Editing Public holiday

{{Short description|General holiday established by law}}
{{Redirect|Civic holiday|the Canadian holiday|Civic Holiday}}
[[File:Frecce Tricolori 2022.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Frecce Tricolori]]'', with the smoke trail representing the [[national colours of Italy]], above the [[Victor Emmanuel II Monument]] in Rome during the celebrations of the ''[[Festa della Repubblica]]'', an Italian public holiday and the Italy's National Day<ref name="calendario">{{cite web|url=http://calendario.eugeniosongia.com/feste.htm|title=Le feste mobili. Feste religiose e feste civili in Italia|access-date=29 December 2022|language=it}}</ref>]]

A '''public holiday''', '''national holiday''', '''federal holiday''', '''statutory holiday''', '''bank holiday''' or '''legal holiday''' is a [[holiday]] generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year.

==Types==

=== Civic holiday ===
A ''civic holiday'', also known as a ''civil holiday'' or ''work holiday'', is a day that is [[legally]] recognized and celebrated as a holiday in a particular [[sovereign state]] or [[jurisdiction]]al subdivision of such, e.g., a state or a [[province]].  It is usually a day that the [[legislature]], [[parliament]], [[congress]] or [[Monarch|sovereign]] has declared by [[statute]], [[edict]] or [[decree]] as a non-working day when the official arms of [[government]] such as the [[court|court system]] are closed.   In [[federation|federal states]] there may also be different holidays for the constituent states or provinces, as in the United States, where holidays that were established by the federal government are called ''federal holidays''.  Such days may or may not be counted in calculating the [[statute of limitation]]s in legal actions and are usually days when [[child custody|non-custodial]] [[parents]] are given alternating visitation or [[Contact (law)|access]] to their children from a prior [[marriage]] or relationship according to a parenting schedule.

The term may also be used to distinguish between days that may be celebrated as secular holidays rather than ''[[religious holiday]]s'' such as the celebration of New Year's Day on January 1 ([[Gregorian calendar]]) and January 14 ([[Julian Calendar]]) in certain [[eastern Orthodox]] Christian countries such as [[Russia]].

=== Bank holiday ===
In the United Kingdom, ''[[bank holiday]]s'' are days established as public holidays in statute law.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pyper |first=Douglas |date=18 December 2015 |title=Bank and public holidays |url=https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06170 |website=Research briefings - UK Parliament |access-date=27 December 2022 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216071930/https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06170 |url-status=live }}</ref> In England and Wales, Good Friday and Christmas Day are known as common law holidays, as they have been celebrated by custom since time immemorial.<ref name="TUC">{{cite web |date=22 May 2007 |title=Bank Holiday Fact File |url=http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/bankholidays.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603185926/http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/bankholidays.pdf |archive-date=3 June 2013 |access-date=12 January 2010 |publisher=TUC}}</ref> Bank holidays were introduced in the late 19th century to extend the labour rights citizens have on common law holidays to four additional days.<ref name="TUC"/><ref>{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Bank Holidays|volume=3|page=320}}</ref>

In Ireland, [[Public holidays in the Republic of Ireland|public holidays]] are sometimes colloquially referred to as "bank holidays".

== Impacts ==
The major social function of public holidays is the co-ordination of leisure time. This co-ordination has costs, such as congestion and overcrowding (in leisure facilities, on transport systems) and benefits (easier for people to arrange social occasions).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Merz |first=Joachim |last2=Osberg |first2=Lars |date=2006-04-01 |title=Keeping in Touch: A Benefit of Public Holidays |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=898594 |journal=IZA Discussion Paper   |via=SSRN |language=en |location=Rochester, NY}}</ref>

Public holidays constitute an important part of [[Nation-building|nation building]] and become important symbols of the nation. They can build and legitimise the nation and are intended to foster national unity, social cohesion and popular identification. They provide national governments with annual opportunities to reinforce the status of the nation.{{cn|date=March 2024}} Sabine Marschall argues that public holidays can be regarded as [[Lieu de mémoire|sites of memory]], which preserve particular representations of historical events and particular national or public heroes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Marschall |first=Sabine |date=January 2013 |title=Public holidays as ''lieux de mémoire'': nation-building and the politics of public memory in South Africa |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23323256.2013.11500039 |journal=[[Anthropology Southern Africa]] |language=en |volume=36 |issue=1-2 |pages=11–21 |doi=10.1080/23323256.2013.11500039 |issn=2332-3256}}</ref>

== By country ==
{{further|List of countries by number of public holidays}}

In some countries, there are national laws that make some or all public holidays paid holidays, and in other countries, there are no [[labour law|such laws]], though many firms provide days off as paid or unpaid holidays.

