Qibla direction in Copenhagen

How to face the Qibla in Copenhagen

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 41.8° towards east: the result is the bearing of 138.2°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Copenhagen.

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. The simplest check in Copenhagen is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Copenhagen. 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Copenhagen to Mecca points to 149.0° (south-east), 10.8° away from the correct 138.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 17 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.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 55.6759° N, 12.5655° 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 Copenhagen to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,426 km from Copenhagen as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,109 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 42 min, although most pilgrims from Copenhagen connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Copenhagen run 2 hours behind Mecca in winter and 1 hour 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 Copenhagen rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Copenhagen

On 328 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Copenhagen while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 15 January 2027 it happens at 09:17 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Copenhagen during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Copenhagen: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Copenhagen compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Odense (140 km), prays towards 135.1°, a difference of 3.1°.

Among the 4 cities in Denmark on this site, Copenhagen has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 135.1° in Odense. Across the country the direction varies by 3.1°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Denmark.

Qibla in cities near Copenhagen

• Odense135.1° · 140 km
• Aarhus135.5° · 156 km
• Aalborg135.9° · 223 km