The United States of America is a country made up of 50 states located almost exclusively in North America, with Alaska northwest of Canada and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.

Major financial, cultural, and political centers include New York and Washington, D.C on the Atlantic Coast, Chicago in the Midwest, and L.A. and San Francisco on the Pacific Coast.

What's life like in the United States?

The United States is such a big and diverse country that it can be difficult to sum up one American life. Residents are offered every kind of lifestyle from sparsely-populated farming communities to inner-city sky-rise apartments and everything in between.

The culture in the United States is similarly varied with huge film, music, and entertainment industries, as well as hundreds of world-class national parks offering some of the best outdoor recreation on the planet.

People in the United States can be very different from each other. However, they do tend to be united in being patriotic and proud of calling themselves American. English is the primary language followed by Spanish and Chinese.

Work in the United States

The United States is a highly developed economic powerhouse that often comes out on top of rankings such as GDP, purchasing power, and importer and exporter by value. With one of the largest job markets, the United States is one of the best countries when it comes to wages, income, wealth, and career and job opportunities.

The United States economy is divided into three categories – the agricultural, manufacturing, and service sectors. While agriculture and manufacturing dominated for most of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the service industry now makes up the majority of the economy.

The largest industries in the United States are real estate, government, and finance and insurance, followed by healthcare, manufacturing, and retail.

Major Attractions of the United States

Here are some of the top attractions that make the United States a great place to live and work:

• Grand Canyon National Park: One of the wonders of the natural world, located in Arizona, and host to more than 6 million visitors every year.
• Statue of Liberty National Monument: A gift to the country from France in the late 1800s, this iconic statue is located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
• Yellowstone National Park: The first national park in the world is located in the wilderness of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and showcases some of the world's most impressive landscapes, flora and fauna, as well as geothermal features.
• Yosemite National Park: Located in Central California, the 750,000-acre park is home to some of the most iconic mountains in the country, including Half Dome and El Capitan, as well as towering sequoia trees.
• Golden Gate Bridge: First opened in 1937, this iconic art deco bridge linking San Francisco to Marin County has become one of the most famous bridges in the world.

Pros and Cons of Living in the United States

Pros:

• Huge diversity – The United States is home to a huge diversity of nationalities, races, languages, and religions, bringing cultures together from all over the world.
• Plenty of opportunities – Americans believe that anyone willing to work hard can be successful, and the economy offers plenty of high-quality, high-paying work.
• Quality of life – While this varies greatly within the country, the quality of life in America is higher than in many other countries in the world.

Cons:

• Healthcare – The United States has a reputation for having one of the worst healthcare systems in developed countries and without insurance, it can be incredibly expensive.
• Education – While there are some of the best universities in the world in America, the inner-city public schools often rank lower than many other developed nations.
• Wealth gap – The United States has a very wide wealth gap and it can be difficult to get out of poverty or the lower working class.