Qibla direction in Angra dos Reis

How to face the Qibla in Angra dos Reis

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 22.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 68.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 22° 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 Angra dos Reis, 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 Angra dos Reis to Mecca points to 61.6° (north-east), 6.5° away from the correct 68.0°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 10 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 68.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Angra dos Reis (23.0067° S, 44.3181° 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 Angra dos Reis to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 10,360 km from Angra dos Reis as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,475 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 12 h 41 min, although most pilgrims from Angra dos Reis connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Angra dos Reis 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 Angra dos Reis rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Angra dos Reis

On 269 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Angra dos Reis 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 12:01 local time.

On 46 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 December (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 18:08.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Angra dos Reis (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 Angra dos Reis points straight to Mecca.

Angra dos Reis compared with other cities

Compared with Brasília, 888 km away, the Qibla in Angra dos Reis is turned 0.7° further anticlockwise (68.0° against 68.8°), and Mecca is 57 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Volta Redonda (58 km), prays towards 67.9°, 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 Angra dos Reis

• Volta Redonda67.9° · 58 km
• Itaguaí67.8° · 58 km
• Resende68.1° · 61 km
• Barra do Piraí67.8° · 78 km
• Queimados67.7° · 85 km
• Guaratinguetá68.4° · 92 km