What is absolute location?

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Absolute location refers to the actual location of a particular place expressed in terms of latitude and longitude.  Latitude is the measured with the Equator as the basis and is expressed in terms of degrees to the north or south of the equatorial line.  Longitude meanwhile is also expressed in degrees to the west or east of the Prime Meridian which basically divides the Earth to the right and left halves.  When the absolute location of a particular area is needed, it is typically expressed with specific degrees and values to the actual direction away from the basis which are the equator and the prime meridian.  New York City for example has an absolute location of “40.7127 degrees North and 74.0059 degrees West”.  This specific value or absolute location of New York City is also referred to as the city’s coordinates.

In most instances, the actual coordinates or absolute location of specific places on Earth are useful only to the military and other branches of government.  Not many people can actually interpret the values that are used in so-called coordinates and therefore could not actually pinpoint the absolute location of a certain place.  Most people are familiar with relative location instead of absolute location.  Relative location refers to the location of an area that is relative to a certain landmark or popular point of reference.  In the case of the relative location of Canada, a person could say that it is located above or north of the USA.  For specific cities in Canada like Toronto, it may also be described as located in the eastern part of the country.  In these examples, the location given is relative to a popular landmark or point of reference.  A basic description of where one lives for example may be better understood if the relative location is given rather than the actual coordinates or its absolute location.

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