From the Chicago, Illinois reference point at 41.8781, -87.6298, the Qibla is 48.7° clockwise from true north, which is northeast. This approximate city reference is not your address; set your home, workplace or hotel in the finder on this page.
Read the Chicago result and compare it fairly
| Starting point | 41.8781, -87.6298 (approximate Chicago reference) |
|---|---|
| Initial bearing | 48.7° clockwise from true north |
| Compared with northeast | About 3.7° clockwise past the 45° diagonal |
| Distance | 11,146 km over a sphere, not a flight or road distance |
If another Chicago finder shows a slightly different figure, compare the settings behind each number before you compare arrows:
- Starting coordinates: a different point in the city gives a slightly different result.
- Destination: the reference point each tool uses for the Kaaba.
- North reference: true north or magnetic north.
- Earth model: this page uses a sphere, and some tools use an ellipsoid.
- Rounding: how many decimal places each tool displays.
More than one of these can apply at the same time, so a small gap does not by itself show which tool is wrong. The calculation used here is described in the methodology.
Set the place you will use in Chicago
- Choose the starting point. Use my location makes one position request, and your browser may ask for permission or may already have it. Alternatively, open Enter coordinates instead, enter Latitude and Longitude, and press Find my Qibla.
- To use the map instead, press Open map and stay on Nearby. Pan to your building and press Use map centre. Until you press it, the result still belongs to the previous point.
- The Nearby map is north-up. Compare its short line with features you can identify around you, such as a street, a park edge or a nearby building. Do not assume a street runs exactly north to south or that a wall faces a particular way. The line shows a direction and does not survey your room.
In Full route, the line to Makkah bends across the map. On a common north-up Mercator-style world map, Makkah sits below and to the right of Chicago, so a straight line between them on the screen points south of east. The shortest path over the globe instead leaves Chicago heading northeast at 48.7°, and its heading keeps changing along the way. That is why the route curves when it is drawn on that kind of map. Face the starting direction shown in Nearby, not the shape of the long line. The difference comes from how that kind of map is drawn. For more detail, see why Qibla routes curve on maps. For help choosing a starting point, see city preset or current location.
Match the compass to the bearing
The 48.7° figure is measured from true north. A handheld compass set to true north can use it as it is. An unadjusted magnetic compass needs one conversion using the current local declination, and the steps are in using a separate compass. Do not rely on a fixed declination figure copied from another source.
Enable live compass is optional. On phones that provide supported magnetic data, it applies its own correction once, so do not adjust the target again. Hold the phone flat or nearly level in portrait. Guidance pauses if the phone tilts more than about 5°. If the arrow wanders, or the phone has no suitable sensor, the bearing and the Nearby map still work without it. See help when the compass is not working.
Chicago and Houston have their own bearings
There is no single Qibla angle for the whole United States. Chicago and Houston both start northeast, but the bearings differ. From the Chicago reference it is 48.7°. From the Houston reference at 29.7604, -95.3698 it is 45.5°, about 3.2° less. Houston is also about 1,429 km farther from the Kaaba reference point on this sphere: 12,574 km, compared with 11,146 km from Chicago.
The paired diagram on this page draws each bearing north-up from its own point. Northeast names a range of directions, so use the result for the place you are in. You can read the Houston result or calculate any other place in the finder.
Keep the Chicago card or print your selected point
- For a fixed Chicago reference: the panel above the finder and the image from Download reference card stay on the Chicago reference point at 41.8781, -87.6298 with 48.7°, whatever you change in the finder. Line up the card's N with true north before you read it.
- For a record of your own point: use Printable reference. It shows the selected point's coordinates whether or not you add the optional coordinate QR code. The QR code is added only after you confirm it.
- For a link to a city: Share city creates a link that contains only the city and country of the preset selected when you press it. A link you copied earlier keeps its original city.
- For a link to your selected point: Share location previews the selected point's coordinates, then Create coordinate link makes a link that contains them. The coordinates describe the point you chose, not a guarantee of your exact physical position.
Before you send a link with coordinates, read about sharing a location.