Qibla direction in Itabuna

How to face the Qibla in Itabuna

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 23.5° towards north: the result is the bearing of 66.5°. 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 Itabuna, 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 Itabuna to Mecca points to 65.0°, only 1.5° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 66.5° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 66.5° obtained? From the coordinates of Itabuna (14.7856° S, 39.2803° 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 Itabuna to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 9,517 km from Itabuna as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 9,600 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 11 h 42 min, although most pilgrims from Itabuna connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Itabuna 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 Itabuna rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Itabuna

On 221 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Itabuna 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 11:31 local time.

On 99 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 13:16.

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

Itabuna compared with other cities

Compared with Brasília, 934 km away, the Qibla in Itabuna is turned 2.3° further anticlockwise (66.5° against 68.8°), and Mecca is 900 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Ilhéus (27 km), prays towards 66.4°, 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 Itabuna

• Ilhéus66.4° · 27 km
• Jequié66.8° · 135 km
• Vitória da Conquista66.9° · 168 km
• Eunápolis66.5° · 180 km
• Porto Seguro66.3° · 186 km
• Santo Antônio de Jesus66.6° · 202 km