Qibla Direction from Every Major City in the World — Exact Compass Bearing and Distance to Mecca for 100 Plus Cities

Finding the qibla direction from your city is the first thing every Muslim needs to know when settling into a new location, checking into a hotel room, or beginning a prayer in an unfamiliar place. This comprehensive reference provides the exact qibla bearing in degrees, the general compass direction, and the straight-line distance to the Kaaba in Mecca for over 100 major cities across every inhabited continent. Whether you are in Seoul, London, New York, Sydney, Jakarta, or anywhere else on Earth, this single page gives you the number you need to face the correct direction — no app required, no internet connection needed, just the qibla bearing for your city written clearly so you can memorize it, screenshot it, and carry it with you everywhere.

World map centered on the Kaaba in Mecca Saudi Arabia showing the focal point for all qibla directions worldwide

How to Use This Qibla Direction Reference

Every city listed below includes three key pieces of information:

Qibla Bearing: The exact compass angle in degrees measured clockwise from true north. For example, 252 degrees means you face 252 degrees on a compass — roughly southwest. This is the mathematically calculated initial bearing along the great circle path from your city to the Kaaba.
General Direction: The simplified compass direction (southwest, northeast, etc.) for quick mental reference when you do not have a compass available.
Distance to Mecca: The straight-line (great circle) distance from your city to the Kaaba in kilometers. This helps you understand how far you are from the holiest site in Islam.

How to use the bearing: Open any compass app or use a physical compass, find true north, then rotate clockwise by the number of degrees listed for your city. The direction you are now facing is toward Mecca. The qibla from most cities points southeast, south, southwest, or west — it depends entirely on your position relative to Mecca on the globe.

Qibla Direction from Cities in Asia

Asia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population, and the qibla direction from Asian cities varies dramatically depending on whether you are in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, or Central Asia. Cities in East Asia like Seoul and Tokyo face roughly southwest toward Mecca, while cities in Southeast Asia like Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur face west-northwest, and cities in South Asia like Mumbai and Dhaka face west to west-southwest.

East Asia

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Seoul	South Korea	252 degrees	Southwest	8,335 km
Busan	South Korea	253 degrees	West-southwest	8,300 km
Incheon	South Korea	252 degrees	Southwest	8,320 km
Tokyo	Japan	254 degrees	West-southwest	9,480 km
Osaka	Japan	254 degrees	West-southwest	9,280 km
Beijing	China	273 degrees	West	7,410 km
Shanghai	China	277 degrees	West	8,050 km
Guangzhou	China	281 degrees	West-northwest	7,480 km
Hong Kong	China SAR	280 degrees	West-northwest	7,560 km
Taipei	Taiwan region	279 degrees	West	8,380 km
Ulaanbaatar	Mongolia	265 degrees	West	6,540 km

Southeast Asia

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Jakarta	Indonesia	295 degrees	West-northwest	7,950 km
Surabaya	Indonesia	294 degrees	West-northwest	8,140 km
Medan	Indonesia	291 degrees	West-northwest	7,020 km
Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	292 degrees	West-northwest	7,310 km
Singapore	Singapore	292 degrees	West-northwest	7,440 km
Bangkok	Thailand	286 degrees	West-northwest	6,700 km
Manila	Philippines	288 degrees	West-northwest	8,580 km
Hanoi	Vietnam	282 degrees	West-northwest	7,070 km
Phnom Penh	Cambodia	285 degrees	West-northwest	7,070 km
Yangon	Myanmar	280 degrees	West	5,670 km

South Asia

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Mumbai	India	260 degrees	West	2,910 km
New Delhi	India	261 degrees	West-southwest	3,390 km
Karachi	Pakistan	259 degrees	West-southwest	2,210 km
Lahore	Pakistan	262 degrees	West-southwest	2,850 km
Islamabad	Pakistan	262 degrees	West-southwest	2,980 km
Dhaka	Bangladesh	276 degrees	West	5,210 km
Colombo	Sri Lanka	281 degrees	West-northwest	4,380 km
Kabul	Afghanistan	256 degrees	West-southwest	2,940 km
Kathmandu	Nepal	268 degrees	West	4,220 km

