Nevada is best known for Las Vegas, silver mines, and gambling. The state is located between California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. It is the 7th largest state by land mass but was the least populous state until the 1940s and today ranks as the 19th least populous state. Nearly three-quarters of the population of the state lives in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.
While Los Vegas is the biggest city, it is also continuing to grow quickly having tripled in population in the last three decades. While large, it has a relatively short history having grown from a tiny town in the 20th century to one of the most visited tourist destinations around the world. One reason for that growth was the legalization of gambling in 1931.
Las Vegas is also known as the marriage capital of the world because of the ease of getting a marriage license and the insignificant cost of weddings. This was a deliberate choice to promote tourism where roughly 150 weddings happen nearly every day in Clark County, Nevada. Nevada is also famous for its low tax structure, including no personal and corporate income taxes.
The driving force of Nevada’s economy is tourism, including large conventions, luxury resorts, and a wide range of shopping opportunities. Before gambling and tourism took over the economy, the main economic drive was gold and silver mining. Today, Nevada continues to be the No. 1 state in gold production and No. 2 in silver production.
The state is nearly covered in desert and semi-arid lands of the Mojave and Great Basin deserts. It’s considered one of the driest states in the country and receives less than 10 inches of rain each year. One of the most famous landmarks in Nevada and Arizona is Hoover Dam located on the Colorado River along the border of Arizona. Until 1948, it was the world’s largest hydroelectric power station and well-known as an incredible engineering feat constructed between 1931 and 1936.
For those interested in aliens, the infamous Area 51 is located in the Mojave Desert in a remote part of Southern Nevada and officially is an Air Force flight test center. The desert has also been an area where the U.S. military has tried out new weapons, including nuclear weapons.
Death Valley is another landmark that borders California and Nevada and is the lowest point in North America and the second-hottest place in the world. It’s highly recommended that you only traverse Death Valley using a 4×4 vehicle with an excess of drinking water. Finally, Lake Tahoe is known for its crystal clear water that looks more like the ocean than a lake. It’s one of the oldest lakes in the world and encompasses 194 square miles. It takes tourists three hours to drive around the lake non-stop.