Qibla direction in Yakutsk

How to face the Qibla in Yakutsk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 10.3° towards north: the result is the bearing of 280.3°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 10° 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 Yakutsk, 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 Yakutsk to Mecca points to 237.3° (south-west), a full 43.0° away from the true Qibla of 280.3° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 449 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Yakutsk first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 280.3° is the direction in which the shortest route from 62.0311° N, 129.7229° 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 Yakutsk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 7,910 km from Yakutsk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 7,627 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 9 h 48 min, although most pilgrims from Yakutsk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Yakutsk run 6 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Yakutsk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Yakutsk

On 146 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Yakutsk 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 15 April 2027 it happens at 18:47 local time.

On 196 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 April 2027 at 07:21.

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

Yakutsk compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 4,883 km away, the Qibla in Yakutsk is turned 104.0° further clockwise (280.3° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 4,088 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Blagoveshchensk (1,314 km), prays towards 282.4°, a difference of 2.1°.

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 Yakutsk

• Blagoveshchensk282.4° · 1,314 km
• Komsomolsk-on-Amur289.2° · 1,351 km
• Chita271.2° · 1,474 km
• Khabarovsk288.3° · 1,546 km
• Ust'-Ilimsk258.6° · 1,556 km
• Bratsk258.8° · 1,718 km