Facts and Figures
Area, 110,540 sq mi (286,299 sq km). Pop. (2000) 1,998,257, a 66.3% increase since the 1990 census. Capital, Carson City. Largest city, Las Vegas. Statehood, Oct. 31, 1864 (36th state). Highest pt., Boundary Peak, 13,143 ft (4,009 m); lowest pt., Colorado River, 470 ft (143 m). Nickname, Silver State. Motto, All for Our Country. State bird, mountain bluebird. State flower, sagebrush. State tree, single-leaf piñon. Abbr. Nev.; NV
Geography
Most of Nevada lies within the Great Basin Great Basin, semiarid, N section of the Basin and Range province, the intermontane plateau region of W United States and N Mexico. Lying mostly in Nevada and extending into California, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah, it is bordered by the Sierra Nevada on the west, the
..... Click the link for more information. of the Basin and Range region of North America. The rivers in the southeast belong to the Colorado River system, while those of the extreme north drain into the Snake. Like the Humboldt, most Nevada rivers go nowhere, ending instead in desolate alkali sinks—except where they have been diverted for irrigation and reclamation, as by the Humboldt project, the Newlands project, and the Truckee River storage project.
The alkali sinks and arid stretches clothed with sagebrush and creosote bush typify Nevada's landscape. Its mountain chains generally run north and south, further segmenting the state. On the California border stand the lofty Sierra Nevada [snowy range]. In the driest state in the nation, days and nights are generally clear. The mean elevation is c.5,500 ft (1,676 m). In the north and west winters reach extreme cold, while in parts of the south the summers approach ovenlike heat.
Carson City Carson City, city (1990 pop. 40,443), state capital, W Nev., in the Eagle valley; inc. 1875. The city is a trade center for a mining and agricultural area. State government is the major employer, and tourism is economically important.
..... Click the link for more information. is the capital; Las Vegas Las Vegas , city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States.
..... Click the link for more information. is the largest city, and Reno Reno , city (1990 pop. 133,850), seat of Washoe co., W Nev., on the Truckee River; inc. 1903. Tourism has been the major industry since gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931.
..... Click the link for more information. the second largest. Outside the cities, visitors are attracted to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, with its facilities for fishing, swimming, and boating; Lake Tahoe and Death Valley National Park, both on the California line; Lehman Caves National Monument; Great Basin National Park; and restored mining ghost towns like Virginia City.
Economy
Many of the high plateau areas are excellent for grazing, and cattle and sheep raising are important industries. Because of the prevailing dryness and the steep slopes, agriculture is not highly developed, but is devoted mainly to growing hay and other feed for cattle; however, potatoes, onions, and some other crops are also cultivated.
Nevada's riches do not grow from its land; rather, almost incredible wealth lies below its surface. Although copper mining is now much less dominant than before, Nevada is the nation's leading producer of gold, silver, and mercury. Petroleum, diatomite, and other minerals are also extracted. The state's manufactures include gaming machines and products, aerospace equipment, lawn and garden irrigation devices, and seismic monitoring equipment. Warehousing and trucking are also significant Nevada industries.
Nevada's economy, however, is overwhelmingly based on tourism, especially the gambling (legalized in 1931) and resort industries centered in Las Vegas and, to a lesser extent, Reno and Lake Tahoe. Gambling taxes are a primary source of state revenue. The service sector employs about half of Nevada's workers. Liberal divorce laws made Reno "the divorce capital of the world" for many years, but similar laws enacted in other states ended this distinction. Much of Nevada (almost 80% of whose land is federally owned) is given over to military and related use. Nellis Air Force Base and the Nevada Test Site have been the scene of much nuclear and aircraft testing; Yucca Mountain is slated to be the primary depository for U.S. nuclear wastes.
Government and Higher Education
Nevada's constitution was adopted in 1864. The legislature is composed of 21 senators and 42 assembly members. The governor is elected for a four-year term; Bob Miller, a Democrat in office since 1989, was succeeded by Republican Kenny Guinn, elected in 1998 and reelected in 2002. Another Republican, Jim Gibbons, was elected governor in 2006. The state elects two U.S. senators and two representatives and has four electoral votes. Nevada's leading institution of higher education is the Univ. of Nevada, at Reno and at Las Vegas.
History
Early Exploration
In the 1770s several Spanish explorers came near the area of present-day Nevada but it was not until half a century later that fur traders venturing into the Rocky Mts. publicized the region. Jedediah S. Smith came across S Nevada on his way to California in 1827. The following year Peter Skene Ogden, a Hudson's Bay Company man trading out of the Oregon country, entered NE Nevada. Joseph Walker in 1833–34 followed the Humboldt R. and crossed the Sierra Nevada to California.
Later many wagon trains crossed Nevada on the way to California, especially during and after the gold rush of 1849. Travelers going to California over the Old Spanish Trail also crossed S Nevada, and Las Vegas became a station on the route. Guided by Kit Carson, John C. Frémont had explored much of the state between 1843 and 1845, and his reports gave the federal government its first comprehensive information on the area, which the United States acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War Mexican War, 1846–48, armed conflict between the United States and Mexico.
