Globes with raised relief better emphasize the mountainous areas of the world. The relief is there so that you can see and feel the mountains although their actual height on the globe does not have any relationship to the true relative heights of the mountain ranges. If it were to actual scale, we'd barely--if even--be able to feel the highest mountains of the world. Raised relief is found on 9", 12" and 16" diameter non-illuminated press craft globes and on select 12" and 16" vinyl globes. On a smaller globe, it would be difficult to maintain any degree of accuracy. On a very large diameter globe, i.e., 20" & 32", the method of manufacturing doesn't lend itself to incorporating this feature.