Nevada is one of the fifty states that, together with Washington D.C., form the United States of America. Its capital is Carson City and its largest city is Las Vegas, famous for its casinos and the legalization of gambling. It is located in the western region of the country, in the Rocky Mountains division. It is bordered to the northwest by Oregon, to the northeast by Idaho, to the east by Utah, to the southeast by Arizona (part of this border is formed by the Colorado River) and to the west and southwest by California. With 286,351 km² it is the seventh largest state – behind Alaska, Texas, California, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona – and with 9.43 inhabitants/km² it is the ninth least densely populated, ahead of Nebraska, Idaho, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska, the least densely populated. It was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864, as the 36th state, in the midst of the Civil War; this has earned it the nickname The State Born in Battle.
Nevada has the highest population growth rates – 66.3% between 1990 and 2000 – in the entire United States, largely due to the large immigration of Mexicans. However, most of Nevada is almost unpopulated. The majority of the state’s population is concentrated in the urban centers of Las Vegas, Henderson and Reno. The first European explorers to explore the Nevada area were the Spanish, who gave it the name Nevada, because of the snow that covered the mountains in winter. It was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain until 1821, when Mexico became independent, and became part of Mexico. In 1848, with the end of the Mexican-American War, it became part of the United States.
During the 1870s, large silver deposits were found in Nevada, which earned it the nickname The Silver State. Today, mining still has some importance in its economy, although much less than in the past. In addition to silver, it is a major producer of gold, oil and sand. However, today the largest source of income is tourism (Las Vegas and Reno).
Etymology and pronunciation
The Spanish name «Nevada» was given to this territory by the Franciscan friar and Spanish explorer Francisco Garcés (1738-1781), the first non-native to set foot on this land in 1776, as it was bounded on its western edge by the Sierra Nevada mountain range («snow-capped mountains»).
Nevadans typically pronounce the second syllable of their state using the vowel /æ/ from «bad.» Many people outside the western states of the country pronounce it with the vowel /ɑː/ from «father» /nəˈvɑːdə/. Although the latter pronunciation is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, it is not preferred by local people. The local pronunciation is not [nəˈβɑdə], but [nəˈvædə]. In 2005, the Nevada Tourism Commission issued a special license plate listing the state name as Nevăda, to help with the pronunciation problem. Notably, George W. Bush made such a faux pas for his campaign for the 2004 United States presidential election. A later vindication came when President Bush campaigned at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on June 18, 2004. The president opened his speech by proclaiming that «It’s great to be here in Nevada /nəˈˈvædə/,» emphasizing the correct pronunciation of the letter A. The crowd gave its approval when he gleefully noted, «You didn’t think I’d get it right, did ya?» Bush subsequently won the state in the election.
Assemblyman Harry Mortenson has proposed a bill to recognize the alternate (quasi-Spanish) pronunciation of Nevada.
History
Introduction
Derived from the expeditions of Father Kino in the late 17th century through the north of present-day Mexico and the south of the United States, Nevada was explored and conquered by the Spanish Crown in the first two decades of the 18th century – although not fully colonized. It was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain until 1821, when it also became part of the First Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide and in 1823 of Mexico. Following the American Intervention in Mexico in 1847-48, and by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, Nevada became part of the United States of America. In 1850, the United States Congress established the Utah Territory, which included the present-day states of Utah, Idaho and Nevada. In 1859, important gold and silver deposits were discovered in the area, which brought numerous miners, merchants and other people to the region looking to get rich.
On March 2, 1861, Nevada separated from Utah Territory and adopted its present name, short for the Spanish name for «Sierra Nevada.» On October 31, 1864, Nevada became the 36th state in the union.
The state’s present boundaries were established on March 5, 1866, by absorbing part of Pah-Ute County into Arizona Territory, west of the Colorado River. The transfer was expedited after gold was discovered in the area and Nevada was deemed better suited to control the territory due to its increasing population.
Gambling was common in the mining towns of early Nevada but was outlawed in 1909 as a nationwide anti-gambling crusade began. The state legalized gambling again in 1931 due to the agricultural and mining crisis in the region. At the time, it was believed that legalization would last only a few years, just long enough to weather the crisis. However, there has never been any consideration of making gambling illegal again.
