Valentine S Day Around the World

Valentine's Day is said to have originated as far back as 496AD and is celebrated (in one way or another) in nearly every country in the world, resulting in many marriages and births which enforces the saying that "its love that makes the world go round"

... HOW WE CELEBRATE VALENTINE'S DAY

In AMERICA - Valentine's Day did not get to America until 1629 with the Puritans and then went against some of the church elders. Now consumers spend an average of $14 billion on Valentine’s Day ($15.8 BILLION Australian) just for the one day !!

In AUSTRALIA - Valentine's Day is a much-celebrated festival in Australia and its popularity is said to be increasing by the year. About 90 per cent of the people in the age group of 18-24 and 45 per cent of people above 50 are said to celebrate the day. Valentine's Day Festival has a history of extravagant celebrations in Australia. It is said that during the Australian gold rush period miners became extremely rich due to the new wealth found from the Ballarat Mines. These miners ordered extravagant Valentines amounting to thousands of pounds at a time

In BRAZIL - the Dia dos Namorados "Day of the Enamored", or "Boyfriends'/Girlfriends' Day") is celebrated on June 12 when couples exchange gifts, chocolates, cards and flower bouquets. This day was chosen probably because it is the day before the Festa junina’s Saint Anthony's day, known there as the marriage saint, when traditionally many single women perform popular rituals, called simpatias, in order to find a good husband or boyfriend. The February 14's Valentine's Day is not celebrated at all, mainly for cultural and commercial reasons, since it usually falls too little before or after Carnival, a major floating holiday in Brazil

In BRITAIN - around £503m ($773 million Australian) is spent on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts for Valentine's Day. Traditionally these were sent anonymously, but nowadays it is often made clear who is sending each 'Valentine'

In CANADA - 60% of Canadians will buy a gift with the majority spending less than $50, ($53 Australian) whereas the average person in the U.S. will spend $103 ($116 Australian) on traditional Valentine’s Day merchandise

In CHINA - the common situation is the man gives chocolate, flowers or both to the woman that he loves

In DENMARK & NORWAY - Valentine's Day is known as Valentinsdag. It is not celebrated to a large extent but many people take time to eat a romantic dinner with their partner, to send a card to a secret love or give a red rose to their loved one

In ESTONIA - Valentine's Day is called Sõbrapäev, which is about remembering all your friends, not only your loved ones

In FINLAND - Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend's day". As the name indicates, this day is more about remembering all your friends, not only your loved ones

In FRANCE - a traditionally Catholic country, Valentine's Day is known simply as "Saint Valentin" and is celebrated in much the same way as other western countries

In GREECE there is a lot of love in the air, young men and women spend the day in each other's company, reveling in their love for each other. It is said that Cupid is the cause of the emotion of love and Valentine's Day in Greece is intricately connected with him

In GUATEMALA - it is known as the "Día del Cariño" (Day of the Affection)

In INDIA - in past Valentine's Day has been explicitly discouraged by some of the Hindu fundamentalists, mainly the Shiv Sena, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad. Since 2001 there has been each year violent clashes between shopkeepers dealing in Valentine related items and Shiv Sena die-hards, who oppose it as "cultural pollution from the west".

In IRAN - the Sepandarmazgan, or Esfandegan, is an age-old traditional celebration of love, friendship and Earth. It has nothing in common with the Saint Valentin celebration, except for a superficial similarity in giving affection and gifts to loved ones and its origins and motivations are completely unrelated. It has been progressively forgotten in favour of the Western celebration of Valentine's Day

In IRELAND - Valentine's Day in Ireland has some traditions. From the olden times St. Valentine is connected with the concept and emotion of love. Several hotels arrange special Valentine's Day packages which are appreciated by the couples

In ISRAEL - According to Jewish tradition the 15th day of the month of Av - Tu B'Av (usually late August) is the festival of love. In ancient times girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyards, where the boys would be waiting for them. In modern Israeli culture this is a popular day to pronounce love, propose marriage and give gifts like cards or flowers

In ITALY - This day is reserved exclusively for the lovers and family and friends do not take part or exchange gifts. On Valentine's Day in Italy couples go out for dinners at pizzeria or ristorante. 14th February has become very commercialized in Italy but traditionally gifts like chocolates, diamonds, perfumes and flowers are exchanged

In JAMAICA - they head for Montego Bay. People from all over the world gather at Jamaica to witness and to be a part of the Valentine celebrations that takes place in Montego Bay. Beach parties are organized at the Montego Bay, on Valentines Day that is accompanied with drinks and music.

In JAPAN - in 1936, Morozoff Ltd. introduce the holiday when it run an advertisement directed to foreigners. Later in 1953 it started promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates. Other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit later. In 1958 the Isetan department store ran a "Valentine sale". Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom. The custom that only women give chocolates to men appears to have originated from the typo of a chocolate company executive in the initial campaigns. In particular, office ladies give chocolate to their co-workers. Unlike western countries, gifts such as greeting cards, candies, flowers, or dinner dates are uncommon, and most of the activity about the gifts is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each person

In NEW ZEALAND - Visiting exotic locations to spend quiet moments together is one of the ways of celebrating Valentine's Day in New Zealand. There are innumerable tour operators who offer game fishing, bush safari, paragliding and wine tours. The choices are many and each couple can decide in what way they want to spend the day. Several picnic spots are agog with revelers on Valentine's Day.

