A sphere with a map of the world on its surface, the traditional model of the Earth. The use of a round object whose surface is equidistant at every point from the center ignores the Earth's true shape. Satellite measurements from space show that the Earth is slightly flattened at the Poles and bulges in the Southern Hemisphere. However, when scaled down to the size of a globe, these irregularities disappear. Compared with flat maps, all of which distort the Earth's surface patterns, the graphical representation produced by a spherical terrestrial globe eliminates serious inaccuracies and distortions of the relative size, direction, and shape of areas on Earth.