Nevada is a state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 34th most populous, but the 9th least densely populated of the U.S. states. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas-Paradise metropolitan area where three of the state's four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada's capital, however, is Carson City.

Nevada is officially known as the "Silver State" because of the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the "Battle Born State", because it achieved statehood during the Civil War (the words "Battle Born" also appear on the state flag); as the "Sagebrush State", for the native plant of the same name; and as the "Sage-hen State".

Nevada is largely desert and semi-arid, much of it within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada lie on the western edge. About 86% of the state's land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U.S. federal government, both civilian and military.

Statehood	October 31st, 1864
Capital	Carson City
Official Flag
Approximate Size	Total: 110,622 sq mi (286,367 km2) Width: 322 miles (519 km) Length: 492 miles (787 km) % Water: 0.69
Highest Point	Boundary Peak (13,140ft or 4,005m)
Counties	17
Population	3,060,150 (2018)
Electoral Votes	6
State Quarter Issued	January 31st, 2006
Official Motto	All For Our Country and Battle Born
Official Flower	Sagebrush
Official Bird	Mountain Bluebird
Nickname	Sagebrush State, Silver State, Battle Born State
Area Code(s)	702, 775
Sports	Nevada is not well known for its professional sports teams, mainly because major league sports in the past feared having direct involvement with the sports gambling industry. However, this situation lessened after they embraced daily fantasy sports (DFS) in 2014. The Las Vegas Valley is home to the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League who began play in the 2017-18 NHL season at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The Golden Knights are the only major North American professional sports franchise in Nevada. They will be joined by the Oakland Raiders who at the start of the 2016 NFL season expressed interest in moving their team to Las Vegas, and announced in January 2017 they would do so in either 2019 or 2020. Nevada takes pride in college sports, most notably its college football. College teams in the state include the Nevada Wolf Pack (representing the University of Nevada, Reno) and the UNLV Rebels (representing the University of Nevada, Las Vegas), both in the Mountain West Conference (MW). NFL: Las Vegas Raiders NHL: Vegas Golden Knights WNBA: Las Vegas Acres
Area Facts	What is the climate like in Nevada? Nevada is the driest state in the United States. It is made up of mostly desert and semi-arid climate regions, and, with the exception of the Las Vegas Valley, the average summer diurnal temperature range approaches 104 °F (40 °C) in much of the state. While winters in northern Nevada are long and fairly cold, the winter season in the southern part of the state tends to be of short duration and mild. Most parts of Nevada receive scarce precipitation during the year. Most rain that falls in the state falls on the lee side (east and northeast slopes) of the Sierra Nevada. The average annual rainfall per year is about 7 inches (180 mm); the wettest parts get around 40 inches (1,000 mm). Nevada's highest recorded temperature is 125 °F (52 °C) at Laughlin on June 29, 1994 and the lowest recorded temperature is -50 °F (-46 °C) at San Jacinto on January 8, 1937. Nevada's 125 °F (52 °C) reading is the third highest statewide record high temperature of a U.S. state, just behind Arizona's 128 °F (53 °C) reading and California's 134 °F (57 °C) reading. What is entertainment like in Nevada? Resort areas like Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Laughlin attract visitors from around the nation and world. In FY08 the total of 266 casinos with gaming revenue over $1m for the year, brought in revenue of $12 billion in gaming revenue, and $13 billion in non-gaming revenue. A review of gaming statistics can be found at Nevada gaming area. Nevada has by far the most hotel rooms per capital in the United States. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, there were 187,301 rooms in 584 hotels (of 15 or more rooms). The state is ranked just below California, Texas, Florida, and New York in total number of rooms, but those states have much larger populations. Nevada has one hotel room for every 14 residents, far above the national average of one hotel room per 67 residents. Prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada in licensed brothels, but only counties with populations under 400,000 have the option to legalize it. Although prostitution is not a major part of the Nevada economy, employing roughly 300 women as independent contractors, it is a very visible endeavor. Of the 14 counties permitted to legalize prostitution under state law, 8 have chosen to legalize brothels. State law prohibits prostitution in Clark County (which contains Las Vegas), and Washoe County (which contains Reno). However, prostitution is legal in Storey County, which is part of the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area. What is agriculture like in Nevada? Nevada's agricultural outputs are cattle, hay, alfalfa, dairy products, onions, and potatoes. As of January 1, 2006, there were an estimated 500,000 head of cattle and 70,000 head of sheep in Nevada. Most of these animals forage on rangeland in the summer, with supplemental feed in the winter. Calves are generally shipped to out-of-state feedlots in the fall to be fattened for market. Over 90% of Nevada's 484,000 acres (196,000 ha) of cropland is used to grow hay, mostly alfalfa, for livestock feed.

Posted By Gremelin Posted on May 8th, 2014 · Updated on January 9th, 2019

Return to the Hardiness Zone Index