Qibla · Quang Tri
Qibla direction in Ba Đồn
To face the Kaaba in Ba Đồn, turn to 285.4° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (15.4° north of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 6,937 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Ba Đồn should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 285.4°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 285°; 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 Ba Đồn
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 15.4° towards north: the result is the bearing of 285.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 15° 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 Ba Đồn to Mecca points to 273.3° (west), 12.0° away from the correct 285.4°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 50 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 17.7535° N, 106.4236° 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 Ba Đồn to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 6,937 km from Ba Đồn as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 6,908 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 8 h 40 min, although most pilgrims from Ba Đồn connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Ba Đồn 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 Ba Đồn rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ba Đồn
On 85 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ba Đồn while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in July (31 days); for example, on 15 May 2027 it happens at 12:08 local time.
On 175 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 15 February 2027 at 06:49.
| 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 | — | 06:49 |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 07:41 |
| 15 March 2027 | — | 08:30 |
| 1 April 2027 | — | 09:28 |
| 15 April 2027 | — | 10:16 |
| 1 May 2027 | — | 11:13 |
| 15 May 2027 | 12:08 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 13:19 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 14:31 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 14:13 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 13:14 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 12:06 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | — | 11:10 |
| 1 September 2027 | — | 10:03 |
| 15 September 2027 | — | 09:07 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | 08:04 |
| 15 October 2027 | — | 07:09 |
| 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 Ba Đồn: at 16:18 and 16:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Ba Đồn compared with other cities
Compared with Hanoi, 369 km away, the Qibla in Ba Đồn is turned 1.8° further clockwise (285.4° against 283.6°), and Mecca is 150 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Kỳ Anh (37 km), prays towards 285.2°, a difference of 0.2°.
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 Ba Đồn
Qibla in Ba Đồn: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Ba Đồn?
It is 285.4° from true north, which is west: 15.4° north of west.
How far is Ba Đồn from Mecca?
6,937 km in a straight line over the globe, and 6,908 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Ba Đồn?
On 85 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 Ba Đồn not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 273.3°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Ba Đồn at 285.4°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 285.4° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.