Central Asia and West Asia

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Tashkent	Uzbekistan	238 degrees	Southwest	3,450 km
Almaty	Kazakhstan	243 degrees	West-southwest	4,430 km
Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	228 degrees	Southwest	2,380 km
Dushanbe	Tajikistan	251 degrees	West-southwest	3,270 km
Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	247 degrees	West-southwest	4,170 km
Tehran	Iran	221 degrees	Southwest	1,740 km
Baghdad	Iraq	198 degrees	South-southwest	1,350 km
Ankara	Turkey	156 degrees	Southeast	2,080 km
Istanbul	Turkey	152 degrees	Southeast	2,170 km
Baku	Azerbaijan	209 degrees	South-southwest	2,190 km
Tbilisi	Georgia	195 degrees	South-southwest	2,230 km

Map showing the Middle East region with Mecca as the central reference point for qibla directions from surrounding countries

Qibla Direction from Cities in the Middle East

Cities in the Middle East have the shortest distances to Mecca, and many Middle Eastern cities have qibla directions that point almost directly south or southwest. The closer you are to Saudi Arabia, the more precisely south the qibla bearing becomes.

Arabian Peninsula and Gulf States

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	245 degrees	West-southwest	780 km
Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	81 degrees	East	80 km
Medina	Saudi Arabia	173 degrees	South	340 km
Dubai	UAE	256 degrees	West-southwest	1,670 km
Abu Dhabi	UAE	259 degrees	West-southwest	1,640 km
Doha	Qatar	250 degrees	West-southwest	1,280 km
Manama	Bahrain	244 degrees	West-southwest	1,230 km
Kuwait City	Kuwait	228 degrees	Southwest	1,170 km
Muscat	Oman	272 degrees	West	1,880 km
Sanaa	Yemen	320 degrees	Northwest	800 km
Amman	Jordan	166 degrees	South-southeast	1,280 km
Beirut	Lebanon	161 degrees	South-southeast	1,430 km
Damascus	Syria	167 degrees	South	1,390 km
Jerusalem	Palestine	156 degrees	Southeast	1,270 km
Nicosia	Cyprus	147 degrees	Southeast	1,680 km

Qibla Direction from Cities in Africa

Africa spans both sides of the equator, and the qibla direction from African cities generally points east or northeast, since Mecca sits to the east of most of the African continent. North African cities like Cairo and Tunis face roughly southeast, while West African cities like Lagos face northeast, and Southern African cities like Cape Town face nearly due north.

North Africa

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Cairo	Egypt	136 degrees	Southeast	1,280 km
Alexandria	Egypt	132 degrees	Southeast	1,460 km
Tripoli	Libya	106 degrees	East-southeast	2,610 km
Tunis	Tunisia	105 degrees	East-southeast	3,200 km
Algiers	Algeria	100 degrees	East	3,730 km
Rabat	Morocco	93 degrees	East	4,470 km
Casablanca	Morocco	93 degrees	East	4,530 km
Khartoum	Sudan	63 degrees	East-northeast	1,310 km

West Africa

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Lagos	Nigeria	63 degrees	Northeast	4,400 km
Abuja	Nigeria	62 degrees	Northeast	4,120 km
Accra	Ghana	65 degrees	Northeast	4,930 km
Dakar	Senegal	72 degrees	East-northeast	6,380 km
Abidjan	Cote d’Ivoire	65 degrees	Northeast	5,240 km
Bamako	Mali	67 degrees	Northeast	5,300 km
Niamey	Niger	65 degrees	Northeast	4,330 km
Nouakchott	Mauritania	74 degrees	East-northeast	6,270 km

East Africa

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Nairobi	Kenya	16 degrees	North-northeast	2,840 km
Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	24 degrees	North-northeast	1,580 km
Djibouti	Djibouti	348 degrees	North	220 km
Mogadishu	Somalia	347 degrees	North	1,470 km
Dar es Salaam	Tanzania	14 degrees	North	3,170 km
Kampala	Uganda	24 degrees	North-northeast	2,830 km

Southern Africa

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Johannesburg	South Africa	12 degrees	North-northeast	5,760 km
Cape Town	South Africa	352 degrees	North	6,510 km
Durban	South Africa	11 degrees	North	5,840 km
Harare	Zimbabwe	14 degrees	North-northeast	5,240 km
Maputo	Mozambique	11 degrees	North	5,570 km
Lusaka	Zambia	19 degrees	North-northeast	4,900 km
Luanda	Angola	42 degrees	Northeast	5,570 km

Qibla Direction from Cities in Europe

From virtually every city in Europe, the qibla direction points southeast or east-southeast. This is because Mecca is located to the southeast of Europe. The exact angle varies from approximately 118 degrees (east-southeast) in Western Europe to approximately 170 degrees (south) in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.

