Berber calendar December - 13 January), and 20 "black nights" (Berber: "iḍan tiberkanin/isṭṭafen", Arabic "al-lyali al-sud"), beginning on the first day of "yennayer", corresponding to the Gregorian 14 January. The first day of the year is celebrated in various ways in the different parts of North Africa. A widespread tradition is a meal with particular foods, which vary from region to region (such as a couscous with seven vegetables). In some regions, it is marked by the sacrifice of an animal (usually a chicken). In Algeria, such a holiday is celebrated even by many people who don't use the Berber calendar in
Names of the Berber people and English when spelled "Berber". The term appeared first in the 4th century in the religious conflicts between Saint Augustine, a Numidian Berber-Roman bishop of the Catholic faith, and the Berber Donatists of the Donatism faith who were allies of the Barbarian Vandals. The Vandals migrated from Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal) where they were assailed by the Gauls allied to the Romans, and settled west of the Roman city of Carthage (in modern Tunisia) in the highlands (in modern Algeria). Derived terms include the toponym Barbary and the animals Barb horse and Barbary duck. The Greek term "βάρβαρος /