Leap year most years that are multiples of 4 are leap years. In each leap year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. Adding one extra day in the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a period of 365 days is shorter than a tropical year by almost 6 hours. Some exceptions to this basic rule are required since the duration of a tropical year is slightly less than 365.25 days. The Gregorian reform modified the Julian calendar's scheme of leap years as follows: Over a period of four centuries, the accumulated error of adding a
Gregorian calendar to globalization in the 20th century, the calendar has also been adopted by most non-"Western" countries for civil purposes. The calendar era carries the alternative secular name of "Common Era". The Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar with 12 months of 28–31 days each. A regular Gregorian year consists of 365 days, but in certain years known as leap years, a leap day is added to February. Gregorian years are identified by consecutive year numbers. A calendar date is fully specified by the year (numbered according to a calendar era, in this case "Anno Domini" or Common Era), the month