Western Europe

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
London	United Kingdom	118 degrees	East-southeast	4,780 km
Manchester	United Kingdom	119 degrees	East-southeast	4,910 km
Birmingham	United Kingdom	119 degrees	East-southeast	4,830 km
Paris	France	119 degrees	East-southeast	4,520 km
Lyon	France	120 degrees	East-southeast	4,280 km
Brussels	Belgium	122 degrees	East-southeast	4,580 km
Amsterdam	Netherlands	126 degrees	Southeast	4,650 km
Madrid	Spain	100 degrees	East	4,710 km
Barcelona	Spain	110 degrees	East-southeast	4,290 km
Lisbon	Portugal	100 degrees	East	5,130 km
Dublin	Ireland	116 degrees	East-southeast	5,180 km

Central Europe

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Berlin	Germany	134 degrees	Southeast	4,210 km
Munich	Germany	128 degrees	Southeast	4,040 km
Frankfurt	Germany	127 degrees	Southeast	4,220 km
Vienna	Austria	132 degrees	Southeast	3,840 km
Zurich	Switzerland	122 degrees	East-southeast	4,110 km
Prague	Czech Republic	134 degrees	Southeast	4,080 km
Rome	Italy	122 degrees	East-southeast	3,560 km
Milan	Italy	122 degrees	East-southeast	3,940 km
Vatican City	Vatican	122 degrees	East-southeast	3,560 km
Athens	Greece	135 degrees	Southeast	2,660 km

Eastern Europe and Scandinavia

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Moscow	Russia	172 degrees	South	3,360 km
Warsaw	Poland	145 degrees	Southeast	3,900 km
Budapest	Hungary	138 degrees	Southeast	3,520 km
Bucharest	Romania	142 degrees	Southeast	2,990 km
Sofia	Bulgaria	139 degrees	Southeast	2,860 km
Belgrade	Serbia	137 degrees	Southeast	3,080 km
Zagreb	Croatia	132 degrees	Southeast	3,380 km
Stockholm	Sweden	145 degrees	Southeast	4,310 km
Oslo	Norway	140 degrees	Southeast	4,580 km
Copenhagen	Denmark	137 degrees	Southeast	4,350 km
Helsinki	Finland	154 degrees	South-southeast	4,120 km
Kyiv	Ukraine	162 degrees	South-southeast	3,200 km

Qibla Direction from Cities in the Americas

From North America, the qibla direction generally points east or northeast, since Mecca is located to the east across the Atlantic Ocean. From South America, the qibla direction points northeast to east, with Southern South American cities pointing nearly due northeast. The Americas are the farthest region from Mecca, with distances ranging from approximately 10,000 to 15,000 kilometers.

North America

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
New York	United States	58 degrees	Northeast	10,330 km
Washington DC	United States	57 degrees	Northeast	10,530 km
Los Angeles	United States	24 degrees	North-northeast	13,400 km
Chicago	United States	47 degrees	Northeast	11,080 km
Houston	United States	46 degrees	Northeast	12,330 km
Miami	United States	55 degrees	Northeast	11,660 km
San Francisco	United States	20 degrees	North-northeast	13,220 km
Seattle	United States	16 degrees	North-northeast	11,810 km
Toronto	Canada	55 degrees	Northeast	10,550 km
Vancouver	Canada	14 degrees	North-northeast	11,670 km
Montreal	Canada	59 degrees	Northeast	10,220 km
Mexico City	Mexico	48 degrees	Northeast	13,910 km

South America

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Sao Paulo	Brazil	66 degrees	East-northeast	10,680 km
Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	67 degrees	East-northeast	10,460 km
Brasilia	Brazil	64 degrees	East-northeast	10,810 km
Buenos Aires	Argentina	76 degrees	East-northeast	12,420 km
Santiago	Chile	75 degrees	East-northeast	13,720 km
Lima	Peru	60 degrees	Northeast	13,580 km
Bogota	Colombia	61 degrees	Northeast	12,640 km
Caracas	Venezuela	66 degrees	East-northeast	11,730 km
Quito	Ecuador	62 degrees	Northeast	13,580 km

Qibla Direction from Cities in Oceania

From Australia and New Zealand, the qibla direction points northwest, since Mecca is located to the northwest across the Indian Ocean. Australian cities have a roughly consistent northwest bearing of approximately 277 to 290 degrees, while New Zealand cities point more to the west-northwest.

