Simulated · drag it or press ← →
Turn right 49°Qibla 48.7° · phone 0°
Phone points0° true
Compass reads4°
Qibla48.7°
Calibrate the compassMove the phone in a figure of eight two or three times, away from metal, magnets and laptops. The dial steadies by itself.
On a computer there is no compass: the dial only turns when you drag it. On a phone, tap “Turn on the compass” and hold the phone flat. Metal, magnets, speakers and laptops nearby disturb a phone’s compass by several degrees: step away from them, and trust a landmark or the sun over a reading that keeps moving.
Chicago, United States · 41.85° N, 87.65° W
49°NE
On a handheld compass: 53°Magnetic north here is 4.2° west of true north, corrected automatically on this page.
Face northeast, 48.7° clockwise from true north. The shortest path leaves Chicago on this heading and reaches the Kaaba from the northwest.
Distance
11,149 km
6,928 miles, great circle
Magnetic north
4.2° W
Moves 0.03° a year west
Arrives heading
143°
The path bends on the globe
Flat-map line
101°
A straight map line: 52° off
Nothing leaves your device: your location and the compass readings stay in this browser.
True north and magnetic north
CorrectedQibla from true northFrom magnetic north
Magnetic north here is 4.2° west of true north, corrected automatically.
A compass needle, and the sensor inside a phone, point to magnetic north: a spot in the Arctic that drifts every year. The Qibla is measured from true north, the North Pole. So the compass on this page reads the phone’s magnetic heading and adds the local difference before comparing it with 48.7°.
True bearing
48.7° from true north
Handheld compass
52.8° from magnetic north
Difference
4.2° W
If uncorrected
4.2° to the left, a line passing 456 km from Makkah
With a handheld compass
1Hold it flatAway from phones, keys, cars and steel tables.
2Set the dial to 53°The bearing from magnetic north, not the 48.7° of maps.
3Turn until N meets the needleThe red end of the needle sits on the N of the dial.
4Face the travel arrowIt now points along the Qibla, toward the Kaaba.
World Magnetic Model 2025 (NOAA and the British Geological Survey, public domain), valid 2025 to 2030, checked against NOAA’s 12 official test values.
Where an uncorrected compass points
Many simple compass pages show the phone’s raw reading. The gap below is how far their needle sits from the true Qibla, and how far from the Kaaba that line passes.
City← west · east →GapMisses by
Cape Town26.8° W2,529 km
São Paulo21.9° W2,424 km
Montreal13.6° W1,509 km
New York12.5° W1,384 km
Toronto10.1° W1,123 km
Dakar5.8° W521 km
Chicago4.2° W456 km
Casablanca0.5° W35 km
Jakarta0.7° E69 km
London1.2° E93 km
Cairo4.8° E106 km
Istanbul6.1° E249 km
Los Angeles11.3° E1,081 km
Moscow12.1° E759 km
Sydney12.8° E1,245 km
Under 3°3° to 8°Over 8°: the wrong direction
Why a flat map misleads
On a Mercator map a straight line keeps one compass heading, but it is not the shortest path. The Qibla is the direction of the great circle, the shortest route over the Earth’s surface. From Chicago the two differ by 52°; the difference grows the farther you are from Makkah.
Far from Makkah
On your phone
Tap “Turn on the compass”
On iPhone, Safari asks once for motion and orientation access. Nothing is stored or sent.
Hold the phone flat
Away from magnets, laptops and steel tables.
Calibrate if asked
Move the phone in a figure of eight two or three times.
Turn until the Kaaba meets the pointer
The dial turns green at 49°.
True north, not magnetic
Magnetic north is 4.2° west of true north in Chicago: the compass adds it back automatically.
A phone compass is only as good as its sensor and its surroundings: inside a car, near a speaker or on a steel table it can be off by many degrees. When the reading keeps jumping, calibrate it, or use a landmark whose direction you know.
