Qibla direction in Drammen

How to face the Qibla in Drammen

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 41.8° towards east: the result is the bearing of 138.2°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Drammen.

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 Drammen, 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Drammen to Mecca points to 150.8° (south-east), 12.6° away from the correct 138.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 25 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 value of 138.2° is the direction in which the shortest route from 59.7439° N, 10.2045° E 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 Drammen to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,857 km from Drammen as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,534 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 13 min, although most pilgrims from Drammen connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Drammen run 2 hours behind Mecca in winter and 1 hour 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 Drammen rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Drammen

On 295 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Drammen while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 February 2027 it happens at 09:37 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Drammen during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Drammen: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Drammen compared with other cities

Compared with Oslo, 36 km away, the Qibla in Drammen is turned 0.8° further anticlockwise (138.2° against 139.0°), and Mecca is 6 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Oslo (36 km), prays towards 139.0°, a difference of 0.8°.

Across the 6 cities in Norway on this site, the Qibla ranges from 132.2° in Stavanger to 140.8° in Trondheim, a spread of 8.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Norway.

Qibla in cities near Drammen

• Oslo139.0° · 36 km
• Kristiansand134.3° · 218 km
• Stavanger132.2° · 268 km
• Bergen132.7° · 280 km
• Trondheim140.8° · 410 km