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Born in 1979

If you were born in 1979, you're 46 or 47 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the Golden Goat.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age46 or 47
  • Korean age48
  • Year age47
    • The year 1979
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Golden Goat
  • Sexagenary cycleGi-mi (己未年)
  • Five element Earth (土)
  • Leap yearCommon year
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Golden GoatGi-mi (己未年) · Earth (土)

In the sexagenary cycle, 1979 is Gi-mi (己未年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Earth (土), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the Golden Goat (未).

Born 12 years apart - same Goat
1943age 831955age 711967age 591991age 352003age 232015age 11

The year you were born: 1979

Here's what the world was up to that year 👀

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 16🇮🇷 Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled to Egypt during the Islamic Revolution.
  2. March 26🕊️ Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty at the White House.
  3. March 28☢️ An accident occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
  4. May 4🇬🇧 Margaret Thatcher took office as Britain's prime minister.
  5. August 9✊ Workers from YH Trading staged a sit-in at New Democratic Party headquarters after their company shut down (the YH incident).
  6. October 16📢 The Bu-Ma Democratic Protests broke out on October 16 and ran through the 20th.
  7. October 26🕯️ KCIA director Kim Jae-gyu shot and killed President Park Chung-hee and presidential security chief Cha Ji-chul in what is known as the October 26 incident.
  8. December 12🎖️ The December 12 coup took place.
⭐ Born that year
Sung Si-kyung, singerBae Doona, actorLee Na-young, actorLee Bo-young, actorIm Soo-jung, actorHeath Ledger, Australian actor
🎬 Films and TV from that year
Film "Do You Know Kkot-sun?"Film "A Sleep Deeper Than Death"
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • EconomicsTheodore Schultz, Arthur Lewis
  • LiteratureOdysseas Elytis
  • PhysicsSheldon Lee Glashow, Abdus Salam, Steven Weinberg
  • Physiology or MedicineAllan Cormack, Godfrey Hounsfield
  • PeaceMother Teresa
  • ChemistryHerbert Brown, Georg Wittig

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 1979 🗓️

What someone born in 1979 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    1979Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    1986Age 6 · elementary

    The March after turning 6 - Korean school years start in March, not September.

  3. Starts middle school
    1992Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time job
    1994Age 15

    Ages 13-14 can work only with an employment permit (Labor Standards Act).

  5. Starts high school
    1995Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration card
    1996Age 17

    Issued from the first day of the month after turning 17 (Resident Registration Act).

  7. Can get a driver's licence
    1997Age 18

    Class 2 ordinary licence. Mopeds are allowed from 16 (Road Traffic Act).

  8. Can vote
    1997Age 18

    Must be 18 on election day (Public Official Election Act).

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobacco
    1998Year age 19

    From January 1 of the year you turn 19 - this one uses year age, not your birthday (Youth Protection Act).

  10. Legal adulthood
    1998Age 19

    Adulthood begins on the 19th birthday (Civil Act, Article 4).

  11. Military service examination
    1998Year age 19

    Held in the year a man turns 19 (Military Service Act · year age · men only).

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2039Age 60

    The floor employers must set, not a fixed date (Act on Prohibition of Age Discrimination · reference).

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2044Age 65

    Between 63 and 65 depending on your birth year, with at least 10 years of contributions (National Pension Act · reference).

Ages follow international age unless noted. Buying alcohol or tobacco and the military service examination use year age - the calendar year you turn that age - so they can land a year earlier than you expect. School entry, retirement and the National Pension are general rules and can differ case by case.

1979 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 1979.

Babies born in 1979

862,669babies

Then and now
  • When they were born862,669
  • Today (2025)819,025

95% of that year's babies are still here with us. ✨

  • Life expectancy at birth65.6 yrsMen 61.4 · Women 69.9Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman2.9Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth106.4106.4 boys per 100 girls

Source: Statistics Korea - Birth Statistics(1970~2025) and Life Tables(~2024); Ministry of the Interior and Safety - Resident Registration Population(as of 2025) (KOSIS)

Famous people born in 1979 ⭐

Gong YooActorJuly 10, 1979 · 47 years old💛 Golden GoatBae DoonaActorOctober 11, 1979 · 46 years old💛 Golden GoatLee HyoriSingerFebruary 19, 1979 · 47 years old💛 Golden GoatLee Bo-youngActor, ModelJanuary 12, 1979 · 47 years old💛 Golden GoatHahaSinger, ActorAugust 20, 1979 · 46 years old💛 Golden GoatSoo AeActorSeptember 16, 1979 · 46 years old💛 Golden GoatIm Su-jeongActorJuly 11, 1979 · 47 years old💛 Golden GoatLee Na-youngActorFebruary 22, 1979 · 47 years old💛 Golden Goat
Who else was born in 1979?Everyone born in 1979

Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 1979 is 47 if they've already had their birthday this year and 46 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 48, and their year age is 47.
Counting from 2026, a 46-year-old was born in 1979.
1979 is the year of the Golden Goat. In the sexagenary cycle it's Gi-mi (己未), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Earth (土), the animal picks up the color Golden. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
No. 1979 is a common year - 365 days, and February ends on the 28th.
Korean age starts at 1 the day you're born, and everybody adds a year together on January 1 instead of on their birthday. That makes it one or two years higher than international age. Since June 2023, Korean law, contracts, and official documents all use international age, but you'll still hear Korean age in everyday conversation.

Sources 🌐