Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar. During Ramadan, observant Muslims abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk.

Fasting is an exercise in self-restraint, aimed at making the rich experience the suffering of the less unfortunate.

Children, the elderly, ill people and women who are pregnant or menstruating are exempted from fasting on health grounds.

Fasting is one of Islam's five pillars, alongside: declaration of faith; prayer five times a day; alms-giving; and the pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia.

During Ramadan, Muslims are exhorted to intensely worship and read Islam's holy book, the Koran, to experience spiritual renewal.

The month is also marked by a special nightly prayer called "taraweeh."

Ramadan is particularly significant to Muslims because it was the month when the first verses of Koran were revealed to the Prophet Mohammed in the 7th century AD.

Charity street banquets, hosted by benefactors for the poor, are a traditional feature of Ramadan in several Muslim countries.

In mostly Muslim Egypt, festive lanterns and colourful street decorations are age-old traditions celebrating the month's advent.

In recent years, Ramadan has become the peak month for television entertainment in the Arab world where many people have the habit of staying up awake until they eat the pre-dawn meal before they start a new day of fasting.

Lavish and star-studded television shows and soap operas are usually broadcast in Ramadan, much to the chagrin of conservative Muslim clerics.

Ramadan is followed by the three-day Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of fasting.

Australian Associated Press