Qibla direction in Cuauhtémoc

How to face the Qibla in Cuauhtémoc

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 36.5° towards east: the result is the bearing of 36.5°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “north” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Cuauhtémoc.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Cuauhtémoc, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Cuauhtémoc to Mecca points to 93.0° (east), a full 56.5° away from the true Qibla of 36.5° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 1,379 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Cuauhtémoc first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 36.5° is the direction in which the shortest route from 28.4063° N, 106.8667° W sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Cuauhtémoc to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 13,421 km from Cuauhtémoc as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 13,128 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 16 h 17 min, although most pilgrims from Cuauhtémoc connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Cuauhtémoc run 9 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Cuauhtémoc rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Cuauhtémoc

From Cuauhtémoc the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 36.5°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.

On 365 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 15:29.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Cuauhtémoc (03:18 and 03:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 15:29 and 28 November 2027 at 15:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Cuauhtémoc points straight to Mecca.

Cuauhtémoc compared with other cities

Compared with Mexico City, 1,270 km away, the Qibla in Cuauhtémoc is turned 10.1° further anticlockwise (36.5° against 46.6°), and Mecca is 225 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Chihuahua City (80 km), prays towards 37.1°, a difference of 0.6°.

Across the 99 cities in Mexico on this site, the Qibla ranges from 25.5° in Rosarito to 54.2° in Chetumal, a spread of 28.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Mexico.

Qibla in cities near Cuauhtémoc

• Chihuahua City37.1° · 80 km
• Delicias37.8° · 139 km
• Parral38.1° · 202 km
• Navojoa34.6° · 294 km
• Ciudad Obregón34.0° · 319 km
• Los Mochis35.5° · 359 km