As of: February 20, 2024, 12:10 p.m
Comments
Press
Split
The date Thursday, February 29, 2024 is written on a calendar page. © Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
Anyone born on February 29th can celebrate their birthday on their actual birthday again this year.
In addition, some children are likely to see the light of day again.
Hanover - Births in Lower Saxony are again spread over 366 instead of 365 days this year.
Because 2024 is a leap year, there is an additional day, February 29th.
Every four years, more than 150 people are born on this day, according to the Lower Saxony State Office for Statistics.
However, it is not known how many people currently live in Lower Saxony who have their birthday on this day.
Most recently, 268 children were born on the additional day in 2020.
In 2016 and 2012 there were 167 and 161 in 2008. The significant increase in 2020 compared to previous leap years cannot be explained by the general birth figures.
There were even fewer births in 2020 than in 2016. In February as a whole, roughly the same number of people were born in both years.
If it is not a leap year, leap day children can celebrate their birthday on both February 28th and March 1st.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, they officially only become one year older on March 1st in years without February 29th.
This is what the Civil Code provides.
The reason for the additional day is astronomical: the Earth does not need exactly 365 days to orbit the sun, but rather: 365 days, five hours and almost 49 minutes.
The leap day is usually inserted every four years to compensate for the deviation between the astronomical year - the solar year - and the calendar year.
dpa