Why a flat map and a globe point in different directions
New York sits at latitude 40.7° N and Toronto at 43.7° N, while the Kaaba in Makkah sits further south at 21.4° N. On a rectangular wall map or standard web map (which uses a Mercator projection), drawing a straight line with a ruler from New York or Toronto to Makkah angles south of east (around 100°–112° ESE).
On the spherical Earth, however, a straight line on a Mercator projection is a rhumb line (loxodrome)—a path of constant compass heading that curves thousands of kilometres south of the shortest route. The shortest path between two points on a sphere is a great circle (orthodrome): the intersection of the globe's surface with a plane passing through the Earth's centre, your location and the Kaaba.
If you stretch a string tightly between New York (or Vancouver) and Makkah on a physical globe, the string immediately heads northeast (or north-northeast from the Pacific coast), passes high over the North Atlantic or Arctic latitudes, and then curves southeast toward Makkah.
Great-circle vs Mercator rhumb-line bearings in North America
SalahTable's Qibla finder and city pages compute the spherical great-circle bearing used by astronomical and geodesic libraries (Adhan). The table below compares that great-circle bearing with the flat-map rhumb-line angle and magnetic compass reading across eight US and Canadian cities.
| City | Coordinates | Great-circle Qibla (true N) | Magnetic compass (WMM 2025) | Flat-map rhumb line | Great-circle distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 40.7°N, 74.0°W | 58.5° (ENE) | 70.9° | 101.3° (ESE) | 10,306 km |
| Chicago | 41.9°N, 87.7°W | 48.7° (NE) | 52.8° | 100.8° (E) | 11,149 km |
| Houston | 29.8°N, 95.4°W | 45.5° (NE) | 43.8° | 93.9° (E) | 12,574 km |
| Los Angeles | 34.1°N, 118.2°W | 23.9° (NNE) | 12.5° | 95.2° (E) | 13,424 km |
| Seattle | 47.6°N, 122.3°W | 17.6° (NNE) | 2.7° | 101.3° (ESE) | 12,135 km |
| Toronto | 43.7°N, 79.4°W | 54.6° (NE) | 64.7° | 102.6° (ESE) | 10,493 km |
| Halifax | 44.6°N, 63.6°W | 65.6° (ENE) | 81.6° | 105.2° (ESE) | 9,349 km |
| Vancouver | 49.2°N, 123.1°W | 16.7° (NNE) | 1.3° | 102.1° (ESE) | 11,977 km |
How to verify this yourself
- Open a 3D globe view (or use a physical globe with a piece of string) and connect your city to Makkah (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). Observe the initial direction the string leaves your city.
- Notice that the further west and north you go in North America (such as Seattle at 18° NNE or Vancouver at 17° NNE), the closer the shortest route passes to the North Pole, making the initial bearing nearly due north-northeast.
- When using a physical or phone compass, also account for magnetic declination in your city; see why Qibla compasses disagree (true vs magnetic north) and Qibla Day solar shadow checks.
This guide explains the spherical geometry behind SalahTable's bearing numbers. Where you attend a local mosque, follow the mosque's established Qibla alignment.