Qibla direction in Poza Rica

How to face the Qibla in Poza Rica

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 42.7° towards north: the result is the bearing of 47.3°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Poza Rica.

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 Poza Rica, 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 Poza Rica to Mecca points to 89.6° (east), a full 42.3° away from the true Qibla of 47.3° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 819 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Poza Rica first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 47.3° obtained? From the coordinates of Poza Rica (20.5332° N, 97.4595° 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 Poza Rica to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 13,435 km from Poza Rica as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 13,189 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 16 h 18 min, although most pilgrims from Poza Rica connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Poza Rica 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 Poza Rica rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Poza Rica

On 59 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Poza Rica 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 1 June 2027 it happens at 12:20 local time.

On 305 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 15:32.

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

Poza Rica compared with other cities

Compared with Mexico City, 213 km away, the Qibla in Poza Rica is turned 0.7° further clockwise (47.3° against 46.6°), and Mecca is 211 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Teziutlán (80 km), prays towards 47.7°, a difference of 0.4°.

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 Poza Rica

• Teziutlán47.7° · 80 km
• Tulancingo46.9° · 107 km
• Xalapa48.2° · 125 km
• Pachuca46.6° · 141 km
• San Martin Texmelucan47.2° · 173 km
• Puebla City47.5° · 183 km