The Republic of China calendar (Chinese: 民國紀元; pinyin: Mínguó jìyuán) is the method of numbering years currently used in the Republic of China (ROC) (Taiwan, Kinmen, and Matsu). It was used in mainland China from 1912 until the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Following the Chinese imperial tradition of using the sovereign's era name and year of reign, official ROC documents use the Republic (Chinese: 民國; pinyin: Mínguó; literally "The Country of the People") system of numbering years in which the first year was 1912, the year of the founding of the Republic of China. For example, 2012 is the "101st year of the Republic". Months and days are numbered according to the Gregorian calendar.
To find out the ROC year equivalent to any Gregorian calendar (CE) year, subtract 1911 from the Gregorian year. For example: 2012 - 1911 = 101st year of the Republic.
The Gregorian calendar was adopted by the nascent Republic of China effective 1 January 1912 for official business, but the general populace continued to use the traditional Chinese calendar. The status of the Gregorian calendar was unclear between 1916 and 1921 while China was controlled by several competing warlords each supported by foreign colonial powers. From about 1921 until 1928 warlords continued to fight over northern China, but the Kuomintang or Nationalist government controlled southern China and used the Gregorian calendar. After the Kuomintang reconstituted the Republic of China on 10 October 1928, the Gregorian calendar was officially adopted, effective 1 January 1929. The People's Republic of China has continued to use the Gregorian calendar since 1949.