Nevada

Nevada was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864, as the thirty-sixth state. It is nestled between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas in the western United States, bordered by Utah , Arizona , California , Oregon , and Idaho . Nevada is the seventh largest state in America, with a total area of 110,561 square miles (286,352 square kilometers).

Nevada has been home to four Native American tribes: Southern Paiute, Northern Paiute, Shoshoni, and Washo. The first white explorer to visit the state is believed to have been a Spanish priest named Francisco Garces (1738–1781), in 1776. The first permanent white settlement was founded in 1851.

Nevada's economy depended on silver and gold mining throughout the 1800s until the late 1870s. At that time, resources were depleted, and the state endured a twenty-year depression. Silver was discovered in a different region of Nevada in 1902 and 1904, events that revived the economy. The discovery of copper several years later kept Nevada booming throughout World War I (1914–18).

Mining fell off in the 1920s as resources were depleted, and Nevada once again experienced economic hardship. The rest of the country suffered throughout the Great Depression (1929–41), but Nevada was fortunate to be the focus of federal public works projects, the building of the Hoover (Boulder) Dam being the biggest. State laws helped fund the thriving divorce business, which centered in Reno, and legalized gambling.

Gambling became the cornerstone of Nevada tourism by the 1950s as well as its main industry. Organized crime took control of gambling in the 1950s and 1960s, causing the state and federal government to impose new controls.

Nevada was the fastest growing state throughout the last four decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Much expansion was associated with the gambling industry, centered in Las Vegas and Reno, but the military gets credit for some of the growth as well, as military bases and testing stations are located throughout the state.

Nevada was home to just under 2.5 million residents in 2006. Over three-fourths (76.1 percent) were white, 23.7 percent were Hispanic or Latino, and 7.2 percent were African American. Although Carson City is the capital, Las Vegas is the most densely populated city. As of 2005, 90 percent of all residents lived in urban areas.

Nevada's economy depends primarily on tourism and gambling, which generate over 50 percent of the state's income. Mining is another important industry, although its activity fluctuates.