Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that the holy month of Ramadan will commence on Saturday, March 1, after the Ramadan crescent moon was sighted in the Kingdom. With the confirmation, more than 1.8 billion Muslims across the world will begin fasting from sunrise to sunset each day.

For Muslims in Saudi Arabia and most Sunni-ruled Middle Eastern states Ramadan will begin on Saturday, but in Shiite-majority Iran and Iraq it will start the following day, authorities announced.

Saudi Arabia, along with Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, and several other Arab and Islamic nations, officially announced that Saturday would be the first day of Ramadan.