Draw the angle in standard position: it has its initial side on the x-axis and moves counter-clockwise to the terminal side. The terminal side is in the third quadrant, because the angle measure is between (the negative x-axis) and (the negative y-axis). In particular:

This tells you that the terminal side is below the negative x-axis. To say this another way, the x-axis and the terminal side form a angle. This is the reference angle.