Its not unheard of... The Russian Federation has many state's in it that function independently of the federal government in Moscow such as: the Jewish Autonomous Oblast that is completely autonomous of Russia but exists inside of it; the 22 ethnic minority republics that have their own constitutions, languages, and legislature (but are represented in foreign affairs by Russia); and four okrugs-they basically they exist within Russia but are basically self governing and have the right to leave Russia if they wanted (now would Russia allow it who knows). Plus, PR is basically an independent state within the borders of the US. Thus, its not unheard of to have independent states within a larger governmental body, especially in federations.