Latitude Maps

How does the longitude and latitude coordinate system make up for the elliptical shape of the earth?

The latitude and longitude grid is based off of a spherical coordinate system but the earth is more of an ellipse. I was wondering how since degrees is used to determine the place you are on earth, how do they correctly place the lines of latitude and longitude. Is the earth a perfect ellipse therefore they just measure the ellipse itself and place degree lines on it according to the ellipse?

Public Comments

1. The earth is an oblate spheroid. The coordinates do cause a very minor amount of distortion, but it's never enough to keep the coordinate system from working.