Qibla direction in Valdivia

How to face the Qibla in Valdivia

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 3.1° towards north: the result is the bearing of 86.9°. The direction is close to due east, which makes it easy to remember.

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 Valdivia, 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 Valdivia to Mecca points to 60.0° (north-east), a full 26.9° away from the true Qibla of 86.9° (east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 151 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Valdivia first heads east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 86.9° obtained? From the coordinates of Valdivia (39.8142° S, 73.2459° 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 Valdivia to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 13,448 km from Valdivia as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 13,617 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 16 h 19 min, although most pilgrims from Valdivia connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Valdivia run 6 hours behind Mecca in winter and 7 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 Valdivia rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Valdivia

On 179 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Valdivia while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 10:18 local time.

On 154 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 18:14.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Valdivia (05:18 and 05:27 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 Valdivia points straight to Mecca.

Valdivia compared with other cities

Compared with Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan, Chile, 744 km away, the Qibla in Valdivia is turned 5.0° further clockwise (86.9° against 81.8°), and Mecca is 301 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Osorno (85 km), prays towards 87.2°, a difference of 0.4°.

Across the 24 cities in Chile on this site, the Qibla ranges from 74.3° in Arica to 92.9° in Punta Arenas, a spread of 18.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Chile.

Qibla in cities near Valdivia

• Osorno87.2° · 85 km
• Temuco85.8° · 132 km
• Port Montt87.7° · 186 km
• Los Ángeles85.0° · 272 km
• Villa Mercedes84.7° · 290 km
• Coronel85.1° · 309 km