Qibla direction in Port-au-Prince

How to face the Qibla in Port-au-Prince

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 28.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 62.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 28° 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 Port-au-Prince, 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 Port-au-Prince to Mecca points to 88.4° (east), a full 26.4° away from the true Qibla of 62.0° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 324 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Port-au-Prince first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 62.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Port-au-Prince (18.5435° N, 72.3388° 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 Port-au-Prince to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 11,400 km from Port-au-Prince as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 11,231 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 13 h 55 min, although most pilgrims from Port-au-Prince connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Port-au-Prince 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 Port-au-Prince rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Port-au-Prince

On 77 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Port-au-Prince 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 15 May 2027 it happens at 12:43 local time.

On 288 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 16:38.

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

Port-au-Prince compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Arcahaie (31 km), prays towards 61.9°, a difference of 0.1°.

Among the 10 cities in Haiti on this site, Port-au-Prince has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 61.5° in Les Cayes. Across the country the direction varies by 0.5°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Haiti.

Qibla in cities near Port-au-Prince

• Arcahaie61.9° · 31 km
• Léogâne61.9° · 31 km
• Jacmel62.0° · 40 km
• Tigwav61.8° · 57 km
• Saint-Marc61.8° · 74 km
• Dessalines61.8° · 82 km