Causes
While the immediate cause of the war was the U.S. annexation of Texas (Dec., 1845), other factors had disturbed peaceful relations between the two republics.
..... Click the link for more information. . These accounts may have aided Brigham Young when he was shepherding the Mormons west to build a new home in the mountains and valleys of Utah.
The Lure of Minerals
When in 1850 the federal government set up the Utah Territory, almost all of Nevada was included except the southern tip, which was then part of New Mexico. Non-Mormons had been averse to settling in Mormon-dominated territory, but after gold was found in 1859 non-Mormons did come into the area. A rush from California began and multiplied manyfold as news of the Comstock Lode Comstock Lode, richest known U.S. silver deposit, W Nevada, on Mt. Davidson in the Virginia Range. It is said to have been discovered in 1857 by Ethan Allen Grosh and Hosea Ballou Grosh, sons of a Pennsylvania minister and veterans of the California gold fields who
..... Click the link for more information. silver strike spread. Most of the newcomers preferred to consider themselves as still being within California, and a political question was added to the general upheaval. Meanwhile, miners came helter-skelter, raising camps that grew overnight into such booming and raucous places as Virginia City.
Partly to impose order on the lawless, wide-open mining towns, Congress made Nevada into a territory in 1861 as migrant prospectors and settlers poured in. The territory was then enlarged by increasing its eastern boundary by one degree of longitude in 1862. It was rushed into statehood in 1864, with Carson City as its capital. President Lincoln (in order to get more votes to pass the Thirteenth Amendment) had signed the proclamation even though the territory did not actually meet the population requirement for statehood.
In 1866 Nevada acquired its present-day boundaries when the southern tip was added and more eastern land was gained from Utah. Communications with the East, which had been briefly maintained by the Pony Express, were firmly established by the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. The state continued to be dependent on its precious ores, and its fate was affected by new strikes such as the "big bonanza" (1873), which enriched the silver kings, J. W. Mackay and J. G. Fair, and the discoveries of silver deposits at Tonopah (1900), of copper at Ely, and of gold at Goldfield (1902).
Resting on such an undiversified base, the economy was seriously shaken by mining depressions and by fluctuations in the market prices of the minerals. Naturally the political leaders of Nevada were vociferous in favor of the free coinage of silver. From the 1870s to the 1890s the people of Nevada were strong supporters of the "cheap money" advocates and were thus linked with the discontented farmers of the Midwest in favoring the Bland-Allison Act and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (although both were considered insufficient measures). They enthusiastically endorsed the silver program of William Jennings Bryan and the Democrats in 1896, and even after its resounding defeat they continued to clamor for government purchase and coinage of silver.
The Federal Government and Population Growth
In the 20th cent. the federal government has played a major role in Nevada's development. Some federal works, like the Newlands Irrigation Project (1907)—the nation's first federal irrigation project—and the Hoover Dam Hoover Dam, 726 ft (221 m) high and 1,244 ft (379 m) long, on the Colorado River between Nev. and Ariz.; one of the world's largest dams. Built between 1931 and 1936 by the U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. (completed in 1936), have been generally welcomed. Others have aroused opposition. The Atomic Energy Commission began conducting nuclear tests in Nevada at Frenchman Flat and Yucca Flat in the 1950s. In 1987 the Department of Energy chose Yucca Mountain for the storage of high-level nuclear wastes; the state has continued to fight that decision. Federal activities in general gave impetus to the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion, which demanded that the U.S. government give Nevada lands "back" to Nevadans.
Nevada's population, sparse since the time when the Paiute and other tribes eked out a meager living from the land and animals, increased by more than 1200% between 1950 and 2000. One of the fastest-growing U.S. states (and many years the fastest-growing), Nevada is increasingly home to retirees and to workers in new, especially technological, industries.
Bibliography
See R. R. Elliott, History of Nevada (1973); R. G. Lillard, Desert Challenge: An Interpretation of Nevada (1942, repr. 1979); H. H. Bancroft, History of Nevada, 1540–1888 (1982); H. S. Carlson, Nevada Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary (1985); R. R. Elliott and W. D. Rowley, History of Nevada (1987); D. Thomson, In Nevada (1999).
Nevada
State (pop., 2000: 1,998,257), western U.S. Bordered by Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and California, it covers 110,567 sq mi (286,368 sq km); its capital is Carson City. The Black Rock Desert is in the northwest; the Colorado River forms its extreme southeastern boundary. Human settlement in the area has spanned more than 20,000 years, and evidence of prehistoric inhabitants include dwelling remains and rock art. Early inhabitants included the Shoshone and Paiute Indians. Spanish missionaries in the 18th century and fur traders in the 1820s arrived before major exploration and mapping were done by John C. Frémont and Kit Carson (1843–45). Nevada was part of the land ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848 and was included in the Utah Territory (1850–61). Settlements increased after the discovery of the Comstock Lode, a rich silver deposit, at Virginia City in 1859. It became the Territory of Nevada in 1861 and the 36th U.S. state in 1864. It began its transition to a modern economy during the Great Depression when gambling was legalized. Construction of the Hoover Dam aided the economy of southern Nevada. In the 1950s the state became the main testing site for atomic-energy experiments. The traditional bases of its economy, mining and agriculture, are overshadowed by government activity and tourism, the latter centred on Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe.