City	Country	Qibla Bearing	Direction	Distance to Mecca
Sydney	Australia	277 degrees	West-northwest	13,180 km
Melbourne	Australia	281 degrees	West-northwest	13,050 km
Perth	Australia	297 degrees	West-northwest	9,740 km
Brisbane	Australia	277 degrees	West-northwest	13,430 km
Adelaide	Australia	286 degrees	West-northwest	12,360 km
Auckland	New Zealand	281 degrees	West-northwest	15,210 km
Wellington	New Zealand	283 degrees	West-northwest	15,100 km
Suva	Fiji	284 degrees	West-northwest	15,870 km

Understanding Why Qibla Bearing Changes by City

The qibla direction is not a fixed compass direction like “always southeast.” It depends entirely on your position on the globe relative to the Kaaba in Mecca, which sits at latitude 21.4225 degrees north and longitude 39.8262 degrees east. The shortest path between two points on the Earth’s surface is a great circle, not a straight line on a flat map — and the initial bearing along that great circle path varies based on your starting point. This is why the qibla from Seoul is 252 degrees (southwest), from London it is 118 degrees (east-southeast), from Lagos it is 63 degrees (northeast), and from Cape Town it is 352 degrees (north).

A common misconception is that Muslims in the Western Hemisphere should face east because Mecca is “in the East.” While the general direction is indeed eastward from the Americas, the precise bearing varies from 14 degrees (north-northeast) in Seattle to 76 degrees (east-northeast) in Buenos Aires. Using a general “east” facing would be off by 20 to 70 degrees from the correct qibla direction in most American cities.

Qibla Bearing Patterns by Hemisphere

From the Northern Hemisphere east of Mecca (East Asia, Southeast Asia): Qibla generally points west to southwest (250 to 310 degrees)
From the Northern Hemisphere west of Mecca (Europe, Americas): Qibla generally points east to southeast (14 to 172 degrees)
From the Southern Hemisphere (Sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, South America): Qibla generally points north to northeast (10 to 80 degrees), or northwest from Oceania (277 to 297 degrees)
From locations near Mecca’s latitude (21.4 degrees north): Qibla points approximately due west if you are east of Mecca, or approximately due east if you are west of Mecca

How to Use These Bearings with a Qibla App

These bearing numbers are most useful when combined with a qibla compass app on your phone. Instead of relying entirely on the app’s real-time compass reading (which can be affected by magnetic interference), memorize the bearing number for your city and use it as a cross-reference. If your app shows 252 degrees from Seoul but you know the correct number is 252, you can trust the reading. If the app shows 240 degrees, something is interfering with your compass — recalibrate by moving the phone in a figure-8 pattern.

For the most accurate qibla compass apps that use these exact bearing calculations, see our comprehensive comparison of the best qibla compass apps for 2026, where we test iQibla, Muslim Pro, Athan, and other top-rated apps for real-world accuracy.

▶ Use the Qibla Finder Tool on Muslim Qibla for Real-Time Direction

Frequently Asked Questions About Qibla Direction by City

Why is the qibla direction from Seoul different from the qibla direction from London?

The qibla direction depends on your position on the globe relative to the Kaaba in Mecca. Seoul and London are on different sides of the Earth relative to Mecca — London is to the west-northwest of Mecca while Seoul is to the east-northeast. The great circle shortest path from London to Mecca goes southeast across Europe and the Mediterranean, while the great circle from Seoul to Mecca goes southwest across China and Central Asia. These two paths point in completely different compass directions, which is why the qibla bearing from London is 118 degrees (east-southeast) while from Seoul it is 252 degrees (southwest).

Does the qibla direction from my city change over time?

