Modern political order is frequently conceived as cartographic space, which is reflected in the image of borders as the delimitation of mutually exclusive territorial entities. It is safe to say that the sovereign state (and the system of states) is the most ubiquitous example of this order. This mutual political exclusivity is obviously represented in political maps with rectilinear borders, through which images of power, authority and property are created. Modern political cartography frequently entails the idea that the dominion of a polity ends where another begins, suggesting furthermore that each sovereign state monopolizes precious public goods, such as liberty, agency, autonomy, identity, authority, security, law and community. The abovementioned version of strictly territorial bounded sovereign states can be contrasted with the political order represented by (modern) empires. The new political cartography, which had begun to emerge during the late Middle Ages with the rediscovery of the works by authors such as Ptolemy (100-168 CE), was key for the transatlantic imperial endeavor of early modern powers such as Spain and Portugal. Cartography was not only a tool to cross the ocean and enter continents unknown to them, but also to establish political borders and domains in extensive areas that had barely been tread on by the representatives of the state power that claimed sovereignty and authority over unknown territories and populations. The imperial projects of the early modern era constituted an important expansion of cartography as an instrument to govern extensive and remote territories. Modern empires made use of cartographic visualization of political power, but the cartographic images did not acquire the same meaning for imperial government as for the sovereign state. This paper delves into the meaning and use of cartography when depicting modern political order in coexisting and intertwined states and empires. The aim is not historical in an antiquarian sense, but rather shed light on how contemporary political predicaments continue to be conditioned by ideas associated with both states and empires.