Qibla · Quảng Ninh
Qibla direction in Ha Long
To face the Kaaba in Ha Long, turn to 283.9° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (13.9° north of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 6,913 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Ha Long should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 283.9°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 284°; 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 Ha Long
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 13.9° towards north: the result is the bearing of 283.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west 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
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Ha Long to Mecca points to 270.4° (west), 13.5° away from the correct 283.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 59 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 20.9505° N, 107.0734° 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 Ha Long to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 6,913 km from Ha Long as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 6,862 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 8 h 38 min, although most pilgrims from Ha Long connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Ha Long 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 Ha Long rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ha Long
On 109 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ha Long 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 1 May 2027 it happens at 17:46 local time.
On 193 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 March 2027 at 07:15.
| 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 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 07:15 |
| 15 March 2027 | — | 08:00 |
| 1 April 2027 | — | 08:53 |
| 15 April 2027 | — | 09:36 |
| 1 May 2027 | 17:46 | 10:28 |
| 15 May 2027 | 16:58 | 11:15 |
| 1 June 2027 | 12:09 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 12:41 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 12:40 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 12:09 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 17:20 | 11:15 |
| 15 August 2027 | — | 10:26 |
| 1 September 2027 | — | 09:25 |
| 15 September 2027 | — | 08:33 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | 07:34 |
| 15 October 2027 | — | 06:43 |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 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 Ha Long: at 16:18 and 16:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Ha Long compared with other cities
The Qibla here is practically the same as in Hanoi (283.6°), and Mecca is 126 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Cẩm Phả (22 km), prays towards 283.9°, 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 Ha Long
Qibla in Ha Long: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Ha Long?
It is 283.9° from true north, which is west: 13.9° north of west.
How far is Ha Long from Mecca?
6,913 km in a straight line over the globe, and 6,862 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Ha Long?
On 109 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 Ha Long not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 270.4°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Ha Long at 283.9°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 283.9° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.