Living in the United States

The United States is the world’s third or fourth largest nation by total area.
The continental United States stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and from Canada to Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. Alaska is the largest state in area. Separated by Canada, it touches the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Hawaii occupies an archipelago in the Pacific, southwest of North America.
Because of the United States' large size and wide range of geographic features, nearly every type of climate is represented.

The climate is temperate in most areas, tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida, polar in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the meridian, desert in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and arid in the Great Basin.
Extreme weather is not uncommon—the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes and most of the world's tornadoes occur within the continental United States.
However, the predominantly temperate climate, infrequent severe drought in the major arable regions, and infrequent severe flooding has helped make the nation a world leader in agriculture.

Mainstream American culinary arts are similar to those in other Western countries.
Wheat is the primary cereal grain.
Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, White-tailed deer venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by Native Americans and early European settlers.
Slow-cooked pork and beef barbeque, crab cakes, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles.

Soul food, developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere.
Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana Creole, Cajun, and Tex-Mex are regionally important. Fried chicken, which combines Scottish and African American culinary traditions, is a national favorite.
Iconic American dishes such as apple pie, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various European immigrants. So-called French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.

Education in the United States is provided mainly by government, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state and local.
School attendance is mandatory and nearly universal at the elementary and high school levels (often known outside the United States as the primary and secondary levels). At these levels, school curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through locally elected school boards with jurisdiction over school districts. School districts are usually separate from other local jurisdictions, with independent officials and budgets.

The age for beginning school is mandated by state law and therefore varies slightly from state to state, but in general children are required to begin school with a one-year Kindergarten class during the year in which they turn 4 or 5. They are required to continue attending school until the age of 16 to 18, depending on the state, with a growing number of states now requiring school attendance until the age of 18. Some states have exemptions for those 14-18.

There are ten official holidays in America:

For more information contact Michael Page.

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