Qibla direction in Krasnoyarsk

How to face the Qibla in Krasnoyarsk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 19.2° towards south: the result is the bearing of 250.8°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 19° off.

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 Krasnoyarsk, 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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Krasnoyarsk to Mecca points to 229.1° (south-west), a full 21.7° away from the true Qibla of 250.8° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 91 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Krasnoyarsk first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 250.8° is the direction in which the shortest route from 56.0374° N, 92.9314° 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 Krasnoyarsk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 5,786 km from Krasnoyarsk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 5,523 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 7 h 18 min, although most pilgrims from Krasnoyarsk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Krasnoyarsk run 4 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Krasnoyarsk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Krasnoyarsk

On 226 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Krasnoyarsk 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 17:48 local time.

On 111 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 May (31 days), for instance on 1 May 2027 at 05:52.

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

Krasnoyarsk compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 3,355 km away, the Qibla in Krasnoyarsk is turned 74.4° further clockwise (250.8° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 1,965 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Achinsk (153 km), prays towards 248.2°, a difference of 2.6°.

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 Krasnoyarsk

• Achinsk248.2° · 153 km
• Kansk253.3° · 174 km
• Abakan251.1° · 276 km
• Mezhdurechensk247.8° · 406 km
• Kemerovo244.4° · 434 km
• Novokuznetsk246.8° · 449 km