Final answer:
To map European empires geographically is to visualize their territorial domains, while historically it entails charting their temporal evolution and contexts. The 'Scramble for Africa' provides an example of how European powers redrew African boundaries irrespective of local conditions, a process that is fundamental to understanding the historical and geographical coordinates of empires.
Step-by-step explanation:
To map empires geographically means to represent their territorial extent on maps, showing the areas controlled by the empire at various points in time. This visual representation helps to understand the empire's size, the diversity within its borders, and its spatial relationships with neighboring regions and entities. Similarly, to map empires historically involves plotting the rise and fall of empires over time, the significant events that shaped their expansion or decline, and the socio-political context of different periods within that empire's existence.
An example from historical and geographical mapping could be considered from the period of European colonialism. For instance, during the so-called 'Scramble for Africa,' European diplomats in Berlin outlined the partition of African territories without considering the indigenous peoples, effectively redrawing the map of the continent to align with imperial interests. This is reflective of a historical process that significantly influenced the modern geopolitical landscape of Africa.
Mapping in these terms is crucial for understanding the complex networks of influence and control that defined European empires, providing coordinates not just in physical space but also in the temporal framework of history.