One way in which a location may be identified is by name. Slippery Rock University is located in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. If one is familiar with the area, then telling them that you attend college in Slippery Rock is sufficient locational information. Another word for place name is "toponym."
If one is not so familiar with the area we might wish to describe the situation, also termed the relative location, of a place. Situation is the description of something's location relative to surrounding features. Telling someone that you attend college at Slippery Rock University, and that it is located about fifty miles north of Pittsburgh, may have more meaning.
A third way to describe location is to look at the site. Site is the actual portion of the earth's surface that is occupied by something. The site of Slippery Rock University would be the 243 hectares (600 acres) that it occupies.
Finally, one could tell somebody that Slippery Rock University is located at 41 degrees north latitude and 80 degrees west longitude. When location is identified using a numbering system--latitude and longitude in this case--it is termed mathematical or absolute location.
