About Nevada

Nevada is a state located in the western United States, best known for its legalization of gambling.  It also has some of the country’s strictest drug laws. Over 87% of the state today is owned by the federal government. Nevada is also one of only a few states with no personal income tax and no corporate income tax. State gambling taxes account for 34.1% of general fund tax revenues. Although Nevada leads the nation in per capita gambling revenue, it ranks only tenth in total gambling revenue.

Much of the northern part of the state is within the Great Basin Desert, a mild 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 state’s highest recorded temperature was 125 °F. in Laughlin on 29 June 1994. The mountain ranges, some of which have peaks above 13,000 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 everywhere and some rivers and streams break the desert terrain.

The driest state in the nation, with an average annual rainfall of only about 7 in., much of Nevada is uninhabited, sagebrush covered desert. The wettest part of the state receives about 40 in. of precipitation per year, while the driest spot has less than 4 in. per year.

Nevada was made famous by the discovery of the Comstock Lode, the richest known U.S. silver deposit, in 1859, and its mines have produced large quantities of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, mercury, barite, and tungsten. Oil was discovered in 1954. Gold now far exceeds all other minerals in value of production.

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. Unregulated gambling was common place in the early Nevada mining towns but outlawed in 1909 as part of a nation-wide anti-gaming crusade. Due to subsequent declines in mining output and the decline of the agricultural sector during the Great Depression, Nevada re-legalized gambling on March 19, 1931, with approval from the legislature.

Also in 1931, construction began on Hoover Dam near Las Vegas. Thousands of workers from across the country came to build the dam, and providing for their needs in turn required many more workers. Both Hoover Dam and later war industries such as the Basic Magnesium Plant first started the growth of the southern area of the state near Las Vegas. Over the last 75 years, Clark County has grown in relation to the Reno area, and today encompasses most of the state’s population.