Qibla direction in St. John's

How to face the Qibla in St. John's

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 16.6° towards north: the result is the bearing of 73.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 17° 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 St. John's, 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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from St. John's to Mecca points to 109.2° (east), a full 35.8° away from the true Qibla of 73.4° (east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 376 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from St. John's first heads east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 73.4° obtained? From the coordinates of St. John's (47.5649° N, 52.7093° 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 St. John's to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 8,452 km from St. John's as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,194 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 10 h 27 min, although most pilgrims from St. John's connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in St. John's run 6.5 hours behind Mecca in winter and 5.5 hours behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of St. John's rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in St. John's

On 112 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of St. John's while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 May 2027 it happens at 06:23 local time.

On 230 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 March (31 days), for instance on 1 March 2027 at 17:11.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in St. John's: at 06:48 and 06:57 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

St. John's compared with other cities

Compared with Ottawa, 1,770 km away, the Qibla in St. John's is turned 16.3° further clockwise (73.4° against 57.2°), and Mecca is 1,693 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (590 km), prays towards 68.0°, a difference of 5.4°.

Among the 46 cities in Canada on this site, St. John's has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 16.5° in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Across the country the direction varies by 56.9°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Canada.

Qibla in cities near St. John's

• Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada68.0° · 590 km
• Halifax65.6° · 898 km
• Saguenay60.6° · 1,366 km
• Québec60.4° · 1,398 km
• Sherbrooke59.9° · 1,485 km
• Trois-Rivières59.4° · 1,508 km