The Qibla from 60 cities
| City | Country | Bearing | Magnetic | Direction | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mecca مكة المكرمة |
Saudi Arabia | Here | At the Kaaba: face it directly | 0 km | |
Jeddah جدة |
Saudi Arabia | 96.4° | 92.8° 3.6° E | east | 67 km |
Medina المدينة |
Saudi Arabia | 176.3° | 172.4° 3.9° E | south | 339 km |
Riyadh الرياض |
Saudi Arabia | 244.2° | 241.1° 3.1° E | west-southwest | 793 km |
Khartoum خرطوم |
Sudan | 48.6° | 45.0° 3.6° E | northeast | 1,008 km |
Kuwait City مدينة الكويت |
Kuwait | 224.6° | 220.9° 3.7° E | southwest | 1,203 km |
Amman عمّان |
Jordan | 160.9° | 155.9° 5.0° E | south-southeast | 1,233 km |
Doha الدوحة |
Qatar | 252.6° | 250.0° 2.6° E | west-southwest | 1,269 km |
Cairo القاهرة |
Egypt | 136.2° | 131.5° 4.8° E | southeast | 1,288 km |
Baghdad بغداد |
Iraq | 199.9° | 195.1° 4.8° E | south-southwest | 1,400 km |
Alexandria الإسكندرية |
Egypt | 135.4° | 130.6° 4.9° E | southeast | 1,468 km |
Dubai دبي |
United Arab Emirates | 258.8° | 256.5° 2.2° E | west | 1,632 km |
Tehran طهران |
Iran | 218.5° | 213.5° 5.0° E | southwest | 1,946 km |
Ankara أنقرة |
Turkey | 160.1° | 154.0° 6.2° E | south-southeast | 2,160 km |
Istanbul اسطنبول |
Turkey | 151.6° | 145.5° 6.1° E | south-southeast | 2,407 km |
Nairobi نيروبي |
Kenya | 7.2° | 6.9° 0.3° E | north | 2,546 km |
Karachi كراتشي |
Pakistan | 267.7° | 266.4° 1.3° E | west | 2,801 km |
Kabul كابل |
Afghanistan | 250.8° | 247.3° 3.4° E | west-southwest | 3,213 km |
Tunis تونس |
Tunisia | 112.7° | 109.3° 3.3° E | east-southeast | 3,330 km |
Rome روما |
Italy | 123.3° | 119.2° 4.1° E | east-southeast | 3,417 km |
Mumbai مومباي |
India | 280.1° | 280.1° 0.0° | west | 3,452 km |
Kano كانو |
Nigeria | 68.4° | 67.6° 0.7° E | east-northeast | 3,487 km |
Tashkent طشقند |
Uzbekistan | 240.3° | 234.6° 5.7° E | west-southwest | 3,528 km |
Islamabad إسلام آباد |
Pakistan | 255.9° | 253.0° 2.9° E | west-southwest | 3,528 km |
Lahore لاهور |
Pakistan | 260.3° | 258.1° 2.2° E | west | 3,598 km |
Moscow موسكو |
Russia | 176.4° | 164.2° 12.1° E | south | 3,822 km |
Delhi دلهي |
India | 266.6° | 265.2° 1.3° E | west | 3,837 km |
Algiers الجزائر |
Algeria | 105.4° | 103.3° 2.2° E | east-southeast | 3,923 km |
Berlin برلين |
Germany | 136.7° | 131.5° 5.2° E | southeast | 4,130 km |
Lagos لاغوس |
Nigeria | 63.2° | 64.5° 1.2° W | east-northeast | 4,253 km |
Brussels بروكسل |
Belgium | 123.5° | 120.9° 2.6° E | east-southeast | 4,489 km |
Paris باريس |
France | 119.2° | 117.1° 2.1° E | east-southeast | 4,496 km |
Amsterdam أمستردام |
Netherlands | 125.6° | 122.8° 2.8° E | southeast | 4,554 km |
Stockholm ستوكهولم |
Sweden | 148.2° | 140.5° 7.8° E | south-southeast | 4,554 km |
Madrid مدريد |
Spain | 104.0° | 103.3° 0.7° E | east-southeast | 4,598 km |
Rabat رباط |
Morocco | 94.6° | 94.8° 0.2° W | east | 4,757 km |
London لندن |
United Kingdom | 119.0° | 117.8° 1.2° E | east-southeast | 4,794 km |
Casablanca الدار البيضاء |
Morocco | 93.7° | 94.1° 0.5° W | east | 4,826 km |
Birmingham برمينغهام |
United Kingdom | 117.9° | 117.4° 0.5° E | east-southeast | 4,952 km |
Dhaka دكا |
Bangladesh | 277.7° | 278.0° 0.4° W | west | 5,173 km |
Johannesburg جوهانسبرغ |
South Africa | 14.6° | 35.4° 20.8° W | north-northeast | 5,446 km |
Dakar داكار |
Senegal | 73.9° | 79.7° 5.8° W | east-northeast | 6,069 km |
Kuala Lumpur كوالالمبور |
Malaysia | 292.5° | 292.5° 0.0° | west-northwest | 6,974 km |
Singapore سنغافورة |
Singapore | 293.0° | 292.8° 0.2° E | west-northwest | 7,275 km |
Beijing بكين |
China | 278.9° | 286.4° 7.6° W | west | 7,385 km |
Jakarta جاكارتا |
Indonesia | 295.2° | 294.5° 0.7° E | west-northwest | 7,920 km |
Manila مانيلا |
Philippines | 289.0° | 291.8° 2.7° W | west-northwest | 8,525 km |
Surabaya سورابايا |
Indonesia | 294.0° | 293.3° 0.8° E | west-northwest | 8,561 km |
Tokyo طوكيو |
Japan | 293.0° | 301.0° 7.9° W | west-northwest | 9,475 km |
Montreal مونتريال |
Canada | 58.7° | 72.3° 13.6° W | east-northeast | 9,999 km |
New York نيويورك |
United States | 58.5° | 70.9° 12.5° W | east-northeast | 10,306 km |
Toronto تورونتو |
Canada | 54.6° | 64.7° 10.1° W | northeast | 10,493 km |
São Paulo ساو باولو |
Brazil | 68.9° | 90.8° 21.9° W | east-northeast | 10,603 km |
Chicago شيكاغو |
United States | 48.7° | 52.8° 4.2° W | northeast | 11,149 km |
Buenos Aires بوينس آيرس |
Argentina | 76.3° | 86.6° 10.3° W | east-northeast | 12,061 km |
Houston هيوستن |
United States | 45.5° | 43.8° 1.7° E | northeast | 12,574 km |
Melbourne ملبورن |
Australia | 278.8° | 266.9° 12.0° E | west | 12,741 km |
Sydney سيدني |
Australia | 277.5° | 264.7° 12.8° E | west | 13,236 km |
Los Angeles لوس أنجلوس |
United States | 23.9° | 12.5° 11.3° E | north-northeast | 13,424 km |
Mexico City مدينة مكسيكو |
Mexico | 46.6° | 42.7° 3.9° E | northeast | 13,646 km |