Qibla · Tiaret Province
Qibla direction in Tiaret
To face the Kaaba in Tiaret, turn to 102.1° measured clockwise from true north, which is east (12.1° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,042 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Tiaret should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 102.1°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 102°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Tiaret
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 12.1° towards south: the result is the bearing of 102.1°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 12° off.
Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. The simplest check in Tiaret is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Tiaret. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Tiaret to Mecca points to 112.5° (east), 10.4° away from the correct 102.1°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 18 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 35.3710° N, 1.3170° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.
Distance from Tiaret to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,042 km from Tiaret as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,857 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 15 min, although most pilgrims from Tiaret connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Tiaret run 2 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Tiaret rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Tiaret
On 226 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Tiaret while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 March 2027 it happens at 07:47 local time.
On 123 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in May (31 days), for instance on 1 May 2027 at 18:49.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 07:47 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 08:13 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 08:44 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 09:08 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 09:36 | 18:49 |
| 15 May 2027 | 09:59 | 18:24 |
| 1 June 2027 | 10:23 | 18:04 |
| 15 June 2027 | 10:35 | 17:57 |
| 1 July 2027 | 10:37 | 18:03 |
| 15 July 2027 | 10:27 | 18:16 |
| 1 August 2027 | 10:04 | 18:41 |
| 15 August 2027 | 09:38 | 19:04 |
| 1 September 2027 | 09:00 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 08:27 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 07:49 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | — | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Tiaret: at 10:18 and 10:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Tiaret compared with other cities
Compared with Algiers, 220 km away, the Qibla in Tiaret is turned 3.3° further anticlockwise (102.1° against 105.4°), and Mecca is 119 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Relizane (80 km), prays towards 101.9°, a difference of 0.1°.
Across the 38 cities in Algeria on this site, the Qibla ranges from 94.7° in Béchar to 110.2° in Annaba, a spread of 15.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Algeria.
Qibla in cities near Tiaret
Qibla in Tiaret: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Tiaret?
It is 102.1° from true north, which is east: 12.1° south of east.
How far is Tiaret from Mecca?
4,042 km in a straight line over the globe, and 3,857 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Tiaret?
On 226 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Tiaret not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 112.5°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Tiaret at 102.1°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 102.1° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.