City: Neo Venezia
Country: United States of America
Administrative division: State of New Friuli
Languages: Italian, strong Spanish minority, English is most people's second language
Population: 50 000 inhabitants
The city of New Venezia was founded in 1521, when the most Serene Republic, to avoid some more conflicts with different Great Powers in Europe, goes back to full trade and no expansion. They receive the authorizations from the King of Spain to create small cities in the Spanish half of the world according to the Tordesillas treaty. One of the many small Venezian establishments would be Neo Venezia, a small city in humid climate, that would make it's expansion harder, due to smaller immigration and disease. The city was still prosperous due to the trade with both Spaniards and the Natives. It remained under autonomy, while being both tax free and not very important in the Venitian affairs until the Congress of Vienna.
During the Congress of Vienna, Venitia was eaten by Austria, but the city of Neo Venezia was not mentioned. A pact of non agression was signed by the Mayor with Spain, and the localisation of the city turned it into a center of trade (legal or not) between the colonists and the US. After the annexion of the Spanish territories by the United States during the first half of the XIXth century, the city started it's period of decline, and becomes an infamous city, center of illegal operations and corruption. The result of this period of decline is that even the United States didn't want of it, even for security reasons, and many people even emigrate out of the city, that decreases from 45 000 inhabitants to 12 000 in a half century. Those 33 000 people will have many descendants and the State will be named New Friuli.
This situation improves gradually until the interwar period, because of American investments (the GDP, starting at a very low level, grows faster) and the wave of emigration to avoid the rising fascism in Italy gives the city a new start : it becames the second LGBT center of the world after Berlin, and the place to be for rebellious rich heirs. The first hotels are founded, and the city gets some seaside resorts, using the poorly defined borders with US concerning the surrounding islands to annex lands for free, and start expanding over the sea, with some Polynesian looking constructions over water.
After WW2, the fear to have a left leaning city next to it's borders will encourage the US to try some kind of annexion, and an agreement will finally be found between the City and the Union, including the city and it's neighborhoods as an autonomous county, with special status. The city definitely became a center of entertainment with the creation of cinema studios and a game developpment company : Doge Games Srl.