Qibla · An Giang
Qibla direction in Rach Gia
To face the Kaaba in Rach Gia, turn to 289.0° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (19.0° north of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 7,054 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Rach Gia should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 289.0°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 289°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Rach Gia
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 19.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 289.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 19° 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
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Rach Gia to Mecca points to 280.3° (west), 8.7° away from the correct 289.0°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 32 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.
The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 10.0125° N, 105.0809° 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 Rach Gia to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 7,054 km from Rach Gia as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 7,076 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 8 h 48 min, although most pilgrims from Rach Gia connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Rach Gia run 4 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Rach Gia rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Rach Gia
On 83 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Rach Gia while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (27 days); for example, on 1 May 2027 it happens at 13:02 local time.
On 154 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 1 February 2027 at 06:58.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | 06:58 |
| 15 February 2027 | — | 08:05 |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 09:04 |
| 15 March 2027 | — | 09:59 |
| 1 April 2027 | — | 11:02 |
| 15 April 2027 | — | 11:56 |
| 1 May 2027 | 13:02 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 14:10 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | — | — |
| 15 June 2027 | — | — |
| 1 July 2027 | — | — |
| 15 July 2027 | — | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 14:04 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 12:57 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | — | 11:41 |
| 15 September 2027 | — | 10:40 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | 09:31 |
| 15 October 2027 | — | 08:31 |
| 1 November 2027 | — | 07:15 |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Rach Gia: at 16:18 and 16:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Rach Gia compared with other cities
Compared with Hanoi, 1,227 km away, the Qibla in Rach Gia is turned 5.5° further clockwise (289.0° against 283.6°), and Mecca is 267 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Cờ Đỏ (39 km), prays towards 289.0°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.
Across the 98 cities in Vietnam on this site, the Qibla ranges from 282.3° in Lao Cai to 289.4° in Ca Mau, a spread of 7.2°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Vietnam.
Qibla in cities near Rach Gia
Qibla in Rach Gia: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Rach Gia?
It is 289.0° from true north, which is west: 19.0° north of west.
How far is Rach Gia from Mecca?
7,054 km in a straight line over the globe, and 7,076 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Rach Gia?
On 83 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Rach Gia not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 280.3°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Rach Gia at 289.0°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 289.0° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.