Qibla direction in Artyom

How to face the Qibla in Artyom

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 17.4° towards north: the result is the bearing of 287.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 17° 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 Artyom, 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 Artyom to Mecca points to 254.1° (west), a full 33.3° away from the true Qibla of 287.4° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 340 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Artyom first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 287.4° is the direction in which the shortest route from 43.3576° N, 132.1914° 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 Artyom to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 8,576 km from Artyom as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,368 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 10 h 35 min, although most pilgrims from Artyom connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Artyom 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 Artyom rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Artyom

On 105 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Artyom while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 May 2027 it happens at 19:47 local time.

On 239 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 March (31 days), for instance on 1 March 2027 at 08:32.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Artyom: at 19:18 and 19:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Artyom compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 6,412 km away, the Qibla in Artyom is turned 111.1° further clockwise (287.4° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 4,754 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Vladivostok (38 km), prays towards 287.3°, a difference of 0.1°.

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 Artyom

• Vladivostok287.3° · 38 km
• Ussuriysk287.2° · 53 km
• Nakhodka288.0° · 82 km
• Khabarovsk288.3° · 610 km
• Blagoveshchensk282.4° · 847 km
• Komsomolsk-on-Amur289.2° · 879 km