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: This article is about the U. S. state of Nevada. For other places, see Nevada (disambiguation). Nevada is a state located in the western United States, best known for its widespread legalization of gambling and gaming industry. Nevada's nickname is "The Silver State" or "The Sagebrush State", and the state's motto is "All for Our Country". "Home Means Nevada" by Bertha Rafetto is the state song. The phrase "Battle Born" is on the state flag; "The Battle Born State" is the official state slogan, as Nevada was admitted into the union during the American Civil War. Although the name is derived from the Spanish word nevada meaning "snowy", and Las Vegas "The Meadows" the local pronunciation of the state's name is not , but . In 2005, the state issued a specialty license plate via the Nevada Commission on Tourism that lists the name of the state as Nevăda to help with the pronunciation problem. Geography The state is broken up by several north-south mountain ranges. Most of those ranges have inland-draining valleys between them, which belies the image portrayed by the term Great Basin. Much of the northern part of the state is within the Great Basin Desert, a colder desert that experiences hot temperatures in the summer and sub-freezing temperatures in the winter. Occasionally, moisture from the Arizona Monsoon will cause summer thunderstorms; Pacific storms may blanket the area with snow. The Humboldt River crosses from east to west across the northern part of the state, draining into the Humboldt Sink near Lovelock. Several rivers drain from the Sierra Nevada eastward, including the Walker, Truckee and Carson rivers. The mountain ranges, some of which have peaks above 12,000 feet, harbor lush forests high above desert plains, creating sky islands for endemic species. The valleys are often no lower in elevation than 3,000 feet. The eastern parts of the state receive more summer moisture and have a slightly more verdant terrain. Sagebrush grows and some rivers and streams break the desert terrain. The southern third of the state, including the Las Vegas area, is within the Mojave Desert. The area receives less precipitation in the winter, but is closer to the Arizona Monsoon in the summer. The terrain is also lower, mostly below 4,000 feet, creating conditions for hotter summer days and colder winter nights due to inversion. Nevada and California have by far the longest diagonal line as a state boundary at just over 400 miles. (There are a very few, much smaller diagonal boundaries in the northeastern states and Washington, D.C., with the longer exceptions not being at such a steep angle.) All other state boundaries, but one, are lines of latitude, longitude, or are irregular and based on rivers, mountains, lakes, etc. (A circular border exists between Delaware and Pennsylvania.) This line begins in Lake Tahoe nearly four miles offshore (in the direction of the boundary), and continues to the Colorado River where the Nevada, California, and Arizona boundaries merge 12 miles southwest of the Laughlin (Nevada) Bridge. The largest mountain range in the southern state is the Spring Mountains, just west of Las Vegas. The state's lowest point is along the Colorado River, south of Laughlin. Some have suggested that Nevada annex the town of Wendover, Utah, which would be merged with West Wendover, Nevada. This deal will require the permission of both the Nevada and Utah legislatures and the U.S. Congress. Areas maintained by the National Park Service include: Adjacent states History
Statehood On March 2, 1861, the Nevada Territory separated from the Utah territory and adopted its current name, shortened from Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy range"). Eight days prior to the presidential election of 1864, Nevada became the 36th state in the union. Statehood was rushed to the date of October 31 to help ensure Abraham Lincoln's reelection and post-Civil War Republican dominance in congress. As Nevada's mining-based economy tied it to the more industrialized Union, it was viewed as more politically reliable than other Confederate-sympathizing states such as neighboring California. Additionally, the immense amounts of silver that were being mined out of the Comstock Lode helped finance the war. Nevada achieved its current boundaries on May 5, 1866 when it absorbed the portion of Pah-Ute County in the Arizona Territory west of the Colorado River. The transfer was prompted by the discovery of gold in the area, and it was thought by officials that Nevada would be better able to oversee the expected population boom. This area includes most of what is now Clark County, Nevada. Industry Mining shaped Nevada's economy for many years. Although, in the late 19th century, Nevada found it increasingly more difficult to compete with states such as Colorado and Utah in the mining industry. There was even talk of stripping away statehood, the only time in American history such an action was discussed in Congress. However, the rich silver strike at Tonopah in 1900 is thought to have saved the state from near collapse. This was followed by strikes in Goldfield and Rhyolite, lasting well into the 1910s and making Nevada a dominant player in mining once again. Gambling and labor
Homesteading Over 87% of the state today is owned by the Federal Government. The primary reason for this is that homesteads were not permitted in large enough sizes to be viable in the arid conditions that prevail throughout desert Nevada. Instead, early settlers would homestead land surrounding a water source, and then graze livestock on the adjacent public land, which is useless for agriculture without access to water (this pattern of ranching still prevails). The deficiencies in the Homestead Act as applied to Nevada were probably due to a lack of understanding of the Nevada environment, although some firebrands (so-called "Sagebrush Rebels") maintain that it was due to pressure from mining interests to keep land out of the hands of common folk. This debate continues to be argued among some state historians today. Demographics
