The absolute location refers to the position of the place based on its fixed position on the surface of earth. Presenting an absolute location gives people worldwide the knowledge of where the country or the state is located. For New Orleans, the absolute location is at 29.951065, -90.071533 which latitude and longitude, respectively.
The relative location is location based on another position on the map and the relative location depends on the location of other places. For example, New Orleans' relative location is in Louisiana, near the border of Mississippi. This is relative because these names could be applied to any place on earth and requires people to know where these places physically are in order to understand the location.