From the London, UK city point at 51.5074, -0.1278, near Charing Cross, the Qibla is 119.0° from true north: east-southeast. London, Ontario, Canada faces a very different way, at 53.3°. Both figures are for city points, not your address; set your own point in the finder for a specific place.
London, UK or London, Ontario?
Two cities share the name, and their Qibla directions are very different. Check the country before you use a figure.
| City point | Latitude, longitude | True bearing | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| London, United Kingdom | 51.5074, -0.1278 | 119.0° (east-southeast) | 4,794 km |
| London, Ontario, Canada | 42.9849, -81.2453 | 53.3° (northeast) | 10,661 km |
The two bearings are about 66° apart, so using the other city's figure would point you well off. This page covers the UK city only. London, Ontario has no page of its own, but you can open the finder with the London, Canada preset. In Search city presets, every entry shows its country. Choose the entry that says United Kingdom or Canada instead of the first London in the list.
Which London point is used, and when to change it
The UK figure starts from 51.5074, -0.1278, an approximate central reference point near Charing Cross, beside Trafalgar Square. For comparison, Wikidata's Charing Cross entry lists 51.5073, -0.12755, and the london.gov.uk page on visiting Trafalgar Square places Charing Cross by the square.
Greater London covers a large area, so a home in an outer borough gives a figure slightly different from the city point. To start from where you actually are:
- Choose Use my location. This takes one browser position fix, which you approve separately.
- Or choose Enter coordinates instead. Fill in Latitude and Longitude, add Position uncertainty (metres, optional) if you know it, then select Find my Qibla. A blank uncertainty field does not mean the position has no error. See what location accuracy means for Qibla.
- To return to this page's point, choose Use the city centre again.
Check the line on the map
Select Open map to see the result on a north-up map. The map opens in Nearby view, which draws up to 3 km of the shortest-path line from your starting point. Use this short line to compare against streets, parks or buildings you recognise. The end of the line is not the Kaaba. Switch to Full route to see the whole path to Mecca. On most flat world maps, this path looks curved. Why Qibla routes curve on maps explains the reason.
On a north-up Mercator map, a straight line keeps one constant heading from true north. This is called a rhumb line, and it is a different, longer route than the shortest path. On other map projections, a straight line generally does not keep one heading at all. A rhumb line is also unrelated to magnetic north, so it is not a compass correction. The heading on this page is the starting direction of the shortest path, so use it, together with the short Nearby line, for local checks.
If you pan the map to your own street, select Use map centre to make that spot the new starting point. The starting point changes only when you make this choice.
Facing the direction with a compass
The bearing is measured from true north. A magnetic compass points to magnetic north. The difference between the two is called declination, and it changes with place and date. NOAA's geomagnetism FAQ explains why. This page does not give a fixed declination for London, because any single number would go out of date.
- Look up the current declination D for your location. Count east declination as positive.
- On a compass that is not adjusted for declination, turn to 119.0° minus D. If the result is below 0°, add 360°. If it is 360° or more, subtract 360°.
- If your compass is already set to true north, use 119.0° unchanged. Do not subtract D a second time.
As a rough check, start facing due east and turn about 29° toward the south. For more detail, see the guide to using a separate compass and the notes on the north reference.
On a supported phone, you can choose Enable live compass. Lay the phone flat or nearly level, with the screen in portrait orientation. 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. If readings look wrong, see help when the compass is not working.
Keeping and sharing the London reference
The fixed reference panel and the downloadable card always show the London, UK city point. The active finder works separately: if you move it to your own location, the panel and card still show the city figure, so the card works as a fixed note. The card is static and does not update when you travel. Create a new result for a new place.
- Share city sends the public catalog city currently selected in the finder. With the London, United Kingdom preset selected, it sends only that city reference, which is useful for telling family or a host which city figure you used. 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. See sharing and privacy.
- Remember this location on this device is optional. Reset finder clears the active point but keeps any saved one. Clear saved location removes the saved record, if your browser storage allows it.