On Tue, 06 Nov 2001 18:01:41 +0000, you wrote:

>>From: PitHokie
>>
>>I cant think of any area of land in the US that is
>>unincorporated by not governed by some body, like
>>those you've mentioned in Australia.
>>
>>--- Brendan Whyte <brwhyte@...> wrote:
>> > The NW corner of NSW is not part of any shire or
>> > city. It is termed
>> > 'unincorporated area' on maps.
>
>arif has pointed out in his weekly geographical curiosities
> for which see our top bp bookmarks link
>that the montana portion of yellowstone park hasnt been included in any
>county
>tho the idaho & wyoming portions have been
>
>so evidently there may be this purely federal area embedded within montana
>
>m

It is also interesting that the Montana portion of Yellowstone NP is
part of the US District Court of Wyoming not US District Court of
Montana (Also this means that area is part of the 10th Circuit not
the 9th Circuit). This is the only oddball district that exists.

Federal Court System Overview:

The lowest Federal Court in the US is the District Court which covers
a State or part of a State (States that have multiple districts are
either large in size or large in population and the breaking up of the
state into 2 or more districts make work easier to deal with). There
are District Courts in some of the territories of the US but
interestingly American Samoa does not have one. There are also a few
specialise district level courts whose jurisdictions is not a specific
area of land but law (US Court of International Trade for example)

The next level of Courts are the Circuits which hear appeals of case
in District Courts and some State Courts decisions. 13 Circuits exist:
11 numbered circuit each covering a region of the US, the DC Circuit
which covers case with in Washington, and the Federal Circuit which
hears case from various government agencies.

The highest level court is the Supreme Court which hears appeals from
the Circuits and some State Courts. The Supreme Court also has
jurisdiction when States sue other States (A rare thing). This year
the Supreme Court will hear Maryland vs. Virginia about a dispute over
the Potomac River.

-Andrew
--
Andrew T. Patton WWW: http://www.AndrewPatton.com
Fairfax, VA, USA E-Mail: andrew@...