The qibla bearing from a fixed location does not change over time. The positions of the Kaaba in Mecca and your city are geographically fixed, and the great circle bearing between them is a mathematical constant. What can change over time is magnetic north — the Earth’s magnetic north pole slowly drifts, which means the compass reading for the qibla bearing shifts very slightly over decades. However, this drift is so small (approximately 0.1 degrees per year in most locations) that it has negligible practical impact on prayer direction.

Is the qibla direction the same for all cities in the same country?

No. The qibla bearing changes with every degree of latitude and longitude. However, for cities that are relatively close together within the same country, the variation is usually small. For example, Seoul (252 degrees) and Busan (253 degrees) differ by only 1 degree despite being 325 kilometers apart. New York (58 degrees) and Los Angeles (24 degrees) differ by 34 degrees because they are 3,944 kilometers apart. For cities within the same metropolitan area, a single qibla bearing is accurate enough for practical prayer purposes.

Can I use the same qibla bearing for my entire city?

For most cities, using a single qibla bearing for the entire metropolitan area introduces an error of less than 1 degree, which is well within acceptable limits for prayer direction. The only exception is extremely large metropolitan areas like Greater London or the New York tri-state area, where the bearing may vary by 1 to 2 degrees between the northernmost and southernmost suburbs. In practice, the single bearing provided for each city in this guide is accurate enough for daily prayer anywhere within that city.

Why do some mosques face different directions than the qibla bearing listed here?

Research has shown that 50 to 70 percent of mosques in certain regions have qibla directions that deviate from the mathematically calculated bearing. This happens because older mosques were built using less accurate tools (such as magnetic compasses without declination correction), or because they were built to align with local street grids rather than the precise geodetic bearing. The qibla bearings in this guide are calculated using the WGS84 ellipsoidal geodetic model, which is the most accurate method available. If your mosque faces a different direction than what this guide shows for your city, the guide is more likely to be correct, but the difference in prayer validity is negligible for small deviations.

What is the qibla direction from the Southern Hemisphere?

From the Southern Hemisphere, the qibla direction generally points north or northeast because Mecca is in the Northern Hemisphere at latitude 21.4 degrees north. From Johannesburg, the qibla points 12 degrees (north-northeast). From Sydney, it points 277 degrees (west-northwest). From Sao Paulo, it points 66 degrees (east-northeast). The specific bearing depends on whether the city is east or west of Mecca, which determines whether the great circle path goes north, northeast, or northwest.

How do I find the qibla direction for a city not listed in this guide?

For cities not listed here, use a qibla compass app on your phone set to your current GPS location — the app will calculate the exact bearing automatically. Alternatively, you can calculate the qibla bearing manually using the coordinates of your city and the coordinates of Mecca (latitude 21.4225, longitude 39.8262) with the great circle initial bearing formula. Online calculators at websites like qibla.withgoogle.com or alhabib.info also provide instant qibla bearings for any GPS coordinate.

Support This Qibla Direction Reference

This reference guide is maintained as a free resource for Muslims worldwide who need accurate qibla direction information for their city. If this guide helped you find the correct direction for your prayers, consider supporting the project.

▶ Support Muslim Qibla on Ko-fi — Help Us Maintain This Global Qibla Reference

Every Muslim on Earth shares one direction. From the skyscrapers of Seoul where the qibla points 252 degrees into the southwestern sky, to the beaches of Cape Town where it points nearly due north, to the mountains of Lima where it tilts 60 degrees northeast, to the frozen streets of Helsinki where it angles 154 degrees south-southeast — every prayer, every prostration, every whispered du’a connects you to the same point on the globe: the Kaaba in Mecca. This page gives you the number for your city so that no matter where you travel, where you work, where you study, or where life takes you, you can find that direction with certainty. Memorize your bearing, screenshot this page, and carry the qibla with you — not just as a number on a screen but as a compass point that connects your heart to the house of God, every single day.

#QiblaDirectionEveryCity #QiblaFromSeoul #QiblaFromLondon #QiblaFromNewYork #QiblaFromTokyo #QiblaBearingWorldwide #MeccaDirectionByCity #QiblaCompassBearing #QiblaFromSydney #QiblaFromDubai #QiblaFromIstanbul #QiblaFromJakarta #QiblaDirectionList #QiblaAngleByCity #FindQiblaDirection #QiblaFromCapeTown #QiblaFromMoscow #QiblaFromLagos #QiblaFromParis #QiblaCompassDegrees