Does the week start on Sunday or Monday? By country

There is no single rule. Calendars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, India and the Philippines usually start the week on Sunday; calendars in the United Kingdom, Ireland, almost all of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and China start on Monday; and calendars in Egypt and several Gulf states start on Saturday. Phones and computers take the first day from the Unicode CLDR data, the same source as the lists below, so a calendar that matches your phone will look familiar.

Countries by first day of the week

From the CLDR “weekData” table (checked October 11, 2026). Countries not listed follow the CLDR default, Monday.

Sunday (56)

American Samoa, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Macao, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Outlying Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States, Venezuela, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

Monday (77)

Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Martinique, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Réunion, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Vietnam, Åland Islands.

Saturday (14)

Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Syria.

Friday (1)

Maldives.

CLDR also records Sunday as an alternative for the United Kingdom, where some wall calendars start on Sunday. The lists describe the usual convention, not a law; when in doubt, look at a printed calendar or diary from the country.

Monday and ISO 8601

The international standard for dates, ISO 8601, defines Monday as the first day of the week and numbers weeks from Monday to Sunday. Work rotas, school timetables and business planning in Europe follow it, and week numbers only make sense on a Monday-start calendar. If you show week numbers on a Sunday-start calendar, the maker labels each row with the ISO week of its Monday.

Choosing for a printed calendar

The maker picks Sunday for visitors whose browser is set to the US or Canada and Monday for most others, and offers Saturday too. Choose what the people who will read the calendar expect: a calendar for a family in the US with Monday first makes weekends look split, and one for a British office with Sunday first misaligns with the week numbers in their diaries. Weekends are shaded either way, so they are easy to find.