In NORFOLK - a character called 'Jack' Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children. Although he was leaving treats many children were scared of this mystical person

In PAKISTAN - The Jamaat-e-Islami political party has called for the banning of the holiday and has called it "a shameful day. They claim that the holiday is an insult to Islam. Despite this the celebration is increasingly popular and the florist shops expect to sell a great amount of flowers, especially red roses

In POLAND - Poland had been behind the Iron Curtain for quite some decades, but that has not stopped the young adults in Poland exchange love vows with each other. Valentine cards and Valentine flowers are exchanged with the beloved and there are many couples who opt for dinners in restaurants. The day is spent with each other and the main issue is just being together

In PORTUGAL - it's more commonly referred to as "Dia dos Namorados" (Boy/Girlfriend's Day)

In the PHILLIPPINES - Valentine's Day is called "Araw ng mga Puso" or "Hearts Day". It is usually marked by a steep increase in the prices of flowers

In ROMANIA - the traditional holiday for lovers is Dragobete, which is celebrated on February 24. It is named after a character from Romanian folklore who was supposed to be the son of Baba Dochia. Part of his name is the word drag ("dear"), which can also be found in the word dragoste ("love"). In recent years Romania has also started celebrating Valentine's Day, despite already having Dragobete as a traditional holiday

In RUSSIA - Most of the buildings of Russia are adorned with lights for the occasion of Valentines Day. The shows and the musical concerts that are organized on Valentines Day in Russia are attended by large numbers of people. The shops of Russia on Valentines Day displays different kinds of gift items, as well as flowers and cards

In SAUDI ARABIA - in 2002 and 2008, religious police banned the sale of all Valentine's Day items, telling shop workers to remove any red items as the day is considered a Christian holiday. In 2008 this ban created a black market of roses and wrapping paper

In SLOVENIA - a proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots," so on February 14th plants and flowers start to grow. Valentine's Day has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day. Nevertheless, it has only recently been celebrated as the day of love. The day of love is traditionally March 12, the Saint Gregory's day

In SOUTH AMERICA - Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador etc, Valentine's Day is known as "Día del Amor y la Amistad" (Day of Love and Friendship). Although it is similar to the United States version in many ways, it is also common to see people do "acts of appreciation" for their friends.

In SOUTH KOREA - women give chocolate to men on February 14, and men give non-chocolate candy to women on March 14 (White Day). On April 14 (Black Day), those who did not receive anything on the 14th of Feb or March go to a Chinese restaurant to eat black noodles and "mourn" their single life

In SPAIN - Valentine's Day is known as "San Valentín" and is celebrated the same way as in the U.K, although in Catalonia it is largely superseded by similar festivities of rose and/or book giving on La Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George's Day)

In SWEDEN - it is called Alla hjärtans dag ("All Hearts' Day") and was launched in the 1960s by the flower industry's commercial interests and due to the influence of American culture. It is not an official holiday but its celebration is recognized and sales of cosmetics and flowers for this holiday are only exceeded by those for Mother's Day.

In TURKEY - Valentine's Day is called Sevgililer Günü which translates into "Sweethearts' Day"

In VENEZUELA - in 2009 President Hugo Chavez said in a meeting to his supporters, for the upcoming referendum vote on February 15, that "since on the 14th there will be no time of doing nothing, nothing or next to nothing ... maybe a little kiss or something very superficial", he recommended people to celebrate a week of love after the referendum vote

In WALES - many people celebrate Dydd Santes Dwynwen (St Dwynwen's Day) on January 25 instead of or as well as St Valentine's Day. The day commemorates St Dwynwen, the patron saint of Welsh lovers. Wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"

In ZIMBABWE - Valentine's Day in Zimbabwe is celebrated by the young people with great passion althoug the celebration is beynd the means of many

NOTES & TRADITIONS
*Valentines Day is the most popular day of the year for people to marry, over twice as many people marry then as the next most popular day - New Years Eve
*More than 37 million men will purchase flowers on Valentins Day in America alone
*In Japan many men feel embarrassed if they don't receive any chocolate on Valentine's Day. Women usually make sure to give giri-choco (obligation chocolate) to men around them so that they don't feel left out
*In In the U.S. chocolate and candy sales will climb to an estimated $935 million (over $1 billion Australian)
*The first man an unmarried woman saw on 14th February would be her future husband;
*If the names of all a girl's suitors were written on paper and wrapped in clay and the clay put into water, the piece that rose to the surface first would contain the name of her husband-to-be.
*If a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine’s Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a rich person.
*In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week.
*Men spend nearly twice as much for Valentine's Day gifts as women do
*If you are a star sign believer - Babies born on Valentine's Day are chatty, very bright, original and independent. They will learn things quickly and absorb information with great energy. A Valentine baby can be very stubborn at times and, despite valuing the company of others, also enjoys time alone. They can often appear detached from others but, despite appearances, are often thinking about those close and are extremely loyal

And one would think that 9 months later mid November would be the most common birthday around the world but it is actually beaten by early October (meaning conception of around New Years Eve) - but still ensuring that genealogsits have pleanty of work to keep them going forever ...