Locations

In geography and related fields, a location refers to a position or area on the Earth's surface or within a defined reference frame. Locations can be described by absolute coordinates or by relative relations to other objects, such as "south of the river" or "in downtown."

Absolute locations use geographic coordinates, typically latitude and longitude, tied to a datum such as WGS84. They can be refined with elevation or height above sea level. Many schemes exist, including projected coordinate systems like UTM. Relative locations describe position through descriptive terms or spatial relations, and are often used in navigation or human communication. Administrative locations specify boundaries and names, such as countries, states, cities, postal codes, and census tracts, which can be important for governance and statistics. Virtual locations may refer to a node on a network or a cloud region, defined by IP ranges or data center coordinates.

Geographic information science relies on tools like geocoding to convert place names into coordinates and reverse geocoding to identify the nearest named place. Gazetteers compile lists of named locations and their attributes. Maps and geographic databases use coordinate systems and map projections to represent locations on a plane, balancing accuracy, area, and distance properties.

Locations are central to navigation, planning, logistics, environmental monitoring, and many location-based services. Location data can raise privacy concerns when associated with individuals. Accuracy depends on the quality of data, the chosen reference frame, and the resolution of the measurement.