Qibla direction in Cockburn Town

How to face the Qibla in Cockburn Town

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 28.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 62.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 28° 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 Cockburn Town, 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 Cockburn Town to Mecca points to 90.0° (east), a full 28.0° away from the true Qibla of 62.0° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 348 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Cockburn Town first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 62.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Cockburn Town (21.4612° N, 71.1419° 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 Cockburn Town to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 11,137 km from Cockburn Town as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,958 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 13 h 36 min, although most pilgrims from Cockburn Town connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Cockburn Town run 8 hours behind Mecca in winter and 7 hours behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Cockburn Town rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Cockburn Town

On 49 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Cockburn Town while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in June (30 days); for example, on 1 June 2027 it happens at 12:37 local time.

On 316 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 16:37.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Cockburn Town (05:18 and 05:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 16:29 and 28 November 2027 at 16:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Cockburn Town points straight to Mecca.

Cockburn Town compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Turks and Caicos Islands.