Qibla · La Rioja Province
Qibla direction in La Rioja
To face the Kaaba in La Rioja, turn to 78.2° measured clockwise from true north, which is east (11.8° north of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 12,714 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in La Rioja should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 78.2°, the Qibla of La Rioja. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 78° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in La Rioja
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 11.8° towards north: the result is the bearing of 78.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 12° off.
Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in La Rioja, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from La Rioja to Mecca points to 63.7° (north-east), 14.5° away from the correct 78.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 42 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.
How is the figure of 78.2° obtained? From the coordinates of La Rioja (29.4133° S, 66.8564° W) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.
Distance from La Rioja to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 12,714 km from La Rioja as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 12,826 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 15 h 27 min, although most pilgrims from La Rioja connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in La Rioja 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 La Rioja rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in La Rioja
On 220 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of La Rioja 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 11:59 local time.
On 113 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.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | 11:59 | 18:09 |
| 15 January 2027 | 11:45 | 18:34 |
| 1 February 2027 | 11:14 | 19:14 |
| 15 February 2027 | 10:40 | 19:49 |
| 1 March 2027 | 10:02 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 09:23 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 08:34 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | — | — |
| 1 May 2027 | — | — |
| 15 May 2027 | — | — |
| 1 June 2027 | — | — |
| 15 June 2027 | — | — |
| 1 July 2027 | — | — |
| 15 July 2027 | — | — |
| 1 August 2027 | — | — |
| 15 August 2027 | — | — |
| 1 September 2027 | — | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 08:35 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 09:11 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 09:42 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 10:23 | 19:03 |
| 15 November 2027 | 10:57 | 18:31 |
| 1 December 2027 | 11:32 | 18:05 |
| 15 December 2027 | 11:53 | 17:57 |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in La Rioja (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 La Rioja points straight to Mecca.
La Rioja compared with other cities
Compared with Buenos Aires, 986 km away, the Qibla in La Rioja is turned 1.9° further clockwise (78.2° against 76.3°), and Mecca is 653 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Catamarca (148 km), prays towards 77.3°, a difference of 0.8°.
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 La Rioja
- Catamarca77.3° · 148 km
- Rawson79.9° · 290 km
- Santiago del Estero76.5° · 310 km
- San Miguel de Tucumán76.4° · 331 km
- Córdoba, Cordoba Province, Argentina77.9° · 338 km
- Mendoza80.7° · 430 km
Qibla in La Rioja: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in La Rioja?
It is 78.2° from true north, which is east: 11.8° north of east.
How far is La Rioja from Mecca?
12,714 km in a straight line over the globe, and 12,826 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in La Rioja?
On 220 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 La Rioja not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 63.7°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves La Rioja at 78.2°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 78.2° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.