Qibla direction in Bimbo

How to face the Qibla in Bimbo

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 41.4° towards north: the result is the bearing of 48.6°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Bimbo.

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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Bimbo to Mecca points to 50.5°, only 1.9° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 48.6° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 4.2567° N, 18.4158° 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 Bimbo to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,997 km from Bimbo as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,193 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 02 min, although most pilgrims from Bimbo connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Bimbo 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 Bimbo rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Bimbo

On 164 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Bimbo 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 11:49 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 14:03.

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

Bimbo compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Bangui (48.6°), and Mecca is 19 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Bangui (19 km), prays towards 48.6°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.

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 Bimbo

• Bangui48.6° · 19 km
• Berbérati51.5° · 291 km
• Carnot52.4° · 292 km