What's the National Day?

The National Day is a designated date(指定日期) on which celebrations mark the nationhood(獨(dú)立期) of a nation or non-sovereign(非主權(quán)獨(dú)立) country. This nationhood can be symbolized by the date of independence [??ndi?pend?ns](獨(dú)立), of becoming republic or a significant date for a patron saint(保護(hù)者) or a ruler [?ru:l?](統(tǒng)治者) (birthday, accession,removal [ri?mu:v?l](離任)etc.). Often the day is not called "National Day" but serves and can be considered as one. The National Day will often be a national holiday(全國假期).
Importance [im?p?:t?ns](重要性) attached to the National Day as well as the degree to which it is celebrated vary enormously [??n?:m?sl?](不同地) from country to country. For example, Spain's National Day is held on 12 October, the day celebrated in other countries as Columbus Day(哥倫比亞紀(jì)念日) , which commemorates(紀(jì)念) the anniversary [??ni?v?:s?ri](周年) of Christopher Columbus's arrival [??raiv?l](到來) in the Americas. A military parade [p??reid](檢閱) is held in Madrid celebrating the occasion. In the United States, the Fourth of July celebrations are widely celebrated with parades, fireworks(煙花), picnics(戶外聚餐) and barbecues(燒烤). In Ireland(愛爾蘭), St. Patrick's Day, 17 March, has been the National Day and a Public Holiday for many years. Most countries have a fixed date(確定日期) National Day, but some have movable [?mu:v?b?l](變動(dòng)的) dates. An example here is Jamaica(牙買加), which celebrates its National Day on the first Monday in August. This commemorates independence from the United Kingdom which was attained on Monday, 6 August 1962 - the first Monday in August of that year. Another example is Thailand [?tail?nd](泰國) which celebrates the birthday of the King on 5 December. This date will change on the accession [?k?se??n](就職) of the heir [??](繼承人) to the throne [θr?un](王位).