At a glance
- Asmara, the capital: 8°, north, 683 km from the Kaaba.
- The Qibla turns by 41° across the country, from 342° in Assab to 23° in Himora.
- Closest to Makkah: Af’abet, 594 km. Farthest: Assab, 985 km.
- Around Asmara, a magnetic compass points about 3° east of true north (World Magnetic Model 2025, for 2026). On a needle compass, the Qibla there is about 5°.
Qibla from every city in Eritrea
The largest cities, biggest first.
| City | Qibla | Direction | Distance to the Kaaba (km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asmara | 8° | north | 683 |
| Keren | 13° | north-north-east | 644 |
| Himora | 23° | north-north-east | 862 |
| Af’abet | 11° | north-north-east | 594 |
| Massawa | 3° | north | 648 |
| Assab | 342° | north-north-west | 985 |
| Mendefera | 8° | north | 734 |
| Barentu | 18° | north-north-east | 741 |
Not on the list? Search any town or use your location on the live compass.
Reading these numbers
Each bearing is measured clockwise from true north along the shortest path over the globe, a great circle, which is how the Qibla is worked out. A flat map can mislead, because the Earth is round.
Phone compasses work best after calibrating with a figure-8, away from metal and magnetic cases. Our guide to finding the Qibla also covers the sun, the local mosque and praying when unsure.
Qibla in other countries
Algeria Angola Congo - Kinshasa Egypt Ethiopia Kenya Morocco Nigeria South Africa Sudan Tanzania Uganda
City data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Magnetic declination: the World Magnetic Model 2025 (NOAA and the British Geological Survey).