Had to chuckle at the person visiting Tel Aviv and thinking it was in the Canary Islands. But there is maybe about a fraction of a percent of an excuse for the confusion because I seem to recall from the USA's orbital manned launches in the 1960's that there was a tracking station at Tanarive. Tanarive, Tel Aviv... pretty close.
Folks understand that the USA has 50 entities that might as well be lumped together as states plus Puerto Rico is a commonwealth member - also called a protectorate. The Pacific Islands are like that, too. But here is something that you might not realize. The USA is an interesting and sometimes touchy amalgam of a nation and an agglomeration of states. I think I've seen some articles about the European Union going through a few of the same kinds of pain.
For instance, there is a VERY serious discussion as to whether certain United Nations treaties with the Federal government of the USA apply to the state governments. No, I'm not kidding, and yes, it is a serious discussion. The state of Texas convicted someone and executed him, or at least was going to, but it turned out he was a Mexican national. Texas had not contacted the Mexican Embassy and some U.N. types were going ballistic about denying the man his rights. To which Texas replied (technically correctly) "We didn't sign the treaty. He commited a non-federal crime. We've got him. We're going to punish him." (Or words to that effect.)
Take a look at the furor going on with Arizona and their laws on illegal aliens and identification papers. That is about immigration, a federal issue, but the state has made it their own.
And every time I turn around, it is things like that incident that prove to me I should have been a lawyer. The money to be made in lawsuits after the BP spill? The question is whether BP will bleed money faster than it is bleeding oil in the Gulf of Mexico right now. I don't want to get started, though. I'll just rant and rave all night, and it is already too close to my bedtime for me to get spun up again on this topic.
