Qibla direction in Birmingham, UK

Which Birmingham point the figure uses

The bearing and distance on this page start from 52.4862, -1.8904, an approximate point in Birmingham city centre chosen for this site. It gives everyone the same Birmingham, UK reference without asking for a location. It is not your device's position, and it does not mark a particular building or prayer room.

The city point suits a quick check of the city figure, a comparison with another city, or a note of the direction before you arrive. When you need the direction from a specific address, set the finder to that point. The finder recalculates for it, while the reference panel and the downloadable card keep the city figure.

City preset or current location? helps you decide which starting point fits what you are doing.

Reading 118° from true north

Bearings count clockwise from true north: 90° is due east, 135° is southeast and 180° is due south. At 118.0°, the Qibla from Birmingham falls between east and southeast, in the band called east-southeast.

• From due east, turn about 28° towards the south. That is a little under a third of the way round to due south.
• From southeast, the direction is about 17° back towards east. Full southeast at 135° is too far south.

This is a fixed geographic direction for the city point. It stays the same whichever way your phone is facing. Turning to face it is a separate step, covered in the sections below.

The paired diagrams set Birmingham beside London, UK, which works out at 119.0° from its own city point. Both directions are east-southeast, and they are about 1° apart. The gap is small, but it shows that each place has its own figure. Use the result for your own point rather than one number for the whole country. Manchester, further north, comes out at 118.5°.

Checking the Qibla from your own point

The result for the city point is already on screen when the page opens. The page requests your location only if you choose Use my location, which takes one position fix. Your browser may ask for permission first if you have not already allowed it. To check a different point without giving the page access to your device's location, use one of these options instead.

1. Type a point. Choose Enter coordinates instead, fill in Latitude and Longitude as decimal degrees, and add Position uncertainty (metres, optional) if you know it. Then select Find my Qibla. Typed values are not calculated until you do.
2. Pick a point on the map. Select Open map. The map is north-up and opens in Nearby view, which draws up to 3 km of the starting direction from the current point. Pan to a place you recognise, such as your street, then select Use map centre. Panning on its own does not change the starting point.
3. See the wider picture. Full route shows the whole path to Mecca. For facing the direction locally, use the short Nearby line.

The line shows the direction across the map. It does not measure how a room or building is aligned. To use it on the ground, note which way the line crosses a straight road or building edge you can see, then face that way where you are. You can also hold the phone so the map's north matches a reliable true-north reference.

Neither the bearing nor the map needs a phone compass, camera or app, although the map needs an internet connection to load. To return to the Birmingham point, choose Use the city centre again. The guide to finding the Qibla covers the full process.

Matching your compass to true north

The 118.0° figure is measured from true north. A magnetic compass points to magnetic north. The difference between the two, called declination, changes with place and date. Apply that correction once, and only where it is needed:

• Handheld compass not adjusted for declination: look up the current declination for your location, counting east as positive. Subtract it from 118.0°. If the result is below 0°, add 360°; if it is 360° or more, subtract 360°.
• Compass already set to true north: use 118.0° as it is.
• Live compass on this page: on a supported phone, choose Enable live compass and hold the phone flat or nearly level in portrait. The finder applies its own magnetic correction, so do not subtract declination again. Guidance pauses if the phone tilts more than about 5°. If the phone does not give a usable magnetic heading, or the correction is not available, the finder does not show corrected guidance. Choose Stop compass when you finish.

If your compass and the page seem to disagree, first check that both use the same north. Next, move away from steel furniture, reinforced concrete, magnetic phone cases and other metal, which can pull a needle or phone sensor off. If readings still jump, rely on the bearing and the Nearby map, and see help when the compass is not working. The separate-compass guide takes you through the correction step by step.

Saving the city figure or sending a link

• Download reference card saves a north-up card for the Birmingham city point at 118.0°. Like the reference panel at the top of the page, it stays on the city figure if you move the finder to another point. Keep it as a fixed note of the city figure, not as a personal result.
• Share city creates a link for the city preset selected at that moment. The link carries only the city and country. With Birmingham, United Kingdom selected, that is all it shares. A link you have already copied keeps that city even if you change the finder afterwards. While the finder is using your device location, typed coordinates, the map centre or a shared coordinate link, Share city is unavailable until you choose a city preset.
• Share location sends the coordinates of the point the finder is using. It shows a preview first. Create coordinate link then makes a link containing those coordinates, the point's label and any uncertainty radius attached to it. See sharing and privacy before you send one.
• Printable reference builds a separate printout for the point the finder is using. The printout shows that point's coordinates whether or not you include the optional QR code.

Remember this location on this device keeps a point for later visits. Reset finder does not erase it. Clear saved location removes it, if your browser storage allows.