Qibla direction in Aalborg

How to face the Qibla in Aalborg

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 44.1° towards east: the result is the bearing of 135.9°. 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 Aalborg.

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 Aalborg, 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Aalborg to Mecca points to 148.0° (south-east), 12.1° away from the correct 135.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 23 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 135.9° obtained? From the coordinates of Aalborg (57.0480° N, 9.9187° E) 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 Aalborg to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,649 km from Aalborg as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,332 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 58 min, although most pilgrims from Aalborg connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Aalborg 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 Aalborg rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Aalborg

On 307 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Aalborg 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 1 February 2027 it happens at 09:28 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Aalborg 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 Aalborg: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Aalborg compared with other cities

Compared with Copenhagen, 223 km away, the Qibla in Aalborg is turned 2.4° further anticlockwise (135.9° against 138.2°), and Mecca is 223 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Aarhus (101 km), prays towards 135.5°, a difference of 0.3°.

Across the 4 cities in Denmark on this site, the Qibla ranges from 135.1° in Odense to 138.2° in Copenhagen, a spread of 3.1°. The difference is small, yet each city should still use its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Denmark.

Qibla in cities near Aalborg

• Aarhus135.5° · 101 km
• Odense135.1° · 186 km
• Copenhagen138.2° · 223 km