Automatic transportation and ride-hailing services have changed how we move, delivering us to destinations within seconds while easy to access. At the heart of this transformation lies a question: How do these systems pinpoint our current location within seconds? The answer is by the association of relative and absolute location.
The fundamental concepts, once well-known only to explorers and cartographers, now power the digital era and shape our daily lives.
In This Article:
Relative Location Definition
By the book, we can tell relative location is the position of a pinpoint concerning another landmark in relation. More specifically, consider a mileage sign on the highway that says that Tokyo is 100 miles away. Immediately, drivers can understand that the city is 100 miles from where the sign stands.
But it doesn’t stop there. Tokyo is actually only 34 kilometers away from Yokohama despite being 350 kilometers away from Nagoya. Another one is time-related. To describe the length from Yokohama to Tokyo, we could say it is a 50-minute journey by train or a 10-minute drive. Both ways work.
Different relationships can be formed when describing relative locations, including the distance between two destinations. Also, travel time can effectively be a way of measuring relative location.
Relative Location Examples
Location can sometimes be expressed in relative terms.
For instance, a city might be described as being “north of” another city or being “30 miles east of” a landmark.
On a global scale, Australia is “south of” Asia. Within the country, New York City is “northeast of” Los Angeles. Zooming in further, a specific address might be described as “next to” a park or “across the street from” a school.
Even within a building, a room can be located “down the hall from” the elevator or “behind” the reception area. These examples illustrate how relative location provides a contextual understanding of a place’s position within its surroundings. Not to mention, its flexibly gives everybody a way to practice personal navigation.
What Does It Turn Out In Real Life?
Not everyone can realize or understand what relative location means, but everybody employs it without even noticing. It can happen under any circumstances.
When you tell a friend, “The coffee shop is next to the bookstore,” you use a relative location. Even a simple act, like finding your car in a crowded parking lot, relies on mental mapping and understanding the car’s position relative to other vehicles or landmarks.
Children learn this intuitively when they describe their toys as being “under the bed” or “behind the couch.”
Geographers use relative location to analyze spatial patterns, such as the distribution of populations, resources, or environmental factors. Furthermore, it also plays a big role in logistics, emergency response, and military strategy for efficient planning and operations.
Our brains are constantly calculating and processing relative positions to navigate our world efficiently. We can tell how good relative location can provide a framework for understanding spatial relationships and making informed decisions.
Definition Of Absolute Location In Geography
Unlike other types of location, absolute location involves a specific pairing of latitude and longitude coordinates. To form a direct description of location using these, one must precisely identify both the latitude and longitude values.
With the right geographic coordinates, we can pinpoint a reference point for a specific position of a place on the Earth’s surface without relying on any secondary location. But how do these concepts of location work?
How Longitude And Latitude Work In Pair
Latitude and longitude together work in pairs to construct the fundamental framework for determining the exact position or coordinates of any point on Earth.
Latitude measures a location’s north-south position relative to the equator. This imaginary line circles the planet halfway between the North and South Poles.
Latitude values range from 0 degrees at the equator to 90 degrees at either pole. With a total of 180 degrees, each degree of latitude equates to approximately 69 miles (111 kilometers). If you live north of the equator, your address includes Degrees North Latitude. For example, New York City is at about 40 Degrees North Latitude.
Longitude measures a location’s east-west position relative to the Prime Meridian, an imaginary line running from the North to the South Pole through Greenwich, England.
Longitude values extend 180 degrees eastward and westward from the Prime Meridian. Places east of the Prime Meridian are in Degrees East Longitude, and places west are in Degrees West Longitude. Unlike latitude, the distance between longitude lines varies due to the Earth’s spherical shape.
Latitude and longitude must go hand in hand to represent the exact location. It’s like finding a specific seat in a huge stadium; you will need the row number (latitude) and the seat number (longitude) to get to the right spot.
Absolute Location Examples
Specific coordinates, expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds or decimal degrees, pinpoint exact locations.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is at 48.8584° N latitude and 2.2945° E longitude. This exact spot places it right in the heart of Paris.
Sydney Opera House, Australia, is found at 33.8568° S latitude and 151.2153° E longitude. These coordinates pinpoint its location on the eastern coast of Australia.
How is it shown in real life?
This geographic coordinate system is indispensable for navigation, mapping, and various scientific applications.
The core of automatic transportation and ride-hailing services, letting them do their work, is absolute location. It’s how GPS integrated into the applications guides us, how delivery services find our homes, and how airplanes navigate vast distances.
