Qibla Direction in Albany, New York

How to face the Qibla in Albany

1. With your phone: tap Open the live Qibla compass, allow location (and, on iPhone, motion access), then turn slowly until the Kaaba on the dial reaches the mark at the top.
2. With a regular compass: hold it flat, turn it until the needle sits on N, then face 71.5° on the dial. That is the magnetic bearing; reading 58.6° off a magnetic compass would leave you about 12.9° off.
3. With the map: open the live compass, switch to Map and follow the gold line from your position to the Kaaba. It does not use the compass at all.

If a phone compass looks wrong, move the phone in a figure-eight a few times, away from laptops, speakers, car dashboards and magnetic cases, and hold it flat while you turn.

Why the Qibla from Albany points east-northeast

On a flat wall map, Makkah looks east-southeast of Albany: a straight line drawn on a Mercator map points 103°. The earth is round, though, and the shortest path over its surface, a great circle, leaves Albany at 58.6° and arcs north over the Atlantic, reaching about 51° N before it turns down toward Arabia. That shorter, curved route is why the Qibla here is east-northeast, about 44° to the left of the flat-map line.

Nearby cities

• Hartford, CT59.3° ENE · 83 mi away
• Worcester, MA59.9° ENE · 103 mi away
• Paterson, NJ58.4° ENE · 122 mi away
• Bronx, NY58.6° ENE · 125 mi away
• Clifton, NJ58.4° ENE · 126 mi away

See every city in the USA, or use the Qibla Finder for your exact spot.

Prayer times in Albany: today's times and a monthly timetable.