Subject: Re: US counties, unincorprated territories<br/>
Date: Nov 07, 2001 @ 18:24<br/>
Author: Peter Smaardijk (&quot;Peter Smaardijk&quot; &lt;smaardijk@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-44850781">--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., PitHokie &lt;pithokie@y...&gt; wrote:<br/>
<blockquote><span title="ireply"> &gt; The difference is in name only.  Governmentally, there<br/>
&gt; is no difference between a state and a commonwealth.<br/>
<br/>
 </span></blockquote>I know that in Germany, two &quot;Laender&quot; have the official designation <br/>
of &quot;Freistaat&quot;: Bavaria and Saxony. I don&#39;t know whether this has any <br/>
implications. Does someone know?<br/>
<br/>
And I remember vaguely that the position of Texas is fundamentally <br/>
different from all other states in the US (because it used to be an <br/>
independent republic). Can someone say something about that?<br/>
<br/>
What about the difference between territories in countries like <br/>
Canada, Australia, and Russia (=krai) and the regular subdivisions? <br/>
Why is it like this and what are the practical implications?<br/>
<br/>
Peter S.</div>