Women's Day. What is it?

On March 8 many countries of the world celebrate Women's Day. In my country ( I am from Ukraine) we celebrate it, too. But I've decided to find out what holiday this is.
International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women's Day, is celebrated on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation, and love towards women's economic, political, and social achievements.(the information was taken from Wikipedia).

Then I've decided to find out what countries celebrate this holiday. And here they are: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China Cuba, Georgia,Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macedonia , Madagascar, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal , Russia,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,Uganda,Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

In some countries, such as Cameroon, Croatia, Romania, Montenegro,  Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria and Chile,the day is not a public holiday, but is widely celebrated nonetheless. Is it right to call this holiday 'international' , because many but not all countries of the world celebrate it?

But the UNO has declared March 8 the International Women's Day. And Google has created a special doodle for the Women's Day 2016 ( the video was taken from googledoodles)

Due to this video we definitely see this holiday is international.

The analogue of our March 8 in most countries is Mother's Day, which is celebrated on a very different day.

In Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Turkey, Finland, the USA, Japan Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. In the UK it's celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In India it's celebrated in early October ( Durga Puja festival  in honor of the goddess Durga mother). In Spain and Portugal on December 8th the festival in honor of the Mother of God and all mothers is celebrated. In France and Sweden people congratulate mothers on the last Sunday of May. On the eve of  this day Swedish Red Cross starts selling cute plastic flowers. The money goes to a small paid holiday for mothers with many children. But the most original Mother's Day is celebrated, perhaps, in Serbia. On this day ( two weeks before Christmas) children in the early morning tie their sleeping mother. Waking up, the prisoner shows an extraordinary surprise to find herself bound hand and foot. She has to "pay off" with the gifts which she has hidden under the pillow beforehand.What exciting tradition, isn't it?

On the first Sunday in March  the French celebrate grandmothers holiday . On this day, all the grandmothers and all women older than 55 years are respected very much. For example, they can go to the Disneyland at a discount.

For me the Women's Day is the holiday of spring,  beauty, tenderness, wisdom and attention to a woman, regardless of  her status and age. And of course it's the holiday of flowers.

My favourite plant presented me with its beautiful flowers

Happy Women's Day, my dear friends!;)