Qibla direction in Yanbu

How to face the Qibla in Yanbu

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 31.7° towards east: the result is the bearing of 148.3°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Yanbu.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Yanbu, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Yanbu is a handy reference, because the prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Yanbu to Mecca points to 148.6°, only 0.3° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 148.3° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 148.3° obtained? From the coordinates of Yanbu (24.0895° N, 38.0618° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Yanbu to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 347 km from Yanbu as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 163 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Yanbu travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Yanbu run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Yanbu rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Yanbu

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Yanbu while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 10:41 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Yanbu during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Yanbu: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Yanbu compared with other cities

Compared with Riyadh, 879 km away, the Qibla in Yanbu is turned 95.9° further anticlockwise (148.3° against 244.2°), and Mecca is 446 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (163 km), prays towards 176.3°, a difference of 28.0°.

Across the 27 cities in Saudi Arabia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 96.4° in Jeddah to 330.8° in Jizan, a spread of 234.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Saudi Arabia.

Qibla in cities near Yanbu

• Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah176.3° · 163 km
• Jeddah96.4° · 311 km
• Mecca172.6° · 347 km
• Ta'if285.6° · 396 km
• Tabuk, Tabuk Region, Saudi Arabia156.4° · 502 km
• Ha'il195.9° · 527 km