Nevada is a state located in the western United States. The population as of 2005 was estimated to be 2,414,807, up nearly 21% from the 2000 census figure of 1,998,257. Nevada is the fastest growing state in the country. Between 2000 and 2003, Nevada's population increased 12.2%, while the USA's population increased 3.3%. Between 1990 and 2000, Nevada's population increased 66.3%, while the USA's population increased 13.1%. Over two thirds of the population of the state lives in the fast-growing Las Vegas metropolitan area.

Nevada's nickname is "The Silver 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.

Despite the name's derivation from the Spanish word nevada meaning "snowy", the local pronunciation of the state's name is not (in IPA) , 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 Nevǎda to help with the pronunciation problem.

Several United States Navy ships have been named USS Nevada in honor of the state.

History

Derived from the Priest Kino expeditions at the end of the XVII century through north Mexico and south USA, Nevada passed to Spanish control, belonging to the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1821 became part of the First Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide, until 1823, and afterwards to Mexico. As a result of the Mexico-American war of 1847-48 and based on the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty, Nevada became part of the USA. On August 14, 1850, the U.S. Congress established the Utah territory which included the present day states of Utah, Idaho and Nevada. 1859 saw the discovery of the Comstock Lode, a rich outcropping of gold and silver, and Virginia City sprang up. This discovery brought a flood of miners, prospectors, merchants and others hoping to strike it rich.

On March 2, 1861, Nevada separated from the Utah territory and adopted its current name, shortened from Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy range"). On October 31, 1864, just eight days prior to the presidential election, Nevada became the 36th state in the union. Statehood was rushed through despite Nevada's tiny population 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 politically reliable (as opposed to the more agrarian and Confederate-sympathizing California).

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 that Nevada would be better able to oversee the expected population boom. This area includes most of what is now Clark County, Nevada.

Negotiations are currently underway for Nevada to annex 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.

Mining shaped Nevada's economy for many years. In the late 1800's, the Comstock Lode played out, and Nevada went into a tailspin. 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 helped save the state. This was soon followed by strikes in Goldfield and Rhyolite in the following years. These strikes

Over 87% of the land 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 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.

Gambling was common in the early Nevada mining towns, but was outlawed in 1909 as part of a nation-wide anti-gaming crusade. Due to a sharp decline in mining output in the 1920s and the decline of the agricultural sector during the Great Depression, Nevada re-legalized gambling in 1931. At the time, the leading proponents of gambling expected that it would be a short term fix until the state's economic base widened to include less cyclical industries. However, re-outlawing gambling has never been seriously considered since.

A fictional history (with a great deal of fact) titled Nevada was written by Clint McCullough.

Law and government

Nevada's capital is Carson City and its governor is Kenny Guinn (Republican). Nevada's two U.S. senators are Harry Reid (Democrat) and John Ensign (Republican).

Further information: List of Nevada Governors

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).

Unusual laws

In 1900, Nevada's population was the smallest of all states and was shrinking, as the difficulties of living in a "barren desert" began to outweigh the lure of silver for many early settlers. Legal historian Lawrence Friedman has explained what happened next:

Nevada, in a burst of ingenuity, built an economy by exploiting its sovereignty. Its strategy was to legalize all sorts of things that were illegal in California .. fter easy divorce came easy marriage and casino gambling. Even prostitution is legal in Nevada, in any county that decides to allow it. Quite a few of them do.

Nevada's early reputation as a "divorce haven" arose from the fact that prior to the no-fault divorce revolution in the 1970s, divorces were quite difficult to obtain in the United States. To boost its fragile economy, Nevada adopted one of the most liberal divorce statutes in the nation. This resulted in a famous U.S. Supreme Court case, Williams v. North Carolina, (1942), in which the Court ruled that North Carolina had to give "full faith and credit" to a Nevada divorce.

Nevada is currently the only state that has different ages of consent for different sexual practices. An adult may have "ordinary sexual intercourse, anal intercourse, cunnilingus or fellatio" with another person that is 16 years old or older (NRS 200.364); however a different law makes it illegal to incite, entice, or solicit any minor (a person under 18) to engage in the "infamous crime against nature". (NRS 201.195).

Further information: Age of Consent

Politics

Due to the tremendous growth of Las Vegas in recent years, there is a noticeable divide between politics of Northern Nevada and Southern Nevada. The north has long maintained control of key positions in the state government even while the Las Vegas area is larger than the rest of the state (the "cow counties"). 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. 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 majority of the state's population, was the only county to vote Democratic.

Geography

Further information: List of Nevada counties

Nevada has borders with Oregon and Idaho to the north, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to

See also: list of mountain ranges of Nevada

Economy

estimates that Nevada's total state product in 2003 was $88 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $31,910, 19^th in the nation. Its agricultural outputs are cattle, hay, dairy products, onions and potatoes. Its industrial outputs are tourism, mining, machinery, printing and publishing, food processing, and electric equipment. It is well-known for gambling and nightlife. Large, luxurious casinos in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Reno attract visitors from around the world.

Nevada is the only state with legalized prostitution.

Further information: Prostitution in Nevada

Further information: Nevada locations by per capita income

Nevada is also one of only a few states with .

Demographics

According to the Census Bureau, as of 2005, Nevada has an estimated population of 2,414,807, which is an increase of 81,909, or 3.5%, from the prior year and an increase of 416,550, or 20.8%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 81,661 people (that is 170,451 births minus 88,790 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 337,043 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 66,098 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 270,945 people.

Nevada is the fastest-growing state in the Union. In fact, if Congress were reapportioned using 2005 data, Nevada would gain a Representative seat, for a total of 4.

The racial makeup of the state is:

• 65.2% White non-Hispanic
• 19.7% Hispanic
• 6.8% Black
• 4.5% Asian
• 0.9% Native American
• 1.4% Mixed race

The five largest ancestry groups in Nevada are: German (14.1%), Mexican (12.7%), Irish (11%), English (10.1%), Italian (6.6%), American (4.8%).

In Clark and Pershing Counties, a plurality of residents are Mexican; Nye County and Humboldt County have a plurality of German-Americans.

6.8% of its population were reported as under 5, 26.3% under 18, and 13.6% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population. As a result of its rapid population growth, Nevada has a higher percentage of residents born outside of the state than any other state.

Religion

The religious affiliations of the people of Nevada are:

• Christian – 78%
  • Protestant – 44%
    • Baptist – 15%
    • Methodist – 6
    • Lutheran – 3%
    • Other Protestant – 21%
  • Roman Catholic – 24%
  • LDS – 3%
  • Other Christian – 1%
• Other Religions – 2%
• Non-Religious – 20%

Important cities and towns

The largest city is Las Vegas.