Qibla · Can Tho City
Qibla direction in Can Tho
To face the Kaaba in Can Tho, turn to 289.0° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (19.0° north of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 7,126 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Can Tho should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 289.0°, the Qibla of Can Tho. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 289° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Can Tho
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.
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 Can Tho, 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
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Can Tho to Mecca points to 280.2° (west), 8.9° 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 33 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.
How is the figure of 289.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Can Tho (10.0371° N, 105.7883° 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 Can Tho to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 7,126 km from Can Tho as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 7,146 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 8 h 53 min, although most pilgrims from Can Tho connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Can Tho 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 Can Tho rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Can Tho
On 83 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Can Tho 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 12:59 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 06:55.
| 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 | — | 06:55 |
| 15 February 2027 | — | 08:02 |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 09:01 |
| 15 March 2027 | — | 09:56 |
| 1 April 2027 | — | 10:59 |
| 15 April 2027 | — | 11:53 |
| 1 May 2027 | 12:59 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 14:07 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | — | — |
| 15 June 2027 | — | — |
| 1 July 2027 | — | — |
| 15 July 2027 | — | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 14:00 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 12:53 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | — | 11:38 |
| 15 September 2027 | — | 10:37 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | 09:28 |
| 15 October 2027 | — | 08:28 |
| 1 November 2027 | — | 07:12 |
| 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 Can Tho: at 16:18 and 16:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Can Tho compared with other cities
Compared with Hanoi, 1,222 km away, the Qibla in Can Tho is turned 5.5° further clockwise (289.0° against 283.6°), and Mecca is 339 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Ô Môn (20 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 Can Tho
Qibla in Can Tho: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Can Tho?
It is 289.0° from true north, which is west: 19.0° north of west.
How far is Can Tho from Mecca?
7,126 km in a straight line over the globe, and 7,146 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Can Tho?
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 Can Tho not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 280.2°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Can Tho 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.