NEVADA

The southern Mountain region. constituent state of the United States of America lying in the arid Great Basin portion of the western mountain region of the country. The capital is Carson City. Separated by the Sierra Nevada from California on the west, Nevada is also bounded by Oregon and Idaho to the north, Utah to the east, and Arizona to the southeast. Nevada extends about 480 miles (720 km) north to south and 320 miles (515 km) east to west. Human settlement in the area has spanned more than 20,000 years. Cave dwellers left picture writings on rocks in the Valley of Fire in southern Nevada, and Basket Makers and Pueblo Indians also flourished there. At the time of initial European contact, the main Indian groups in the area were the Mohave, Paiute, Shoshoni, and Washoe. Spanish missionaries from New Mexico and Hudson Bay Company fur traders traversed the region in the 18th and early 19th centuries. During the 1830s and '40s American settlers and gold seekers traveled across the Great Basin to reach California. Nevada came under U.S. sovereignty through the Mexican Cession of 1848. The discovery of the Comstock Lode, a rich deposit of silver, in 1859 at Virginia City brought a rapid influx of settlers and prospectors, prompting the formation of the Nevada Territory in 1861. In need of silver and Senate votes during the American Civil War, the federal government encouraged Nevadans to seek admission to the Union. Congress accepted the proposed state constitution and voted Nevada the 36th state in 1864. The state prospered and declined through boom and bust cycles of mining and cattle raising until the 1930s, when a combination of legal gambling, reduced divorce requirements, and the construction of the Hoover Dam established the basis for economic growth. In the 1950s the state became the main testing site for atomic-energy experiments and the site of major military munitions depots. About 85 percent of Nevada's land is owned by the federal government. Most of Nevada lies within America's Basin and Range Province. The Great Basin section of this area is characterized by rugged parallel mountain ranges, long, flat valleys, and sandy, alkaline deserts. The flow of the state's rivers is sustained largely by melting winter snows and spring rainfall. Almost all drain into alkaline lakes or shallow mudflats that have no outlets and largely evaporate during the summer. The Colorado River flows through dammed reservoirs along the southeastern boundary. The climate is semiarid and arid. The high Sierra Nevada along the western boundary cause clouds of Pacific origin to drop their moisture before reaching Nevada. Rainfall varies from 4 inches (100 mm) in the southeast to 24 inches (610 mm) in the northwestern mountains. Temperatures vary from an average July high in the south of 86 F (30 C) to an average January low in the north of 24 F (-4 C). Climate and soil conditions are not suitable for cultivation without irrigation, but ranching and forage production is well developed in most valleys. Nevada has experienced rapid population growth since the 1950s. Nonetheless, it remains one of the least densely populated states. About 85 percent of the population is classified as urban, and most of the urban population is concentrated in the metropolitan areas of the two largest cities, Las Vegas and Reno. Almost 90 percent of the population is white; only a small percentage is black. About one-half of the 13,200 American Indians live on reservations scattered across the state. Some 54,000 Nevadans are Spanish-speaking, and several thousand others trace their ancestry to Basque sheepherders. Although the traditional bases of Nevada's economic life, mining and agriculture, remain important, they are far overshadowed by tourist-supported trade and service industries and governmental activity. A surge in gold-mining activities occurring during the 1980s increased the state's mineral-production value, reversing the trend caused by the virtual shutdown of the copper industry in 1977. Other important minerals mined are silver, barite, and mercury. Tourism and its related activities in the Las Vegas and Reno areas constitute the state's leading industry. Long centres of legal and state-regulated gambling, these cities are also major convention and entertainment centres. Liberal divorce laws made Nevada a place for quick and simple divorces. The rural counties of central Nevada have legalized, regulated prostitution. Las Vegas and Reno offer excellent opportunities for scenic and recreational activities at Lake Mead and Lake Tahoe. Military and defense installations and other government agencies are major employers in the state. Nevada's tourism industry is heavily dependent on air transportation, and both Las Vegas and Reno have international airports. Three major railroads and two interstate highways cross Nevada from east to west. Nevadans traditionally have mingled rural conservatism and the individualism of the Old West. With the sophisticated resort industries and the influx of residents, however, Las Vegas and Reno have developed marked metropolitan characteristics. Both cities support symphony orchestras, have commercial and public art galleries, and regularly feature famous entertainers. The University of Nevada at Reno and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, sponsor lectures, concerts, and theatrical productions. Nevada's frontier heritage is commemorated at festivals, pageants, parades, and rodeos. The partially restored ghost town of Virginia City, most famous of all the western mining camps, and the old federal mint building (Nevada State Museum) in Carson City emphasize the state's mining traditions. Area 110,561 square miles (286,352 square km). Pop. (1990) 1,201,833. constituent state of the United States of America. It borders California on the west, Oregon and Idaho on the north, Utah on the east, and Arizona on the southeast. It has an area of 110,567 square miles (286,368 square kilometres), which makes it the seventh largest of the 50 states; it also, however, is one of the most sparsely settled. Carson City is the capital. Nevada became the 36th state of the Union on Oct. 31, 1864. Nevada is located in a mountainous region that includes vast semiarid grasslands and sandy alkali deserts. It is the most arid state of the nation. The state takes its name from the Spanish nevada (snow clad), a reference to the high mountain scenery of the Sierra Nevada on the southwestern border with California. Nevada appears far removed from the days when Virginia City was a fabled frontier town, thriving on the rich silver mines of the Comstock Lode. However, many frontier qualities persist, though subtly transformed by a sophisticated urban environment. The prospector digging against odds to find a bonanza has been replaced by the fortune seekers in the gambling casinos of Las Vegas and Reno, and the erstwhile saloon diversions have evolved into lavish nightclub entertainment. While the great majority of Nevadans live in the two main citiesmore than one-half of them in the Las Vegas metropolitan area and almost one-fourth in that of Renothe undeveloped lands of the state provide a largely unknown resource. Combined with the major scientific activity related to the federal government's atomic research facilities, the modern cities and desert reaches make Nevada a unique phenomenon among U.S. states. Additional reading Federal Writers' Project, Nevada: A Guide to the Silver State (1940, reprinted as The WPA Guide to 1930s Nevada, 1991), provides a thorough, but dated, overview of the state. DeLorme Mapping Company, Nevada Atlas & Gazetteer (1996), contains maps of the state's topography. Helen S. Carlson, Nevada Place Names (1974, reprinted 1985), combines geography and local history. A study of the state's settlement is found in Wilbur S. Shepperson, Restless Strangers: Nevada's Immigrants and Their Interpreters (1970). Nevada Magazine (bimonthly) covers the state's history, recreation, art, and gambling.Russell R. Elliott, History of Nevada, 2nd ed., rev. (1987), is the most detailed and comprehensive reference. James W. Hulse, The Nevada Adventure: A History, 5th ed. (1981), provides a general survey from prehistory to modern times. Another useful introduction is Robert Laxalt, Nevada: A Bicentennial History (1977, reissued 1991). Older but still useful is James G. Scrugham (ed.), Nevada: A Narrative of the Conquest of a Frontier Land, 3 vol. (1935). Special topics are treated in Mary Ellen Glass, Silver and Politics in Nevada: 18921902 (1969); and Nevada Secretary of State, Political History of Nevada, 8th ed. (1986). Stanley W. Paher, Nevada: An Annotated Bibliography (1980), is comprehensive. Roman J. Zorn