Qibla direction in Berbérati

How to face the Qibla in Berbérati

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 38.5° towards north: the result is the bearing of 51.5°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Berbérati.

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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Berbérati to Mecca points to 53.7° (north-east), 2.1° away from the correct 51.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 1 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.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 4.2612° N, 15.7922° E 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 Berbérati to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,220 km from Berbérati as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,398 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 17 min, although most pilgrims from Berbérati connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Berbérati run 2 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Berbérati rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Berbérati

On 164 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Berbérati 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 April 2027 it happens at 11:59 local time.

On 200 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 14:30.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Berbérati: at 10:18 and 10:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Berbérati compared with other cities

Compared with Bangui, 307 km away, the Qibla in Berbérati is turned 3.0° further clockwise (51.5° against 48.6°), and Mecca is 242 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Carnot (76 km), prays towards 52.4°, a difference of 0.9°.

Across the 4 cities in the Central African Republic on this site, the Qibla ranges from 48.6° in Bangui to 52.4° in Carnot, a spread of 3.9°. The difference is small, yet each city should still use its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Central African Republic.

Qibla in cities near Berbérati

• Carnot52.4° · 76 km
• Bimbo48.6° · 291 km
• Bangui48.6° · 307 km