Qibla direction in Tŏkch’ŏn

How to face the Qibla in Tŏkch’ŏn

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 14.7° towards north: the result is the bearing of 284.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 15° 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. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. 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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Tŏkch’ŏn to Mecca points to 256.1° (west), a full 28.6° away from the true Qibla of 284.7° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 250 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Tŏkch’ŏn first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 39.7526° N, 126.2580° E 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 Tŏkch’ŏn to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 8,212 km from Tŏkch’ŏn as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,028 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 10 h 10 min, although most pilgrims from Tŏkch’ŏn connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Tŏkch’ŏn run 6 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Tŏkch’ŏn rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Tŏkch’ŏn

On 109 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Tŏkch’ŏn 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 18:52 local time.

On 234 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 07:42.

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

Tŏkch’ŏn compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Pyongyang (284.6°), and Mecca is 22 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Kaech’ŏn (32 km), prays towards 284.5°, a difference of 0.2°.

Across the 27 cities in North Korea on this site, the Qibla ranges from 283.5° in Sinuiju to 286.3° in Chongjin, a spread of 2.8°. The difference is small, yet each city should still use its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for North Korea.

Qibla in cities near Tŏkch’ŏn

• Kaech’ŏn284.5° · 32 km
• Sunch’ŏn284.6° · 45 km
• Paek'ak284.4° · 64 km
• Pyongsong284.6° · 65 km
• Pyongyang284.6° · 91 km
• Kangsŏn284.5° · 108 km