When is Mother's Day?

When is Mother's Day? A common question, normally asked in a blind panic at the moment some thoughtless offspring suddenly remembers that it's that time of year again and there'd better be some flowers for mum...

But the answer's not so clear-cut. It really depends where you come from.

Some countries, mostly in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Bloc, celebrate International Women's Day instead, on 8 March, often with a public holiday.

If you're in the UK, Ireland, Nigeria or Bangladesh, it's the Fourth Sunday in Lent (this year 18 March). Mothering Sunday can fall at the earliest on 1 March (in years when Easter Day falls on 22 March) and, at the latest, on 4 April (when Easter Day falls on 25 April).

If you're in most of the Arab world, it's 21 March.

If you're in Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Lithuania or Mozambique, it's the first Sunday in May.

And if you're in China, Australia, Italy, Philippines, Switzerland, India, the United States or Canada, Cuba, Greece, Malta, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan or another 65 countries, it's the second Sunday of May (this year 13 May).

Then again, if you're in France, Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia, Haiti, the French Antilles, the Dominican Republic or even Sweden, it's the last Sunday of May.

And there are others...
• Norway: Second Sunday of February
• Luxembourg: Second Sunday of June
• Kenya: Last Sunday of June
• Argentina: Third Sunday of October
• Russia: Last Sunday of November
• Iran: 20 Jumada al-thani in the Islamic calendar - the birthday of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (the prophet Muhammad's daughter from his first wife Khadija). Since the Islamic calendar uses the lunar year, which is shorter than the solar year, the day will change each year in other calendars.