Religion The religious affiliations of the people of Nevada are: Economy
Transportation Interstate 15 passes through the southern tip of the state, serving Las Vegas and other communities. It has spur routes I-215 and I-515. Interstate 80 crosses through the northern part of Nevada, reaching from Utah in the east and passing westward through Reno and into California. It has a spur route, I-580. Nevada also is served by several federal highways: US-6, US-50, US-93, US-95 and US-395. There are also 189 Nevada State Highways. Nevada is one of a few states in the U.S. that does not have a continuous Interstate highway linking its major poulation cores: Reno, Carson City, and Las Vegas. The state is one of just a few in the country that allow semi-trailer trucks with three trailers—what might be called a "road train" in Australia. However, American versions are usually smaller, in part because they must ascend and descend some fairly steep mountain passes. Union Pacific Railroad has some railroads in the north and in the south (map). Amtrak's California Zephyr uses one of the northern branches in a daily service from Chicago to Emeryville, California serving Elko, Winnemucca, Sparks, and Reno. * BNSF Railway has trackage rights to the Union Pacific lines in the north. Amtrak provides bus services from Las Vegas to Needles, California and Los Angeles (*). Greyhound Lines also provides some bus services. Las Vegas has a bus network and a monorail system that is being extended. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is one of the busiest airports in the United States. The Reno-Tahoe International Airport (formerly known as the Reno Cannon International Airport) is the other major airport in the state. The city of Elko also has an airport with regular commercial service. There are also bus services in Reno/Sparks, and from there to Carson City. Some counties do not have public transport at all, for example Eureka County. Law and government Nevada's governor is Kenny Guinn (Republican). Nevada's two U.S. senators are Harry Reid (Democrat) and John Ensign (Republican). Legislature
Judiciary Nevada is one of the few U.S. states without a system of intermediate appellate courts. It has a state supreme court, the Supreme Court of Nevada, which hears all appeals. The court lacks the power of discretionary review, so Nevada's judicial system is extremely congested. Original jurisdiction is divided between the District Courts (with general jurisdiction), and Justice Courts and Municipal Courts (both of limited jurisdiction). Libertarian laws
Politics Due to the tremendous growth of Las Vegas in recent years, there is a noticeable divide between politics of northern and southern Nevada. The north has long maintained control of key positions in the state government even while the population of the Las Vegas area is larger than the rest of the state. This has fostered resentment as the north sees the south as a potential bully of majority rule and the south sees the north as the "old guard" trying to rule as an oligarchy. Most people outside the state are not familiar with this rivalry. The state is not dominated by either major political party. Republicans won Nevada three times in the 1980's. Democrat Bill Clinton won the state in the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections and Republican George Bush won Nevada in 2000 and 2004. In 2004, George Bush narrowly won the state's 5 electoral votes by a margin of 2 percentage points with 50.5% of the vote. Las Vegas' Clark County, which contains the vast majority of the state's population, was the only county to vote Democratic, however results show that all but five of Nevada's counties, including Clark and Washoe counties, the two largest in the state, are trending Democratic. U.S. Senators John Ensign (R) Harry Reid (D) Important cities and towns | |- |valign=top| Note: table was compiled using Nevada State estimates from 2004 for population and Census 2000 for area and density 10 richest places in Nevada Ranked by per capita income Colleges and universities Professional sports teams Miscellaneous topics Nevada's nickname is "The Silver State" or "The Sagebrush State", and the state's motto is "All for Our Country". "Home Means Nevada" by Bertha Rafetto is the state song. The phrase "Battle Born" is on the state flag; "The Battle Born State" is the official state slogan, as Nevada was admitted into the union during the American Civil War. Although the name is derived from the Spanish word nevada meaning "snowy", the local pronunciation of the state's name is not , but . Residents often regard the pronunciation as a test of whether visitors such as presidential candidates, have informed themselves about the state. In 2005, the state issued a new series of license plates that list the name of the state as Nevăda to help with the pronunciation problem. Several United States Navy ships have been named USS ''Nevada'' in honor of the state. Nevada is the only state with legalized prostitution. Nevada is home to Nellis Air Force Base, a major testing and training base of the United States Air Force. Nellis is reputedly the home of Area 51, a top-secret installation of which the U.S. federal government has always denied existence. Area 51 is supposedly located in Groom Lake. The paranormal radio talk show host Art Bell formerly lived in Pahrump, Nevada. In Finnish language there is a very well known concept "Huitsin Nevada", which refers to some far away place in spoken language (in a same way as a saying "from here to Timbuktoo"). The origin and history of the saying is unknown. "Nevada" refers to the name of this US state and "Huitsin" is a slang word meaning "very" or "utter". State symbols
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