free tool

Qibla direction finder

The direction of the Kaaba from any point on Earth, as a compass bearing from true north, worked out on your device from your coordinates.

How the direction is worked out

The finder uses the great-circle method: the direction you would set off in to travel the shortest path over the Earth's surface to the Kaaba, at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. This is the method most published qibla tables use. It is also why the answer can surprise you on a flat map: from New York the shortest path leaves to the north-east, over the Atlantic, so the bearing is about 58°, not the east-south-east a map suggests.

The distance is measured along the same path, on a sphere of the Earth's average radius. The Earth is slightly flattened at the poles, which changes the answer by less than one per cent, so it is rounded to the kilometre.

True north and your compass

The bearing is measured from true north, the direction of the North Pole. A magnetic compass, and the compass in many phones, points to magnetic north instead, and the gap between the two — the magnetic declination — is a few degrees in much of the world and more in some places. If your compass reads magnetic north, adjust by your local declination, or line the bearing up with a landmark on a map.

Your location is used only if you tap the button, and only inside your browser: the arithmetic needs no server, so the coordinates are never sent. You can also type them in, as decimals or with N, S, E and W. The finder does arithmetic only; if a local mosque gives a different direction, ask how theirs was worked out. The hijri date converter works the same way, on your device.