2027 International Women's Day

International Women's Day on March 8 celebrates women's rights and gender equality worldwide. It grew out of early 20th-century labour movements: the first National Woman's Day was held in the United States in 1909, Clara Zetkin proposed an international day at a socialist women's conference in Copenhagen in 1910, and the United Nations has marked March 8 officially since 1975. Each year the UN announces a theme, and marches, panel discussions and award ceremonies are held in cities around the world. It is a public holiday in Russia and several other former Soviet states, and it is widely celebrated in Vietnam, China and Italy, where the day is marked by giving flowers such as mimosa, tulips and roses. Florists in Moscow and Hanoi do some of their biggest trade of the year, so order ahead, and restaurants fill up for the evening. This countdown ticks to midnight on March 8 in the time zone of the country you are viewing.