Qibla direction in Kaohsiung City

How to face the Qibla in Kaohsiung City

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 16.8° towards north: the result is the bearing of 286.8°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 17° 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 Kaohsiung City, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its 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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Kaohsiung City to Mecca points to 269.1° (west), a full 17.8° away from the true Qibla of 286.8° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 115 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Kaohsiung City first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 286.8° obtained? From the coordinates of Kaohsiung City (22.6163° N, 120.3133° 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 Kaohsiung City to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 8,183 km from Kaohsiung City as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,100 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 10 h 08 min, although most pilgrims from Kaohsiung City connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Kaohsiung City run 5 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Kaohsiung City rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kaohsiung City

On 88 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kaohsiung City while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in July (31 days); for example, on 15 May 2027 it happens at 17:48 local time.

On 228 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 February 2027 at 07:04.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Kaohsiung City: at 17:18 and 17:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Kaohsiung City compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Taipei (286.6°), and Mecca is 40 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Tainan (43 km), prays towards 286.7°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 13 cities in Taiwan on this site, the Qibla ranges from 286.4° in Hsinchu to 287.1° in Taitung, a spread of 0.6°. The difference is small, yet each city should still use its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Taiwan.

Qibla in cities near Kaohsiung City

• Tainan286.7° · 43 km
• Taitung287.1° · 87 km
• Chiayi City286.6° · 97 km
• Douliu286.6° · 124 km
• Nantou City286.6° · 149 km
• Changhua286.5° · 163 km