Qibla direction in Port Moresby

How to face the Qibla in Port Moresby

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 19.5° towards north: the result is the bearing of 289.5°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 19° off.

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 Port Moresby, 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Port Moresby to Mecca points to 286.3° (west), 3.2° away from the correct 289.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 40 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.

How is the figure of 289.5° obtained? From the coordinates of Port Moresby (9.4772° S, 147.1509° E) 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 Port Moresby to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 12,174 km from Port Moresby as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 12,209 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 14 h 49 min, although most pilgrims from Port Moresby connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Port Moresby run 7 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Port Moresby rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Port Moresby

On 157 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Port Moresby 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 March 2027 it happens at 12:44 local time.

On 86 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 November (30 days), for instance on 15 January 2027 at 07:16.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Port Moresby (19:18 and 19:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 14 January 2027 at 07:29 and 29 November 2027 at 07:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Port Moresby points straight to Mecca.

Port Moresby compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Papua New Guinea.