From the Manchester, UK city point at 53.4808, -2.2426, the Qibla is 118.5° from true north: east-southeast, about 28.5° south of due east. This is one city-centre figure, not a value for every address in Greater Manchester; switch the finder to your own point when you need one.
Reading the Manchester figure and comparing like with like
| Starting point | 53.4808, -2.2426 |
|---|---|
| Bearing | 118.5° clockwise from true north, east-southeast |
| Compared with east and southeast | About 28.5° south of due east; about 16.5° short of southeast (135°) |
| Distance | 5,025 km over a spherical Earth, not a road or flight distance |
The bearing is the starting direction of the shortest path over a spherical model of the Earth. How the calculation works describes the model.
Other Manchester pages may show a figure slightly different from 118.5°. Before you decide which to use, check that you are comparing like with like:
- Starting coordinates. Sites choose different points to represent Manchester, and a different point gives a slightly different angle and distance.
- North reference. A figure measured from true north and one adjusted for magnetic north are not the same number.
- Earth model. A sphere and a more detailed ellipsoid can give slightly different results, especially for distance.
- Rounding and units. A bearing of 118.45° may be shown as 118.5° or 118°, and some sites give distances in miles.
If another figure already includes a magnetic correction, reuse it only if it was worked out for your location and the current date. If you need the direction from your own address, calculate it for that point instead of choosing between two city figures.
Choosing your point in Manchester
The page opens on one approximate point in Manchester city centre. It is not a detected address, and it is not meant to stand for every town and suburb across Greater Manchester. If you are near the city centre, or you only want the city figure, it is ready to use. For a particular home, mosque or workplace further out, set the finder to that place:
- Your current position: choose Use my location. The finder then requests one position fix, and your browser may ask for permission first if you have not already allowed it.
- Known coordinates: choose Enter coordinates instead, fill in Latitude and Longitude, and add Position uncertainty (metres, optional) if you have it. Then select Find my Qibla. The result updates only when you select it.
- A place on the map: select Open map. The north-up Nearby view draws up to 3 km of the starting direction. Pan to the area you need, then select Use map centre. Moving the map alone leaves the starting point unchanged.
Full route shows the whole path for context. Neither map view measures how a building is aligned. Use the short line to see which way the direction runs past streets or landmarks you can identify. None of these options needs a camera or a working phone compass. Use the city centre again returns the finder to this page's point.
For help weighing the city figure against your own position, see City preset or current location? and what location accuracy means for Qibla.
True north, grid north and compass north
Three different norths are in common use in the UK, and the 118.5° figure uses only one of them. Ordnance Survey's guide to north arrows explains how the types of north differ.
- True north is geographic north. The bearing on this page is measured clockwise from it.
- Grid north is the direction of the vertical grid lines on a map, so it depends on which grid the map uses. On Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain, those lines belong to the British National Grid. Grid north comes from the map projection. On the British National Grid, it lines up with true north only along the central meridian at 2° west, as the British Geological Survey's UK survey page notes. Manchester's city point lies just west of that line, so the two are close here but not identical.
- Magnetic north is what a compass needle follows. It varies with place and date, so this page does not give a fixed correction for Manchester.
Apply any correction once:
- With an unadjusted magnetic compass, subtract the current local declination (east positive) from 118.5°. If the result is below 0°, add 360°; if it is 360° or more, subtract 360°.
- With a compass already set to true north, use 118.5° unchanged.
- With Enable live compass on a supported phone, the finder applies its own correction, so do not subtract anything. Hold the phone flat or nearly level in portrait. Guidance pauses beyond about 5° of tilt, and the finder shows no corrected guidance if it cannot apply a valid correction. Choose Stop compass when you finish.
Indoors, steel frames and other metal can pull a needle or phone sensor off. If readings wander, use the bearing and the map instead, and see help when the compass is not working. The separate-compass guide and the notes on the north reference give more detail.
Manchester beside Birmingham
The paired diagrams compare this page's point with Birmingham, UK. From the Manchester city point, the Qibla is 118.5° and 5,025 km away. From the Birmingham city point, it is 118.0° and 4,952 km away.
The bearings differ by about 0.5°, and the Manchester point is about 73 km further from the Kaaba. Both directions fall in the east-southeast band, which covers about 22.5° of the compass. The shared label therefore hides a real but modest numerical difference. Each figure belongs to its own starting point, so if you are elsewhere, calculate from your own position rather than borrowing either number. London, UK works out at 119.0° from its city point.
Keeping the city figure or sharing your chosen point
The reference panel at the top of the page and the card from Download reference card stay on the Manchester city point and 118.5°. They do not follow the finder when you switch it to your own position, so the card is a fixed note of the city figure.
Printable reference works separately. It is built for the point the finder is using at that moment, and it prints that point's coordinates whether or not you add the optional QR code. A printed arrow only helps once you line it up with a reliable north of the matching kind, which is true north for the figures on this page.
To send a result, choose the link that carries only what the other person needs. Share city creates a link for the city preset selected at that moment, with just the city and country. Once copied, that link stays on the same city, whatever you do in the finder later. It is unavailable while the finder uses a device location, typed coordinates, the map centre or a shared coordinate link. Share location previews the point first. Create coordinate link then makes a link with its coordinates, label and any attached uncertainty. Sharing and privacy explains what each link contains.