Qibla direction in Ituzaingo

How to face the Qibla in Ituzaingo

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 16.5° towards north: the result is the bearing of 73.5°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 17° off.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Ituzaingo, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Ituzaingo to Mecca points to 62.3° (north-east), 11.1° away from the correct 73.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 24 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 value of 73.5° is the direction in which the shortest route from 27.5850° S, 56.6871° W sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Ituzaingo to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 11,701 km from Ituzaingo as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 11,818 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 14 h 16 min, although most pilgrims from Ituzaingo connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Ituzaingo run 6 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Ituzaingo rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ituzaingo

On 245 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ituzaingo while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 11:53 local time.

On 87 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 January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 18:09.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Ituzaingo (06:18 and 06:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 18:29 and 28 November 2027 at 18:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Ituzaingo points straight to Mecca.

Ituzaingo compared with other cities

Compared with Buenos Aires, 798 km away, the Qibla in Ituzaingo is turned 2.8° further anticlockwise (73.5° against 76.3°), and Mecca is 360 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Posadas (78 km), prays towards 73.1°, a difference of 0.3°.

Across the 34 cities in Argentina on this site, the Qibla ranges from 73.1° in Posadas to 86.4° in Comodoro Rivadavia, a spread of 13.3°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Argentina.

Qibla in cities near Ituzaingo

• Posadas73.1° · 78 km
• Corrientes74.3° · 212 km
• Formosa, Formosa Province, Argentina73.6° · 214 km
• Resistencia74.3° · 227 km
• Concordia75.1° · 442 km
• Paraná76.3° · 592 km