Qibla direction in Nzega

How to face the Qibla in Nzega

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 14.0° towards east: the result is the bearing of 14.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 14° off.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Nzega to Mecca points to 14.2°, only 0.3° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 14.0° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 4.2167° S, 33.1833° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Nzega to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,941 km from Nzega as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,264 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 58 min, although most pilgrims from Nzega connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Nzega 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 Nzega rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Nzega

On 208 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Nzega 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 March 2027 it happens at 12:54 local time.

On 156 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 January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 13:11.

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

Nzega compared with other cities

Compared with Dodoma, 357 km away, the Qibla in Nzega is turned 5.8° further clockwise (14.0° against 8.2°), and Mecca is 159 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Shinyanga (67 km), prays towards 13.8°, a difference of 0.2°.

Across the 34 cities in Tanzania on this site, the Qibla ranges from 1.1° in Dar es Salaam to 359.4° in Mtwara, a spread of 358.3°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Tanzania.

Qibla in cities near Nzega

• Shinyanga13.8° · 67 km
• Kahama15.4° · 77 km
• Tabora14.3° · 97 km
• Bariadi13.0° · 181 km
• Sengerema15.9° · 182 km
• Geita16.7° · 183 km