Qibla direction in Surgut

How to face the Qibla in Surgut

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 44.4° towards south: the result is the bearing of 225.6°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “west” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Surgut.

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 Surgut, 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 Surgut to Mecca points to 210.9° (south-west), 14.7° away from the correct 225.6°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 35 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 225.6° is the direction in which the shortest route from 61.2576° N, 73.4178° 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 Surgut to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 5,128 km from Surgut as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,824 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 32 min, although most pilgrims from Surgut connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Surgut run 2 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Surgut rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Surgut

On 277 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Surgut 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 15 February 2027 it happens at 15:27 local time.

On 30 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 June (24 days), for instance on 15 June 2027 at 03:30.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Surgut: at 14:18 and 14:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Surgut compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 2,137 km away, the Qibla in Surgut is turned 49.2° further clockwise (225.6° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 1,307 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Nefteyugansk (47 km), prays towards 224.7°, a difference of 0.9°.

Across the 158 cities in Russia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 148.7° in Kaliningrad to 305.3° in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, a spread of 156.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Russia.

Qibla in cities near Surgut

• Nefteyugansk224.7° · 47 km
• Nizhnevartovsk229.5° · 172 km
• Khanty-Mansiysk220.4° · 237 km
• Noyabrsk226.7° · 239 km
• Tobolsk221.4° · 446 km
• Tyumen218.6° · 640 km