A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of months (Moon cycles). The majority of years have twelve months but every second or third year is an embolismic year, which adds a thirteenth intercalary, embolismic, or leap month.
In contrast to purely lunar calendars such as the Islamic calendar, lunisolar calendars have additional intercalation rules that reset them periodically into a rough agreement with the solar year and thus with the seasons.
