The effects of long- and short-range correlations on the charge distributio
ns of some medium and heavy nuclei are investigated. The long-range correla
tions are treated within the random-phase approximation framework and the s
hort-range correlations with a model inspired by the correlated basis funct
ion theory. The two types of cot-relation produce effects of the same order
of magnitude. A comparison with the empirical charge-distribution differen
ce between Pb-206 and Tl-205 shows the need to include both correlations to
obtain a good description of the data.