Qibla direction in Ilhéus

How to face the Qibla in Ilhéus

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 23.6° towards north: the result is the bearing of 66.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 24° 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 Ilhéus, 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Ilhéus to Mecca points to 64.9°, only 1.5° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 66.4° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 66.4° obtained? From the coordinates of Ilhéus (14.7991° S, 39.0323° 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 Ilhéus to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 9,493 km from Ilhéus as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 9,577 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 11 h 40 min, although most pilgrims from Ilhéus connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Ilhéus 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 Ilhéus rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ilhéus

On 222 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ilhéus 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 15 February 2027 it happens at 11:30 local time.

On 98 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 13:15.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Ilhéus: at 06:18 and 06:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Ilhéus compared with other cities

Compared with Brasília, 960 km away, the Qibla in Ilhéus is turned 2.4° further anticlockwise (66.4° against 68.8°), and Mecca is 924 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Itabuna (27 km), prays towards 66.5°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 257 cities in Brazil on this site, the Qibla ranges from 66.1° in Maceió to 74.2° in Uruguaiana, a spread of 8.1°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Brazil.

Qibla in cities near Ilhéus

• Itabuna66.5° · 27 km
• Jequié66.8° · 154 km
• Porto Seguro66.3° · 184 km
• Eunápolis66.5° · 185 km
• Vitória da Conquista66.9° · 194 km
• Santo Antônio de Jesus66.6° · 205 km