Qibla direction in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

How to face the Qibla in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

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.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada to Mecca points to 106.8° (east), a full 38.8° away from the true Qibla of 68.0° (east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 471 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada first heads east, and that is the direction to face.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 46.1351° N, 60.1831° W to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 9,040 km from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,781 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 11 h 08 min, although most pilgrims from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada run 7 hours behind Mecca in winter and 6 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 Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

On 86 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in July (31 days); for example, on 15 May 2027 it happens at 06:07 local time.

On 253 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 15 February 2027 at 17:01.

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

Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada compared with other cities

Compared with Ottawa, 1,204 km away, the Qibla in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada is turned 10.9° further clockwise (68.0° against 57.2°), and Mecca is 1,104 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Halifax (313 km), prays towards 65.6°, a difference of 2.5°.

Across the 46 cities in Canada on this site, the Qibla ranges from 16.5° in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to 73.4° in St. John's, a spread of 56.9°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Canada.

Qibla in cities near Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

• Halifax65.6° · 313 km
• St. John's73.4° · 590 km
• Québec60.4° · 847 km
• Saguenay60.6° · 858 km
• Sherbrooke59.9° · 912 km
• Trois-Rivières59.4° · 950 km