Qibla Direction in Christchurch, New Zealand

How to face the Qibla in Christchurch

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 231.2° on the dial. That is the magnetic bearing; reading 255.9° off a magnetic compass would leave you about 24.7° 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 Christchurch points west-southwest

Christchurch is in the Southern Hemisphere at 43.5° S, and Makkah is in the Northern Hemisphere at 21.4° N, so the path to the Kaaba crosses the equator on its way. Measured clockwise from true north, the Qibla from Christchurch is 255.9°, west-southwest. On a flat Mercator map a straight line points 298°, west-northwest; the great circle, the shortest route over the globe, is the one the bearing follows, and from Christchurch the great-circle bearing is about 42° to the left of the flat-map line. The Kaaba is 15,039 km (9,345 miles) away. Across Australia and New Zealand the Qibla runs from 255.9° in Christchurch to 295.4° in Perth.

Nearby cities

• Wellington, New Zealand256.4° WSW · 305 km away
• Hamilton, New Zealand259.8° W · 677 km away
• Auckland, New Zealand261.2° W · 765 km away
• Hobart, Australia275.0° W · 2,045 km away
• Sydney, Australia277.5° W · 2,138 km away

See every city in Australia and New Zealand, or use the Qibla Finder for your exact spot.

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