Geography

Climate

Bordering states

• Utah—East
• Arizona—Southeast
• California—West
• Oregon—North
• Idaho—North

  History

  Before 1861

  See History of Utah (beginning 12,000 BCE), History of Las Vegas, and the discovery of the first major U.S. deposit of silver ore in Comstock Lode under Virginia City, Nevada in 1859.

  Statehood

  On March 2, 1861, the Nevada Territory separated from the Utah Territory and adopted its current name, shortened from Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy range"). Eight days prior to the presidential election of 1864, Nevada became the 36th state in the union. Statehood was rushed to the date of October 31 to help ensure Abraham Lincoln's reelection on 8 November and post-Civil War Republican dominance in Congress. As Nevada's mining-based economy tied it to the more industrialized Union, it was viewed as more politically reliable than other Confederate-sympathizing states such as neighboring California.
     Nevada achieved its current boundaries on May 5, 1866 when it absorbed the portion of Pah-Ute County in the Arizona Territory west of the Colorado River, essentially all of present day Nevada south of the 37th parallel. The transfer was prompted by the discovery of gold in the area, and it was thought by officials that Nevada would be better able to oversee the expected population boom. This area includes most of what is now Clark County.

  Industry

  Mining shaped Nevada's economy for many years (see Silver mining in Nevada). When Mark Twain lived in Nevada during the period described in Roughing It, mining had lead to an industry of speculation and immense wealth. However, both mining and population declined in the late 19th century. However, the rich silver strike at Tonopah in 1900, followed by strikes in Goldfield and Rhyolite, again put Nevada's population on an upward trend.

  Gaming and labor

  Unregulated gambling was common place in the early Nevada mining towns but outlawed in 1909 as part of a nation-wide anti-gaming crusade. Due to subsequent declines in mining output and the decline of the agricultural sector during the Great Depression, Nevada re-legalized gambling on March 19, 1931, with approval from the legislature. At the time, the leading proponents of gambling expected that it would be a short term fix until the state's economic base widened to include less cyclical industries. However, re-outlawing gambling has never been seriously considered since, and the industry has become Nevada's primary source of revenue today.
     The Hoover Dam, located outside Las Vegas near Boulder City, was constructed between 1932–1935. Thousands of workers from across the country came to build the dam, and providing for their needs in turn required many more workers. The boom in population is likely to have fueled the relegalization of gambling, alike present-day industry. Both Hoover Dam and later war industries such as the Basic Magnesium Plant first started the growth of the southern area of the state near Las Vegas. Over the last 75 years, Clark County has grown in relation to the Reno area, and today encompasses most of the state's population.

  Nuclear Testing

  The Nevada Test Site, Northwest of the City of Las Vegas, was founded on January 11, 1951 for the testing of nuclear weapons. The site is composed of approximately of desert and mountainous terrain. Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with a one-kiloton of TNT (4 terajoule) bomb dropped on Frenchman Flats on January 27, 1951. The last atmospheric test was conducted on July 17, 1962 and the underground testing of weapons continued until September 23, 1992. The location is known for the highest amount of concentrated nuclear detonated weapons in the U.S.
     Over 80% of the state's area is owned by the federal government. The primary reason for this is that homesteads were not permitted in large enough sizes to be viable in the arid conditions that prevail throughout desert Nevada. Instead, early settlers would homestead land surrounding a water source, and then graze livestock on the adjacent public land, which is useless for agriculture without access to water (this pattern of ranching still prevails). The deficiencies in the Homestead Act as applied to Nevada were probably due to a lack of understanding of the Nevada environment, although some firebrands (so-called "Sagebrush Rebels") maintain that it was due to pressure from mining interests to keep land out of the hands of common folk. This debate continues to be argued among some state historians today.

  Demographics

  According to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimate, Nevada has an estimated population of 2,495,529, which is an increase of 92,909, or 3.5%, from the prior year and an increase of 516,550, or 20.8%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 81,661 people (that is 170,451 births minus 88,790 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 337,043 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 66,098 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 270,945 people. According to the 2006 census estimate, Nevada is the country's second-fastest growing state.
     The center of population of Nevada is located in southern Nye County (External Link). According to the census estimates the racial distributions were as follows: 65% White American, 7.1% African-American, 6% Asian-American, 2% others and the remaining 20% were Hispanics or Latino's of any race. Nevada also has a sizable Basque ancestry population. In Clark and Pershing Counties, a plurality of residents are of Mexican ancestry; Nye County and Humboldt County have a plurality of German Americans.
     According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 16.19% of the population aged 5 and over speak Spanish at home, while 1.59% speak Filipino (External Link).
     6.8% of its population were reported as under 5, 26.3% under 18, and 13.6% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population. As a result of its rapid population growth, Nevada has a higher percentage of residents born outside of the state than any other state.
     From about the 1940s to 2003, Nevada was the fastest growing state in the country percentage-wise. Between 1990 and 2000, Nevada's population increased 66.3%, while the USA's population increased 13.1%. Over two thirds of the population of the state live in the fast-growing Las Vegas metropolitan area. If Congress were reapportioned using 2005 data, Nevada would gain a representative seat, for a total of 4.

  Religion

  The religious affiliations of the people of Nevada are:
  
  • Roman Catholic – 27%
  • Protestant – 11%
    • Baptist – 10%
    • Methodist – 6%
    • Other Protestant – 11%
  • Latter-day Saint/ Mormon – 11%
• Muslim – 2%
• Jewish – 1%
• Other Religions – 1%
• Non-Religious – 20%

Economy

The Bureau of Economic Analysis

no personal income tax

Transportation

RTC RIDE

Carson City's JAC

Law and government

Legislature

Judiciary

Libertarian laws

Divorce laws

Tax laws

(External Link)

Incorporation laws

Financial institutions

Drug laws

Smoking

Politics

State departments and agencies

Important Cities and Towns

Note: table was compiled using Nevada State estimates from 2004 for population and Census 2000 for area and density