Qibla direction in Paramaribo

How to face the Qibla in Paramaribo

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 21.8° towards north: the result is the bearing of 68.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 22° off.

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 Paramaribo, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Paramaribo 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Paramaribo to Mecca points to 80.4° (east), 12.2° away from the correct 68.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 91 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

How is the figure of 68.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Paramaribo (5.8664° N, 55.1668° W) 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 Paramaribo to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 10,283 km from Paramaribo as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,218 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 12 h 36 min, although most pilgrims from Paramaribo connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

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

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Paramaribo

On 123 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Paramaribo 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 11:59 local time.

On 162 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 15 January 2027 at 18:18.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Paramaribo (06:18 and 06:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 18:29 and 28 November 2027 at 18:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Paramaribo points straight to Mecca.

Paramaribo compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Suriname.