A content delivery network: a global set of servers that keep copies of your images, scripts, and pages close to users, so a visitor in Warsaw is served from Europe rather than from a single origin server elsewhere.
Distance is latency. A CDN typically removes hundreds of milliseconds from load time for distant users, absorbs traffic spikes, and shields the origin server from much of the load and from simple attacks.
We put static assets and cacheable pages behind a CDN by default, set cache headers deliberately per asset type, and use content hashing in filenames so a new release is picked up instantly without stale files.