Why are minutes and seconds important to finding the absolute location of a place?

they tell the lines of longitude apart the closer you get to the south pole.

they increase between lines of latitude the closer you get to the north pole.

they tell exactly where a place is between lines of latitude or longitude.

they make the measurements more accurate closer to the equator.

They tell exactly where a place is between lines of latitude or longitude.
Minutes and seconds are smaller, more exact measurements than degrees, which are the basic units of latitude and longitude. They can be compared to feet and yards vs. miles. Using a smaller unit of measurement helps to describe the exact geographic position, whereas simply giving the position in degrees gives a more general description of the location. 

Americans often speak of their country as one of several large regions.  these regions are cultural units rather than governmental units --  formed by history and geography and shaped by the economics, literature and folkways that all the parts of a region share. what makes one region different from another? a region's multicultural heritage as well as distinct demographic characteristics like age and occupation make regions different and special. within several regions, language is used differently and there are strong dialects. there are also differences in outlook and attitude based on geography.