Qibla direction in Palmas

How to face the Qibla in Palmas

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 21.4° towards north: the result is the bearing of 68.6°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 21° 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 Palmas, 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Palmas to Mecca points to 70.0°, only 1.4° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 68.6° bearing remains the exact one.

The value of 68.6° is the direction in which the shortest route from 10.1675° S, 48.3277° 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 Palmas to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 10,230 km from Palmas as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,268 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 12 h 32 min, although most pilgrims from Palmas connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Palmas 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 Palmas rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Palmas

On 178 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Palmas 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 1 March 2027 it happens at 11:59 local time.

On 125 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 15:44.

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

Palmas compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Brasília (68.8°), and Mecca is 187 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Araguaína (331 km), prays towards 68.5°, 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 Palmas

• Araguaína68.5° · 331 km
• Luis Eduardo Magalhães68.2° · 350 km
• Balsas68.2° · 386 km
• Barreiras68.0° · 426 km
• Parauapebas68.7° · 488 km
• Imperatriz68.4° · 524 km