🎰Nevada

The Silver State · The Sagebrush State

Nevada is the driest and one of the most mountainous states — and the fastest-growing by percentage for most of the last 40 years. It was admitted to the Union during the Civil War, on Halloween 1864, so that the Lincoln administration could count its electoral votes and its anti-slavery delegation in Congress. Today its economy is dominated by Las Vegas tourism, gaming, and an expanding tech and logistics sector in the Reno-Tahoe area.

Battle Born

The Comstock Lode of silver and gold was discovered near Virginia City in 1859, drawing miners, gamblers, and entrepreneurs. Nevada Territory was created in 1861 and rushed to statehood in October 1864 — the shortest territorial period of any state — because President Lincoln wanted Nevada's electoral votes and anti-slavery representation in Congress for the 1864 election and the 13th Amendment. The state flag still reads "Battle Born."

Gambling Capital

Nevada legalized casino gambling in 1931, during the Great Depression, to raise revenue. Las Vegas — then a small railroad town — grew into the largest casino market in the world. The Las Vegas Strip, a stretch of hotels and casinos along a four-mile section of Las Vegas Boulevard, is actually located in the unincorporated township of Paradise. Most of the world's largest hotels by room count are on the Strip.

The Driest State

Nevada is the driest U.S. state, receiving an average of just 9 inches of precipitation per year. Most of it is high desert — the Great Basin — between the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Rockies to the east. The state contains more than 300 named mountain ranges, more than any other state, and its mean elevation of 5,500 feet is among the highest.

Hoover Dam and the West

The Hoover Dam, completed in 1936 across the Colorado River at the Arizona-Nevada border, was the largest concrete structure in the world when built. It created Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, and provided the hydroelectric power that made Las Vegas feasible. Nevada also hosts the Nevada Test Site, where the United States conducted most of its atmospheric and underground nuclear tests between 1951 and 1992.

Nevada Facts

• Area 51, the classified Air Force base at Groom Lake, is the most famous secret facility in the United States.
• Nevada produces about 80% of America's gold — even more than silver, despite its nickname.
• Burning Man, the annual temporary city in the Black Rock Desert, draws about 80,000 people each Labor Day week.
• Las Vegas hosts more conventions than any other U.S. city.
• Nevada is the only state where prostitution is legal in some counties (outside Las Vegas and Reno).

🗺️ Nearby States

Continue exploring neighboring states:

→ Browse all 50 states