States of Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia are divided into governmental districts, or "Regierungsbezirke". In Rhineland-Palatinate, these districts were abolished on January 1, 2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on January 1, 2004, and in Lower Saxony on January 1, 2005. From 1990 until 2012, Saxony was divided into three districts (called "Direktionsbezirke" since 2008). In 2012, these districts' authorities were merged into one central authority, the "". The Districts of Germany "(Kreise)" are administrative districts, and every state except the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg and the state of Bremen consists of "rural districts" "(Landkreise)," District-free Towns/Cities ("Kreisfreie Städte", in Baden-Württemberg also called "urban districts", or
Embassy of the United States, Prague of Germany, and Slovakia becoming an independent state. The next day, ambassador William Carr telegrammed the United States Department of State that "there are no officials of the Czechoslovakian government, to which I am accredited with, whom I can maintain for protection of the interests of the United States and its citizens". Three days later, acting on orders of the United States government, the United States embassy in Prague terminated its mission. The legation and other property of the embassy was, thereafter, transferred to the Consulate-General of the United States in Prague and ambassador Carr returned to the United States.