# What the Qibla Is and How to Find It

The qibla is the direction of the Kaaba in Makkah. Finding it is a geometry problem, and the answer is often not the direction a flat map suggests.

## How do I find the qibla direction?

The qibla is the great-circle bearing from where you are to the Kaaba in Makkah, at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. A great circle is the shortest path over the surface of a sphere, and it is why the qibla from North America points north-east rather than south-east, even though Makkah looks south-east on a flat world map.

## Why a flat map misleads

A flat map has to distort a sphere to lie flat, and it distorts direction along with everything else. The shortest route from New York to Makkah passes near Greenland, so the correct bearing is around 58° — north-east. Drawing a straight line on a rectangular map gives roughly east-south-east, which is wrong by a wide margin.

## True north against magnetic north

A qibla bearing is given from true north, but a compass needle points to magnetic north, and the two differ by up to about 20° depending on where you are. Phone compasses are also easily disturbed by metal, magnets and nearby electronics. If a compass and a computed bearing disagree, calibrate the device and move away from metal before trusting either.

## When you cannot determine it

Pray in the direction you judge most likely to be correct. A prayer offered after a sincere effort to determine the qibla is valid even if the direction later proves slightly off — the obligation is to make the effort.

## Common questions

**Does the qibla change depending on where I am?**

Yes. It is the bearing from your position to a fixed point, so it differs everywhere. From Cairo it is roughly south-east; from Jakarta, roughly west-north-west.

**Why do two qibla apps disagree?**

Usually because one shows magnetic bearing and the other true bearing, or because one uses a flat-map approximation instead of a great circle.

**How far is the Kaaba from me?**

Each city page on this site lists the great-circle distance alongside the bearing.

## See this on the site

- [Kaaba direction from my location](https://quranonlineread.com/qibla/kaaba-direction-from-my-location/)
- [Qibla bearings and distances by city](https://quranonlineread.com/qibla/)
- [Prayer times and qibla by city](https://quranonlineread.com/prayer-times/)

## Related

- [How Prayer Times Are Calculated](https://quranonlineread.com/learn/how-prayer-times-are-calculated/)

## Source

Published by: QuranOnline
Canonical page: https://quranonlineread.com/learn/what-is-the-qibla/
Last updated: 2026-09-08T17:04:00.171Z
Editorial policy: https://quranonlineread.com/about/#editorial