It is also worth noting that Nevada has been a major nuclear testing area for the past century, with restricted military zones for nuclear experiments and the well-known Army Air Base called «Area 51»
Until 1864
Native Americans lived in the region where the state of Nevada is now located thousands of years before the arrival of the first European explorers. All of the indigenous tribes living in the region were part of the Uto-Aztecan family. The first European explorer to explore the region was the Spaniard Francisco Garcés in 1776, having left New Mexico for California. At that time, Nevada was part of the Spanish colonies in the Americas. Except for a few trading posts for bartering with the local natives, no permanent settlements were established in the region for decades.
In 1821, with the independence of Mexico, Nevada came under Mexican control. However, the Mexicans had little interest in colonizing the region of present-day Nevada, due to its desert climate, which was not conducive to agriculture. Nevada continued to be inhabited only by local indigenous natives. During the 1820s, several British explorers, mostly traders under the command of the Hudson’s Bay Company, began to explore the lands of Nevada. In 1830, Joseph Walker set out from Santa Fe, Texas, heading for Los Angeles, California. During the journey, in the desert region of Nevada, he built a rudimentary road to better orient himself. This road was widely used during the California Gold Rush of 1848, which attracted thousands of American immigrants from the east of the country to the west.
In 1848, Mexico was defeated by the United States in the American Intervention in Mexico, which had begun in 1846. As a result, the entire region of Nevada became part of the United States. In 1850, the Utah Territory was established, which included central and northern Nevada. 6 The remainder was part of the New Mexico Territory, also established in 1850.
American settlers gradually settled in the Nevada region. The first American settlement in Nevada was Virginia City. The first urban settlements were established primarily to serve as a supply center for people from the eastern United States heading west. However, these supplies—food, clothing, weapons, and basic utensils—were very expensive, since they were usually purchased in California until the late 1860s. In 1859, large silver deposits were found in Virginia City, attracting numerous mining companies and thousands of people from California and the eastern United States. The region’s population grew from a few hundred in 1850 to 6,857 in 1860. In March 1861, the Nevada Territory was created, which at that time incorporated only the present-day regions of Nevada that had previously been part of the New Mexico Territory. In 1861, the Civil War broke out, dividing the country into two: the Union, which was the United States proper, and the rebellious Confederate States of America. The majority of Nevada’s population was in favor of the Union. Abraham Lincoln, the then president of the United States, wanted to pass a series of constitutional amendments to prohibit slavery in the country, which would require the approval of a majority of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The entry of a new state that actively supported the Union would be of great value. At that time, the Nevada territory had only one-fifth of the inhabitants necessary to become a state.
1864-1945
In 1866, the U.S. government divided the then New Mexico Territory (which included the present-day states of New Mexico and Arizona, as well as southern Nevada) into three. New Mexico Territory became only the eastern portion. The central portion became Arizona Territory, and its northwestern edge was annexed to Nevada, which acquired its present borders.
The discovery of the Comstock Lode (a huge vein of silver and gold) in 1859 attracted thousands of prospectors and established the state as a thriving mining center.14 Within a decade, Nevada’s population increased from 6,857 in 1860 to 42,491 in 1870. During the mid-1870s, however, the U.S. government imposed a cap on the use of silver in the U.S. economy, greatly decreasing demand for silver nationwide. In addition, the silver ore mined in the region was of low quality, as it was mixed with other chemical elements. Before restrictions on the use of silver in the country’s economy were implemented, silver prices were high, making it possible to purify the ore mined in the state. As a result, many mining companies went bankrupt, while others were forced to lay off hundreds of workers. The unemployment rate rose dramatically, and much of Nevada’s population left to seek employment in other states. Nevada’s population would gradually decline until the beginning of the 20th century, when ranching became the state’s main economic activity, although harsh winters and lack of adequate transportation infrastructure prevented rapid development.
In the 1900s, new mineral deposits were gradually discovered, including silver in Tonopah and gold in Goldfield. The silver ore mined in these mines was of a higher quality, and the purification costs were therefore lower. As a result, silver mining once again became an important source of income for Nevada. In addition to that, copper reserves were also discovered in Ely in 1900.16 However, the most important of these discoveries took place in 1902 and later in 1903, when large reserves of gold were found. The mining sector flourished again and construction began on various railroads to transport the ore mined in the state to other regions of the country, helping to develop urban commerce and ranching in Nevada. During the 1900s, Nevada passed a law that allowed anyone to get a divorce even if they had only lived in the state for six months, in order to attract more people to this sparsely populated region.
Gambling once again flourished after the recession of the early 20th century, helping to build the city of Las Vegas. In 1907, the federal government, in partnership with Nevada, completed Nevada’s Newlands Irrigation Project, the first large-scale artificial irrigation project undertaken by the U.S. government. This project consisted primarily of building dams across the Carson and Truckee Rivers, allowing for electricity generation and farming in Fallon.