Nevada
nevada [nə′väd·ə]
www.nv.gov
Area (sq mi): 110560.71 (land 109825.99; water 734.71). Pop per sq mi: 22.00.
Pop 2005: 2,414,807. State rank: 0. Pop change: 2000-20005 20.80%; 1990-2000 66.30%. Pop 2000: 1,998,257 (White 65.20%; Black or African American 6.80%; Hispanic or Latino 19.70%; Asian 4.50%; Other 13.50%). Foreign born: 15.80%. Median age: 35.00.
Income 2000: per capita $21,989; median household $44,581; Pop below poverty level: 10.50%. *Personal per capita income 2000-2003: $30,437-$31,910.
Unemployment 2004: 4.60%. Change from 2000: 0.10%. Median travel time to work: 23.30 minutes. Working outside county of residence: 5.20%.
List of Nevada counties:
- US National Parks
- State Parks
- National Wildlife Refuges
- National Scenic Byways
- National Forests
Thirty-sixth state; admitted on October 31, 1864
Nevada Day is a legal holiday throughout the state observed the last Friday in October, but the most festive celebrations take place in Carson City, where the Admission Day parade has been held since 1938. There are historical Indian pageants, a costume ball, a Miss Nevada crowning, dancing, picnicking, games, and other events. Students have entered a historical essay contest since 1959, and the winners are awarded during the festivities.
State capital: Carson City Nicknames: Silver State; Sagebrush State; Battle-Born State State motto: All for Our Country State animal: Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) State artifact: Tule duck State bird: Mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) State colors: Silver and blue State fish: Lahontan cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki henshawi) State flower: Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) State fossil: Ichthyosaur (Shonisaurus) State grass: Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides) State metal: Silver State precious gemstone: Virgin Valley Black Fire opal State reptile: Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) State rock: Sandstone State semi-precious gemstone: Turquoise State soil: Orovada series State song: “Home Means Nevada” State trees: Single-leaf piñon (Pinus monophylla) and Bristle
cone pine (Pinus aristata)
More about state symbols at:
www.leg.state.nv.us/General/FACTS.cfm
dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/nsla/services/nvfacts.htm
SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 743
AnnivHol-2000, p. 180
DictDays-1988, p. 81
STATE OFFICES:
State web site:
www.nv.gov
Office of the Governor
101 N Carson St
Carson City, NV 89701
775-684-5670
fax: 775-684-5683
gov.state.nv.us
Secretary of State
101 N Carson St
Suite 3
Carson City, NV 89701
775-684-5708
fax: 775-684-5725 sos.state.nv.us
Nevada State Library & Archives 100 N Stewart St Carson City, NV 89701 775-684-3360 fax: 775-684-3330 dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/nsla
Legal Holidays:
| Family Day | Nov 25, 2011; Nov 23, 2012; Nov 29, 2013; Nov 28, 2014; Nov 27, 2015 |
| Nevada Day | Oct 28, 2011; Oct 26, 2012; Oct 25, 2013; Oct 31, 2014; Oct 30, 2015 |
Nevada
a state in the western USA. Area, 286,300 sq km; population, 489,000 (1970), of which 81 percent is urban. The capital is Carson City, and the most important cities are Las Vegas and Reno.
Most of the state lies in a mountainous area known as the Great Basin, which has no outflow. To the west are the spurs of the Sierra Nevada. The climate is continental and arid. The average January temperature in the lower elevations ranges from 0° to 2°C, and in July from 20° to 22°C. Annual precipitation amounts to about 200 mm (less than 100 mm in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada). The rivers have little water, and most of them dry up; the Colorado River is in the southeast. Vegetation is semidesert and desert.
Nevada is one of the least economically developed states in the USA, and it is the second least densely populated after Alaska. The mining industry is important (with some 4,000 employees). Nevada ranks second in the USA in the mining of gold (17,900 kg in 1970) and fifth in the mining of copper. Silver, tungsten, iron, manganese, molybdenum, polymetallic ores, and barite are also mined. Manufacturing is not very developed (with 8,000 employees in 1971). There are nonferrous metallurgical plants, small-scale enterprises of the food-processing, printing, and other industries. Hoover Dam, with its large hydroelectric power plant, is located in the southern part of the state, on the Colorado River. In 1972 the rated capacity of electric power plants amounted to 3.4 million kilowatts. The principal branch of agriculture is extensive livestock raising. In early 1972 there were 658,000 head of cattle and 204,000 head of sheep. Alfalfa, wheat, barley, and other crops are raised on irrigated land. Tourism is well developed.
IU. A. KOLOSOVA
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