Qibla direction in Adamstown

How to face the Qibla in Adamstown

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 19.4° towards south: the result is the bearing of 109.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 19° 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 Adamstown to Mecca points to 74.3° (east), a full 35.2° away from the true Qibla of 109.4° (east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 163 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Adamstown first heads east, and that is the direction to face.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 25.0660° S, 130.1015° W 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 Adamstown to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 18,910 km from Adamstown as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 18,975 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 22 h 45 min, although most pilgrims from Adamstown connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Adamstown run 11 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Adamstown rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Adamstown

On 64 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Adamstown while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in December (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 07:01 local time.

On 267 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 13:08.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Adamstown (01:18 and 01:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 13:29 and 28 November 2027 at 13:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Adamstown points straight to Mecca.

Adamstown compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Pitcairn Islands.