It's not as obvious (but is still visible) in the US, but cities stay in the same place (and organise mostly similar hinterlands) over time, while national and super-national boundaries vary on sometimes very short timescales.
Consider Moscow (XIV-) compared to the USSR (XX-XX). Or watch Poland move back and forth over its history. Today's Kaliningrad (Russian Federation) was Euler's Königsberg (Kingdom of Prussia), etc.
It's not as obvious (but is still visible) in the US, but cities stay in the same place (and organise mostly similar hinterlands) over time, while national and super-national boundaries vary on sometimes very short timescales.
Consider Moscow (XIV-) compared to the USSR (XX-XX). Or watch Poland move back and forth over its history. Today's Kaliningrad (Russian Federation) was Euler's Königsberg (Kingdom of Prussia), etc.