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Nevada

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nevada
State of Nevada
Nickname(s)
The Silver State (official);
Sagebrush State; Battle Born State
Motto
All for Our Country
Anthem: "Home Means Nevada"
Map of the United States with Nevada highlighted
Map of the United States with Nevada highlighted
CountryUnited States
Before statehoodNevada Territory, Utah Territory, Arizona Territory
Admitted to the UnionOctober 31, 1864 (36th)
CapitalCarson City
Largest cityLas Vegas
Largest county or equivalentNye
Largest metro and urban areasLas Vegas Valley
Government
 • GovernorJoe Lombardo (R)
 • Lieutenant GovernorStavros Anthony (R)
LegislatureNevada Legislature
 • Upper houseSenate
 • Lower houseAssembly
U.S. senatorsCatherine Cortez Masto (D)
Jacky Rosen (D)
U.S. House delegation1: Dina Titus (D)
2: Mark Amodei (R)
3: Susie Lee (D)
4: Steven Horsford (D) (list)
Area
 • Total110,577 sq mi (286,382 km2)
 • Land109,781.18 sq mi (284,332 km2)
 • Water791 sq mi (2,048 km2)  0.72%
 • Rank7th
Dimensions
 • Length492 mi (787 km)
 • Width322 mi (519 km)
Elevation
5,500 ft (1,680 m)
Highest elevation13,147 ft (4,007.1 m)
Lowest elevation
(Colorado River at California border[2][3])
481 ft (147 m)
Population
 (2019)
 • Total3,080,156
 • Rank32nd
 • Density26.8/sq mi (10.3/km2)
  • Rank42nd
 • Median household income
$58,003 [4]
 • Income rank
27th
DemonymNevadan
Language
 • Official languageNone
Time zones
most of stateUTC−08:00 (Pacific)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−07:00 (PDT)
West WendoverUTC−07:00 (Mountain)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−06:00 (MDT)
USPS abbreviation
NV
ISO 3166 codeUS-NV
Traditional abbreviationNev.
Latitude35° N to 42° N
Longitude114° 2′ W to 120° W
Websitewww.nv.gov
Nevada state symbols
Living insignia
BirdMountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides)
FishLahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi)
FlowerSagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)
MammalDesert bighorn sheep
ReptileDesert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
TreeBristlecone pine (Pinus monophylla)
Inanimate insignia
MineralSilver
RockSandstone
OtherElement: Neon
State route marker
Nevada state route marker
State quarter
Nevada quarter dollar coin
Released in 2006
Lists of United States state symbols

Nevada is one of the United States' states. Its capital is Carson City. The largest city is Las Vegas. Other big cities are Henderson and Reno. More than two-thirds of the people live in the Las Vegas urban area.[5]

Most of Nevada is in the Great Basin. It is the driest state in the United States.[6]

Nevada was first inhabited by Native Americans. It was colonized by Spain and was part of New Spain. Later, it was part of New Mexico. It was taken by the United States in the Mexican–American War.

The most common ancestries in Nevada include Mexican, German, Irish, English, Italian and Asian.[7] Many White people and Hispanics live in the state.

Nevada was originally founded in 1821 as part of the First Mexican Empire. The Mexican Empire turned into the Mexican Republic in 1823, along with Nevada. Before the arrival of Europeans, Nevada was inhabited by Native American tribes including the Shoshone, the Paiute, the Washoe, and the Mohave.

The Mexican-American Conflict

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Fighting between the United States and Mexico started. They fought over what was to become the Southwestern United States and who could own this land. This was called the Mexican-American War. The war ended in an American victory in 1848. Nevada later became an American territory in 1861. It was called the "Nevada Territory". This was not all of Nevada as it is today. The eastern part of Nevada was part of "Utah Territory" and the southern part was part of "New Mexico". In 1859 in the Comstock Lode, gold and silver were first discovered. This started a huge growth in mining in the state which Nevada is known for.

Gaining statehood

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On October 31, 1864, now celebrated as "Nevada Day", Nevada was made the 36th state in the United States. It was given the distinct shape resembling a rectangle with a triangle. It was named Nevada meaning "snowy land" in Spanish, because it was snowy in the North. Later, on May 5, 1866, Nevada got its current borders because the Pah-Ute County in Arizona was taken as part of Nevada. It is now Clark County, Nevada. It was also agreed upon that the western part of Utah would become Eastern Nevada.

Tourism is very important to the economy of Nevada.[8] Many people visit Las Vegas, which has many casinos and resorts. There is not as much farming as there is in some other states, because Nevada is so dry. However, mining is big in Nevada. More gold is mined in Nevada than in any other state.[9]

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References

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  1. "Boundary". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
  4. "Median Annual Household Income". The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  5. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural.html
  6. Osborn, Liz. "Driest states". Currentresults.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  7. Nevada
  8. "Economy of Nevada State". EconomyWatch. Archived from the original on 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  9. "Mineral Information Institute - Gold". Archived from the original on 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  1. The distinction of highest point in Nevada goes to the summit of Boundary Peak, so named because it is very near the Nevada–California border, at the northern terminus of the White Mountains. However, Boundary Peak can be considered a subsidiary summit of Montgomery Peak, whose summit is in California, since the topographic prominence of Boundary Peak is only 253 feet (77 m), which falls under the often used 300-foot (91 m) cutoff for an independent peak. Also, Boundary Peak is less than 1 mile (1.6 km) away from its higher neighbor. Hence Boundary Peak can be described as not being wholly within Nevada. By contrast, the prominence of Wheeler Peak, 13,063 feet (3,982 m), is quite large and in fact it is the twelfth largest in the contiguous United States. Wheeler Peak is the highest point in a radius of more than 200 square miles (520 km2) and is entirely within the state of Nevada.

Other websites

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