How to Find the Qibla Direction from Any City
What the Qibla is, why its bearing varies dramatically by location, how to use a compass or phone, and the great-circle routes that surprise travelers.
The Qibla is the direction of the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque of Makkah, Saudi Arabia — the focal point Muslims face during prayer. From most of the world the Qibla is a great-circle bearing, expressed in degrees clockwise from true north. Every prayer-times page on this site lists it precisely: for London it is about 119°, for New York about 59°, for Jakarta about 295°.
Why the Qibla is not simply 'toward Saudi Arabia'
The shortest path to Makkah follows a great circle — the same geometry airliners use. Flat maps lie about direction: from North America, the great-circle Qibla points northeast-ish (over the pole region), not east as a flat map suggests. From Japan it points nearly due west; from West Africa, due east. The classic surprise: from Anchorage, Alaska, the Qibla is almost due north because the great-circle route over the pole is shortest.
| City | Qibla bearing | Rough compass point |
|---|---|---|
| New York | ≈ 59° | Northeast |
| London | ≈ 119° | Southeast |
| Istanbul | ≈ 137° | Southeast |
| Mumbai | ≈ 282° | West-northwest |
| Jakarta | ≈ 295° | Northwest |
| Los Angeles | ≈ 24° | North-northeast |
Three ways to find it in practice
- City prayer page: search your city on the prayer times hub — the page shows the exact bearing with a compass dial
- Smartphone compass: stand flat, away from metal, set the app to true north if possible, and rotate until the bearing matches
- Street observation: in most Muslim-majority cities, mosques are aligned to the Qibla, so a nearby mosque's prayer hall is a ready reference
For prayer times themselves, every city page computes Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha with the calculation method conventional for that country — Makkah uses Umm al-Qura, Karachi uses the University of Islamic Sciences method with Hanafi Asr, New York defaults to ISNA.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Qibla direction?
The direction of the Kaaba in Makkah, measured as a great-circle bearing from true north. It varies by location — about 119° from London, 59° from New York, 295° from Jakarta.
Why does the Qibla point northeast from the US?
Because the shortest path to Makkah is a great-circle route, which arcs over high northern latitudes from North America — not the straight eastward line a flat map suggests.
Do I need a special Qibla compass?
No — any compass or phone compass app works. Account for magnetic declination (the gap between magnetic and true north), or just read the bearing from your city's prayer times page.