Saudi Arabia and a handful of other Muslim-majority countries are starting Ramadan on Wednesday, while several others will begin the next day.
Muslims follow the lunar calendar, which consists of 12 months lasting between 29 and 30 days. The start of the fasting month of Ramadan depends on the sighting of the crescent moon.
Saudi authorities said on Tuesday evening that the moon had been spotted by their teams, and therefore the fasting month would begin on Wednesday.
The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Afghanistan and Palestine announced that they would commence on Wednesday too. Sunni religious authorities in Iraq and Lebanon also said Ramadan was beginning that day.
A string of other Muslim-majority countries said they would begin on Thursday, having not sighted the moon, including Egypt, Brunei, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, Tunisia, Libya, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Syria and Oman.
