Qibla direction in Las Tunas

How to face the Qibla in Las Tunas

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 30.6° towards north: the result is the bearing of 59.4°. 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 Las Tunas.

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 Las Tunas, 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 Las Tunas to Mecca points to 89.8° (east), a full 30.3° away from the true Qibla of 59.4° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 417 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Las Tunas first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 59.4° obtained? From the coordinates of Las Tunas (20.9614° N, 76.9519° 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 Las Tunas to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 11,690 km from Las Tunas as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 11,499 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 14 h 15 min, although most pilgrims from Las Tunas connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Las Tunas run 8 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 Las Tunas rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Las Tunas

On 55 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Las Tunas while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in June (30 days); for example, on 1 June 2027 it happens at 12:57 local time.

On 310 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 16:36.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Las Tunas (05:18 and 05:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 16:29 and 28 November 2027 at 16:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Las Tunas points straight to Mecca.

Las Tunas compared with other cities

Compared with Havana, 610 km away, the Qibla in Las Tunas is turned 3.4° further clockwise (59.4° against 56.0°), and Mecca is 345 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Manzanillo, Granma Province, Cuba (71 km), prays towards 59.5°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 15 cities in Cuba on this site, the Qibla ranges from 55.5° in Pinar del Río to 60.4° in Guantánamo, a spread of 4.9°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Cuba.

Qibla in cities near Las Tunas

• Manzanillo, Granma Province, Cuba59.5° · 71 km
• Holguín59.8° · 72 km
• Bayamo59.7° · 73 km
• Camagüey58.8° · 110 km
• Palma Soriano60.0° · 130 km
• Santiago de Cuba60.2° · 157 km