The difference in appearance between the maps of Europe and the US is remarkable: The European countries vary in size a lot and the shape is completely irregular. The east coast of the US looks similar, but further to the west the states are almost square! Wow!
I hope you can excuse this ignorant European showing off his ignorance: I've never seen e.g. a California flag. Do the states have their own flags and symbols? What is typically used to represent the states? To tie this in with the previous paragraph: A European country is often represented by its flag but sometimes by its map. For example, most Swedes would instantly recognise a map of Sweden. The maps of Colorado and Wyoming seem less characteristic.
