

Observances

Movable observances and festivals

  • Lantern Festival: Held 15 days following the Chinese New Year, date falls on first or second week of this month
  • Frawardigan: Held 19-29 Esfand in normal years, and 20-30 Esfand in leap years, Zoroastrian period of remembrance of the dead

Births

  • 24 Esfand is the Reza shah birthday.
  • 26 - 1323 - Homeyra

Deaths

References

References

  1. "Months and Seasons - Persian Vocabulary". 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  2. Heydari-Malayeri, M. (December 11, 2006). "A concise review of the Iranian calendar". Retrieved 2022-07-08.