Qibla direction in Nouakchott

How to face the Qibla in Nouakchott

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 13.5° towards north: the result is the bearing of 76.5°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 13° off.

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 Nouakchott is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Nouakchott. 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 Nouakchott to Mecca points to 86.4° (east), 9.9° away from the correct 76.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 29 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 18.0858° N, 15.9785° W 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 Nouakchott to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 5,822 km from Nouakchott as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 5,767 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 7 h 21 min, although most pilgrims from Nouakchott connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Nouakchott 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 Nouakchott rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Nouakchott

On 74 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Nouakchott 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 1 May 2027 it happens at 07:13 local time.

On 167 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 March (31 days), for instance on 1 March 2027 at 18:00.

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

Nouakchott compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Nouadhibou (336 km), prays towards 78.5°, a difference of 1.9°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Mauritania.

Qibla in cities near Nouakchott

• Nouadhibou78.5° · 336 km