In 1909, gambling was banned in Nevada, at a time when a national «crusade» against gambling was underway.18 Nevada had legalized gambling in 1869, but Nevadans themselves pressured the provincial government to ban the practice. Despite the ban, gambling continued illegally, and enforcement of these laws was too expensive.
The United States entered World War I in 1917. By then most of Nevada’s gold and silver reserves had been depleted, although there were still large deposits of copper, as well as tungsten and zinc, metals that were in high demand during the war. These reserves had been discovered in the mid-1910s, and numerous mines were opened to meet the demand. However, with the end of the war in 1918, demand and prices for minerals in general plummeted, leading to the closure of numerous mines and an economic recession.
In 1927, the Nevada government reduced the time required for a person to obtain a divorce from six to three months, and in 1931, to just six weeks, causing thousands of people to flock to the state to quickly obtain a divorce. In 1931, Nevada legalized gambling, largely because of an economy that had been severely weakened by the Great Depression—which sent the state’s agricultural sector into decline—and the mining recession of the 1920s.
In 1963, a four-decade-long legal dispute between Nevada, California and Arizona ended in the Supreme Court of the United States. The dispute was over the Colorado River’s water reserves, which are important for the supply of drinking water in Arizona and Nevada (which have a predominantly desert climate) and in the southwestern region of California (which also has a desert climate). The Supreme Court’s decision established a maximum quota for each state on the amount of drinking water extracted from the Colorado River each year. Priority was given to Arizona. In 1967, a provincial project was created to find new drinking water reserves for Las Vegas, which was then rapidly growing. It ended in 1983 with the inauguration of a large aqueduct bringing drinking water from Lake Mead.
Since the 1980s, Nevada’s economy has gradually become more diversified, and although tourism is still the largest source of income, the manufacturing and construction industries have also become important in the state’s economy. In 2002, President George W. Bush approved the creation of a nuclear waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain, an isolated federally owned area, prompting protests from state governments and environmentalists. However, the site is expected to be operational in 2010.
For years, residents of West Wendover, Nevada, and Wendover, Utah, neighboring towns in different states, have lobbied their respective state governments to merge, which would make Wendover, Utah, part of West Wendover, Nevada (which has nearly three times as many residents).24 The Nevada and Utah governments are currently discussing the merger, which will require the approval of the legislatures of both states and the endorsement of Congress.
Geography
Nevada is bordered to the north by Oregon and Idaho, to the west by California, to the southeast by Arizona, and to the east by Utah. The border with Arizona includes the Colorado River and the Hoover Dam. The state is crossed by several mountain ranges that run from north to south. Most of these ranges are divided into drainage valleys. The state’s territory covers an area of 286,352 km², which is comparable in size to that of Ecuador.
Most of the northern part of the state is within the Great Basin Desert, a cold desert that experiences warm temperatures in the summer and freezing temperatures in the winter. Moisture from the Arizona Monsoon occasionally causes summer thunderstorms, and Pacific storms often blanket the area with snow.
The Humboldt River flows east to west through northern Nevada and empties into the Humboldt Sink near Lovelock. Several rivers flow from the Sierra Nevada to the east, including the Walker, Truckee, and Carson rivers.
The mountain ranges (some of which have peaks exceeding 3,600 meters) are home to lush forests high above the desert plains. The valleys are often at altitudes of no less than 3,000 feet (900 meters). The eastern parts of the state receive more moisture in the summer and have somewhat greener terrain (that’s where Artemisia tridentata, the state flower, grows). There are a few rivers and streams here to break up the monotony of the desert landscape.
The southern third of the state, which includes the Las Vegas area, is in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It receives less precipitation in the winter, but is closer to the Arizona Monsoon in the summer. The terrain is lower, mostly below 4,000 feet (1,200 meters), which makes daytime temperatures in the summer very high and nighttime temperatures in the winter very low, due to the temperature inversion.
Nevada and California share the longest diagonal interstate border, at more than 400 miles (there are a few more diagonal borders, although much smaller, in the northeastern states and in Washington, D.C.). All other state boundaries are either meridian or parallel, or irregular and correspond to rivers, mountains, lakes, etc.
The largest mountain range in the southern part of the state is the Spring Mountains, located immediately west of Las Vegas. The lowest point in Nevada is along the course of the Colorado River, south of Laughlin.