Qibla direction in Abidjan

How to face the Qibla in Abidjan

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 25.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 65.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 25° 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 Abidjan, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Abidjan is a handy reference, because the 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Abidjan to Mecca points to 69.3° (east), 4.3° away from the correct 65.0°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 7 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.

How is the figure of 65.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Abidjan (5.3544° N, 4.0017° 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 Abidjan to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 5,043 km from Abidjan as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 5,114 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 26 min, although most pilgrims from Abidjan connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Abidjan run 3 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Abidjan rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Abidjan

On 158 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Abidjan 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 15 April 2027 it happens at 11:37 local time.

On 207 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 17:15.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Abidjan: at 09:18 and 09:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Abidjan compared with other cities

Compared with Yamoussoukro, 216 km away, the Qibla in Abidjan is turned 1.7° further anticlockwise (65.0° against 66.7°), and Mecca is 62 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Anyama (17 km), prays towards 65.1°, a difference of 0.1°.

Among the 20 cities in Côte d’Ivoire on this site, Abidjan has the smallest Qibla bearing; the largest is 69.1° in Korhogo. Across the country the direction varies by 4.2°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Côte d’Ivoire.

Qibla in cities near Abidjan

• Anyama65.1° · 17 km
• Dabou65.1° · 42 km
• Divo65.8° · 159 km
• Abengourou66.1° · 163 km
• Daoukro66.5° · 190 km
• Yamoussoukro66.7° · 216 km