Qibla direction in Colina

How to face the Qibla in Colina

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 8.3° towards north: the result is the bearing of 81.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 8° 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 Colina, 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 Colina to Mecca points to 62.6° (north-east), a full 19.1° away from the true Qibla of 81.7° (east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 73 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Colina first heads east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 81.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Colina (33.2044° S, 70.6747° 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 Colina to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 13,145 km from Colina as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 13,276 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 15 h 58 min, although most pilgrims from Colina connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Colina 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 Colina rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Colina

On 203 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Colina 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 11:21 local time.

On 134 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 18:11.

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

Colina compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan, Chile (81.8°), and Mecca is 2 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Lampa (21 km), prays towards 81.8°, a difference of 0.1°.

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 Colina

• Lampa81.8° · 21 km
• Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan, Chile81.8° · 28 km
• Puente Alto81.9° · 46 km
• Viña del Mar82.0° · 84 km
• Rancagua82.3° · 107 km
• Curicó83.0° · 204 km