Qibla direction in Ussuriysk

How to face the Qibla in Ussuriysk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 17.2° towards north: the result is the bearing of 287.2°. 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 Ussuriysk, 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 Ussuriysk to Mecca points to 253.7° (west), a full 33.4° away from the true Qibla of 287.2° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 341 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Ussuriysk first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 287.2° is the direction in which the shortest route from 43.8047° N, 131.9573° 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 Ussuriysk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 8,543 km from Ussuriysk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,333 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 10 h 33 min, although most pilgrims from Ussuriysk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Ussuriysk 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 Ussuriysk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ussuriysk

On 106 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ussuriysk 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 19:46 local time.

On 238 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 08:31.

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

Ussuriysk compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 6,362 km away, the Qibla in Ussuriysk is turned 110.8° further clockwise (287.2° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 4,721 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Artyom (53 km), prays towards 287.4°, a difference of 0.2°.

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 Ussuriysk

• Artyom287.4° · 53 km
• Vladivostok287.3° · 78 km
• Nakhodka288.0° · 132 km
• Khabarovsk288.3° · 571 km
• Blagoveshchensk282.4° · 794 km
• Komsomolsk-on-Amur289.2° · 841 km