Qibla direction in Nikopol

How to face the Qibla in Nikopol

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 11.4° towards east: the result is the bearing of 168.6°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 11° 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 Nikopol, 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Nikopol to Mecca points to 170.4°, only 1.8° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 168.6° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 168.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Nikopol (47.5683° N, 34.3913° 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 Nikopol to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,948 km from Nikopol as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,610 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 58 min, although most pilgrims from Nikopol connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Nikopol run 1 hour behind Mecca in winter and the same time as 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 Nikopol rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Nikopol

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Nikopol 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 10:59 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Nikopol 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 Nikopol: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Nikopol compared with other cities

Compared with Kyiv, 427 km away, the Qibla in Nikopol is turned 6.2° further clockwise (168.6° against 162.5°), and Mecca is 381 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Zaporizhzhya (63 km), prays towards 170.2°, a difference of 1.6°.

Across the 40 cities in Ukraine on this site, the Qibla ranges from 146.6° in Uzhhorod to 178.9° in Luhansk, a spread of 32.4°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Ukraine.

Qibla in cities near Nikopol

• Zaporizhzhya170.2° · 63 km
• Kryvyi Rih166.7° · 83 km
• Kamyanske169.4° · 107 km
• Melitopol170.4° · 110 km
• Dnipro170.3° · 111 km
• Pavlohrad171.9° · 153 km