Random geeky things you've done

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

That is irrelevant. US is unique in the amount of autonomy it gives to its states. The US States actually matter, where as the Russian oblast, French department, Swiss canton, German bundesländer, etc are merely administrative/bureaucratic divisions. Although geography, as a subject, is exceedingly important in Russia, and most Russians can accurately place over a 100 countries on a world map, few know all the oblasts, let alone their capitals.

The French departements, English counties etc. are an administrative division whereas the German Bundesländer are not. They are the fundament of our state. Every law and administrative task is by default obliged to the Länder. The Länder together join up to build the Bundesrepublik. Our nation is, in its nature, fundamentally federal, to the degree that we allow each Land its own educational system. When the reunification took place in 1990, the five Länder which lay on the territory of the old DDR, but were de-facto inexistant (because the DDR had a centralist approach as e. g. France), joined the Bundesrepublik the logical second after the DDR had formally ceased to exist. In 1871, when modern day Germany was created (as a monarchy then), every citizen had two nationalities: the one of his home state, and the German one. The southern states even kept their own armies!! So don't tell me they wouldn't matter. ;)

@Evil Maniac:
Great, not many Germans are capable of that task!