(November 2015) The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat that is behind the mouth and nasal cavity and above the esophagus and the larynx, or the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs. The pharynx is an organ found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though the structure is not universally the same across all of those species.
People in the United States who are more than sixty years of age are commonly referred to as senior citizens or seniors. These terms refer to people whose stage in life is generally called old age, though there is no precise way to identify the final stage of a normal life span. People are said to be senior citizens when they reach the age of sixty or sixty-five because those are the ages at which most people retire from the workforce. U.S. law and society recognize the special needs of senior citizens. The most important aid to senior citizens is the Social Security program. More than twenty-five million Americans receive old-age benefits each month under federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, and those payments amount to almost $20 billion a year.
The second oldest state is Vermont, with a median age of 41.5. West Virginia's median is 41.3 and New Hampshire's is 41.1. Seven states have a median age of more than 40 years. Florida did have the highest percentage of senior citizens -- residents aged 65 or older -- at 17.3%. That was well above the national median of 13%. At 16%, West Virginia has the second highest percentage of senior citizens.