Qibla direction in Edmonton, Alberta

Why north-northeast, not southeast

On many world maps, Mecca appears to the right of and below Alberta, so facing southeast seems natural. That guess is off by more than a right angle from 25.3°.

The Earth is round. The shortest path from Edmonton to Mecca leaves the city heading north-northeast, arcs far to the north, and then descends toward Arabia. Common world maps, such as the Mercator projection, stretch the far north, so this path looks bent. On a north-up Mercator map, a straight line keeps one constant heading from true north. This is called a rhumb line. It is a longer route, and it is not the direction this result uses. Other projections show straight lines differently, so a ruler on a world map is not a reliable guide. A rhumb line is also separate from magnetic north, which is what a compass needle follows.

For a local check, use the bearing and the short Nearby line on the map. To see the whole path, select Open map, then Full route. For background, read why Qibla routes curve on maps.

Edmonton beside Calgary and Toronto

Edmonton and Calgary both fall under north-northeast, but they do not share one bearing. Their figures differ by 0.3°, and each comes from its own city point. Toronto lies much farther east, and its bearing is about 29° further round, at 54.6° (northeast). Winnipeg lies between Edmonton and Toronto in longitude, and from its own city point at 49.8951, -97.1384 the bearing is 40.1° (northeast). A compass-point name such as NNE covers a band about 22.5° wide. Two cities in the same band can still need different settings, and no single bearing works for all of Canada. The city directory lists more Canadian city points.

In this spherical model, the Edmonton city point is about 269 km closer to the Kaaba than the Calgary city point.

Which Edmonton point is used

The result starts from 53.5461, -113.4938, an approximate representative point in central Edmonton chosen for this site. For comparison, two published references give nearby points:

• The City of Edmonton's About Edmonton page gives 53°32′43″N 113°29′24″W, or about 53.5453, -113.4900.
• The Canadian Geographical Names Database entry gives 53.5344, -113.4903.

In the same spherical model, the database point gives 25.3° and about 11,294 km, roughly 1 km more than this page. For these two points, the rounded bearing is the same. For your own street, choose Use my location. Or choose Enter coordinates instead, fill in Latitude and Longitude, add Position uncertainty (metres, optional) if you know it, and select Find my Qibla. City preset or current location? helps you decide which to use.

Checking the line in your neighbourhood

Choose Open map. The north-up map opens in Nearby view, which draws up to 3 km of the path from your starting point. Compare the line with features you can identify on the map, such as a road, park edge or building outline, to see where the direction runs locally. To face it on the ground, align the map with a reliable true-north reference first. The end of this short line is not the Kaaba. To check another part of the city, pan the map there and select Use map centre. The starting point changes only when you make this choice. To return to this page's point, choose Use the city centre again.

Compass basics for a near-north bearing

The Qibla here is close to north, so true north and the direction a compass needle points are easy to mix up. The 25.3° figure is measured from true north. A magnetic compass follows magnetic north. The difference between the two, called declination, depends on place and date, as NOAA explains. Check the current local value instead of relying on one you remember.

• Compass not adjusted for declination: set 25.3° minus D, where D is the declination with east counted as positive. If the result is below 0°, add 360°. If it is 360° or more, subtract 360°.
• Compass already adjusted to true north: use 25.3° directly. Do not subtract D again.

On a supported phone, choose Enable live compass. Lay the phone flat or nearly level, with the screen in portrait orientation, and turn slowly. If the phone tilts more than about 5° front to back or side to side, guidance pauses. The camera is not used. The finder applies one World Magnetic Model correction to the magnetic heading. If that correction is not valid, it does not show corrected guidance. Choose Stop compass when you finish. For more, see using a separate compass, how north is defined and fixing compass problems.

Saving and sharing the Edmonton result

The fixed reference panel and the downloadable card always show the Edmonton city point. The active finder works separately: after you switch it to your own location, the panel and card still show the city figure, and the card does not change when you move. Keep it as a fixed note of the city figure.

When you send a result, choose the link that gives the other person what they need. Share city sends the public catalog city currently selected in the finder. With the Edmonton, Canada preset selected, it sends only that city reference; if you have selected a different preset, it sends that city instead. When the finder is using your device location, typed coordinates, the map centre or a shared coordinate link, Share city is disabled until you choose a city preset. Share location shows a preview first. Create coordinate link then makes a link that contains the active point's coordinates, label and any positive uncertainty radius attached to it, whether your device reported it, it came from a saved or shared location, or you typed it. Opening the link reuses those values, including the uncertainty, and does not take a new GPS fix. To keep a spot on your device, choose Remember this location on this device. Clear saved location removes it later. See sharing and privacy for details.