Qibla Direction in Fairfax, Virginia

How to face the Qibla in Fairfax

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 66.9° on the dial. That is the magnetic bearing; reading 56.4° off a magnetic compass would leave you about 10.5° 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 Fairfax points east-northeast

On a flat wall map, Makkah looks east of Fairfax: a straight line drawn on a Mercator map points 100°. The earth is round, though, and the shortest path over its surface, a great circle, leaves Fairfax at 56.4° and arcs north over the Atlantic, reaching about 50° 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

• Herndon, VA56.3° ENE · 10 mi away
• Arlington, VA56.5° ENE · 12 mi away
• Alexandria, VA56.6° ENE · 14 mi away
• Washington, DC56.6° ENE · 15 mi away
• Baltimore, MD56.8° ENE · 48 mi away

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

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