They vary by country and may vary by year. With [[Public holidays in Nepal|36 days a year]], Nepal is the country with the highest number of public holidays but it observes six working days a week. [[India]] ranks second with 21 national holidays, followed by [[Colombia]] and the [[Philippines]] at 18 each. Likewise, [[Japan]], [[China]] and [[Hong Kong]] enjoy 17 public breaks a year.<ref name="nepalitimes">{{cite web |last1=Jha |first1=Manish |date=7 October 2016 |title=Regular breaks |url=http://nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Economic-Class/regular-breaks,788 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010014724/http://nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Economic-Class/regular-breaks,788 |archive-date=10 October 2016 |access-date=14 October 2016 |website=[[Nepali Times]]}}</ref>  Some countries (e.g. Cambodia) with a longer, six-day workweek, have more holidays (28) to compensate.<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Byrne |first1=Brendan |last2=Hor |first2=Kimsay |date=22 February 2018 |title=Can Cambodia stay competitive with so many public holidays? |work=[[The Phnom Penh Post]] |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/can-cambodia-stay-competitive-so-many-public-holidays |url-status=live |access-date=23 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222070745/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/can-cambodia-stay-competitive-so-many-public-holidays |archive-date=22 February 2018}}</ref>

=== Italy ===
{{Main|Public holidays in Italy}}
[[File:Neve a Verona 17.01.2006 033.jpg|thumb|[[Christmas lights]] at [[Verona Arena]] in 2006<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Il Natale accende Verona con le luminarie, alberi, stelle e proiezioni grafiche|url=https://www.veronasera.it/attualita/luminarie-natale-verona-accensione-agsm-13-novembre-2020.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 26, 2021|website=Verona Sera|language=it}}</ref> [[Christmas in Italy]] (in [[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Natale'') begins on 8 December, with the feast of the [[Immaculate Conception]], the day on which traditionally the [[Christmas tree]] is mounted and ends on 6 January, of the following year with the [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] (in Italian: ''Epifania'').<ref>{{Cite web|date=25 November 2013|title=The Best Christmas Traditions in Italy|url=https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/things-to-do/christmas-traditions-in-italy|access-date=26 January 2021|website=Walks of Italy|language=en-GB}}</ref>]]

[[Public holidays in Italy]] are established by the [[Italian parliament]] and, with the exception of city or community [[Patronal festival|patronal day]]s, apply nationwide.<ref name=Cerimoniale>{{cite web|title=Festività nazionali in Italia|url=http://www.governo.it/Presidenza/ufficio_cerimoniale/cerimoniale/giornate.html|publisher=Governo Italiano - Dipartimento per il Cerimoniale dello Stato|access-date=2022-03-01|language=it}}</ref> These include a mix of national, religious and local observances. As for [[Whit Monday]], there is an exception for [[South Tyrol]]. In Italy there are also State commemoration days, which are not public holidays.

=== New Zealand ===
{{Main|Public holidays in New Zealand}}
In New Zealand, a national law sets [[Public holidays in New Zealand|12 paid public holidays]].  If a worker works on a public holiday, they are to be paid 1.5 times their regular rate of pay and be given another alternate day off.

=== South Africa ===
{{Main|Public holidays in South Africa}}Sabie Marschall argues that the revised set of public holidays in post-Apartheid South Africa attempts to produce and celebrate a particular national identity in line with the political goal of the [[rainbow nation]].<ref name=":0" />

=== United States ===
{{Main|Public holidays in the United States}}
In the United States, there is no national law requiring that employers pay  employees who do not work on public holidays (although the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts have paid holiday laws).

==Controversial holidays==
Some public holidays are controversial. For example, in the United States a federal holiday commemorates explorer [[Christopher Columbus]], who is said to have discovered the Americas by Europeans. This has led to protests at [[Columbus Day]] parades and calls for the public holiday to be changed. Some states have adopted the day as [[Indigenous Peoples' Day (United States)|Indigenous People's Day]] rather than Columbus Day.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Columbus Day Courts Controversy |url=https://www.history.com/news/columbus-day-controversy |access-date=2022-12-27 |website=HISTORY |language=en |archive-date=2022-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226133332/https://www.history.com/news/columbus-day-controversy |url-status=live }}</ref>

Similarly, [[Australia Day|Australia day]] commemorates the day when the [[First Fleet]] first arrived in the country on 26 January 1788 at [[Sydney Cove]]. This has also led to protests, with some Australians seeing the date as a symbol of the beginning of European oppression towards the [[Indigenous Australians|indigenous population]]. The holiday has since garnered the nickname '[[Australia Day debate|Invasion Day.]]'<ref>{{Cite web |title=Australia Day wasn't always on 26 January. Why is the national holiday on that date now? |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-day-wasnt-always-on-26-january-why-is-the-national-holiday-on-that-date-now/n2x3sl3vs |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=SBS News |language=en}}</ref> Whilst the national date has yet to be changed, many Australia day staples, such as citizenship ceremonies and [[Triple J]]'s [[Triple J Hottest 100|Hottest 100]], have been moved to alternative dates.

==See also==
{{Portal|Holidays}}
* [[Bank holiday]]
* [[List of holidays by country]]
* [[:Category:Lists of public holidays by country]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Public holidays of the World|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Public holidays| ]]
[[Category:Time in government]]