February 29 called a Leap Day occurs once every four years called a Leap Year. A leap year contains one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the solar year. In a leap year, February has 29 days instead of the usual 28. There are 366 days in a leap year because it takes slightly longer, an extra 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, to complete an orbit around the sun. The year 2016 is a leap year, and February 29 is leap day.