In human evolution, the understanding of absolute location was crucial for early humans to track food sources, map territories, and find their way back to home bases. Today, it’s integral to every field like geography, meteorology, oceanography, and space exploration. Without precise location data, our world would be a far less connected and efficient dimension.
Comparison Between Absolute and Relative Location
Properties
- Precision
We can all agree on this obvious point. By being expressed as latitude, longitude, and address, absolute location coordinates offer a precise and reliable location on the Earth’s surface.
On the other hand, relative location is more general, giving contextual ideas of a place’s position in relation to others by distance, travel time, and connections.
- Tools
We have learned how to show where a place is on a map using location concepts or by saying where it is compared to other places. However, relying solely on experience and observation to determine location is often inaccurate and time-consuming. Therefore, relative location is more commonly used every day than in official mapping applications.
That’s why we have tools like GPS that employ absolute location, which can tell you exactly where you are anywhere in the world. Maps, compasses, and even apps on our phones can aid us navigate and travel more efficiently.
- Dependence
Absolute location refers to specific geographical coordinates that don’t relate or connect to other destinations. As a result, the absolute location might be slightly better suited to describe rural areas where everything is spread out and landmarks are less frequent.
Relative location gives out a more dependent vibe, as it describes a place’s location in relation to others. This works best in cities as a more fluid and contextual understanding of a place’s position. A place can have multiple relative locations based on different reference points.
Just by comprehending these differences, your geographical communications will be clearer and more effective, whether you’re finding a location on a map or describing a favorite spot to a friend.
Pros & Cons
Let’s recap how each of them can beat the other:
| Absolute Location | Relative Location | |
| Pros: | – Precise and unambiguous – Globally recognized standard – Consistent and unchanging | – Easy to understand and use – Provides contextual understanding – Doesn’t need specialized equipment |
| Cons | – Difficult to understand without training – Requires specialized tools – Lacks contextual information | – Vague or ambiguous – Relies on shared knowledge – Can change over time |
Importance of Absolute and Relative Location in Geography
Role in Mapping and Navigation
Absolute location, defined by precise geographic coordinates, is fundamental to map creation and utilization. The grid system formed by latitude and longitude provides a universal framework for locating any point on Earth’s surface.
For instance, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) like GPS rely on absolute location to determine a device’s position, enabling applications like digital mapping and route planning.
Relative location, which describes a position in relation to others, plays a vital role in navigation. Humans naturally perceive and understand space relative to their surroundings. This concept is incorporated into various navigation methods.
For example, traditional paper maps often use landmarks and directional references, such as “north of the river,” to guide users. Modern navigation systems, while relying on absolute location for routing, also provide relative information, such as distance to the next turn or estimated time of arrival.
Geographical Context and Spatial Relationships
Maps have evolved beyond their traditional role in geography to become indispensable tools across numerous fields. In addition, Geographic Information Systems has further democratized map creation, making them widely accessible in newspapers, weather forecasts, and navigation systems.
A related concept, spatial thinking, has gained significant attention from researchers. Spatial thinking refers to the ability to utilize spatial concepts, employ representational tools such as maps and graphs, and apply reasoning processes to solve problems and structure information.
Spatial thinking manifests in several key contexts:
- Physical Space: This involves everyday navigation tasks, such as finding one’s way home or organizing a workspace.
- Human Geography: This encompasses understanding the spatial patterns of cities, the history of cultures and agriculture, and the global economic landscape. Maps are instrumental in examining these human-environment interactions.
FAQs
How do cartographers utilize exact location information when creating maps?
Cartographers rely on absolute location to create precise and consistent maps. By applying latitude and longitude coordinates, they can accurately pinpoint every place on a map.
Why do people commonly use relative position descriptions in everyday conversations?
Relative location offers a more familiar and everyday understanding of how to point a place. Using familiar landmarks and nearby points, it’s easier to communicate a location to others, especially in familiar areas.
What tools or resources can help people understand and apply absolute and relative location concepts?
Many navigation tools, including Google and Apple mapping apps, GPS, and location-based apps, provide both absolute location (coordinates) and relative location (landmarks) information.
See more: The Geographic Center Of The U.S.
Conclusion
Understanding both absolute and relative location is essential for navigating the world. While both concepts have their strengths, they are often used in conjunction, and we’ve seen them throughout the article. This integration highlights the complementary nature of these two fundamental geographic concepts.
By mastering absolute and relative location, individuals can develop strong spatial reasoning skills, enabling them to better understand and interact with their surrounding environment.
