Nevada State Facts, Symbols and History

Nevada Fast Facts

Capital: Carson City (popularity). 54,939 (2010 est.)

Nevada Population: 2,758,931 ( 2012 est.) (35th)

The Nevada Quarter is the first commemorative dollar quarter coin issued in 2006 honors Nevada and is the 36th coin in the US Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program.The Nevada Quarter features a trio of wild mustangs, the sun rising behind snowy mountains bordered by a polynya and a banner that reads “Silver State”. The coin also bears the inscriptions “Nevada” and “1864”.

Language: English, others

Largest Cities: (by population) Las Vegas, Reno, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Sparks

Name: The Spanish referred to the snow-capped mountains on the western border as the Sierra Nevada and an attached name.

Statehood: October 31, 1864 (36th state)

Nevada symbols

• Tree: single-leaf Pinon, Bristlecone Pine

Nevada is the fastest growing US state. Population 2,723,322 (data for 2011). Population growth between 2000 and 2003 amounted to 12.2% (as a whole in the USA – 3.3%), in the period from 1990 to 2000. Nevada’s population increased by 66.3% (as a whole for the US over the years by 13.1%). See cities and towns in Nevada.

The state capital of Nevada is Carson City. Nicknames: The Silver State, The Battle Born State Motto: All for Our Country. Anthem – Home Means Nevada (by Bertha Rafetto).

Nevada became part of the United States during the Civil War between the southern and northern states. The Battle Born State is the official slogan of Nevada. The state flag bears the inscription Battle Born.

• AbbreviationFinder: Demonstrates how the two-letter acronym of NV stands for Nevada and a list of frequently used abbreviations related to the state of Nevada.

Disliking the Spanish origin of the word “nevada” (“nevado” – which means “snowy”), the natives pronounce the middle syllable briefly, without stretching (not “not-vaa-da”, but “not-ve-da”). The pronunciation of the word “nevada” often becomes a kind of test for such visitors to the state as presidential candidates – gives an idea of how much the visitor knows about the state. In 2005, the state decided to issue a new series of license plates for cars with the name of the state as NevOda to somehow solve the problem of pronunciation. Several US Navy ships have been named USS Nevada after the state of Nevada.

In 1850, the U.S. Congress recognized the Territories of Utah, which at the time included the territories of the present states of Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. The year 1859 was marked by the discovery of a rich deposit of silver and gold in the Comstock vein area and the beginning of the rapid growth of Virginia City due to the influx of miners, gold prospectors, merchants and other settlers hoping to get rich quickly.

On March 2, 1861, Nevada seceded from Utah and took on its own name, short for Sierra Nevada. On October 31, 1864, just 8 days before the US presidential election, Nevada became the 36th state of the United States. Despite the small population of the state, the government was in a hurry to enlist the support of Nevada in the re-election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the United States and ensure the dominance of the Republicans in Congress. Nevada’s mining-based economy was closely tied to the more industrialized Union, politically justifying Nevada’s incorporation into the U.S. (versus agrarian, Confederate-sympathetic California).

The state line has not changed since May 5, 1866, when part of Pah-Ute County east of the Colorado River, which at that time belonged to Arizona Territory, became part of Nevada. The reason for the transfer of the territory was the discovery of gold deposits in Pah-Ute County and the belief that Nevada could better control the expected influx of people into the area (now most of the area is part of Clark County).

Negotiations are under way to move the city of Wendover, Utah, to Nevada and merge it with the city of West Wendover, Nevada. The transfer will require official approval from the legislatures of both Utah and Nevada, as well as the US Congress.

Despite the fact that the state of Nevada is the third of the western states that became part of the United States, it is called the Permanent Colony (Permanent Colony), since more than 87% of the land belongs to the Federal government. The main reason is that the required land area for farms in the dry conditions of Nevada (and dry climatic conditions prevail in almost all of Nevada) exceeded what was allowed by the land law at that time. Early settlers selected plots of land adjacent to water sources for farming, while for grazing they used neighboring state lands that were useless for agriculture due to lack of access to water (this farming model still prevails today).

Gambling establishments, a common sight in early Nevada mining towns, were outlawed in 1909 as part of a nationwide anti-gambling campaign. But due to a sharp decline in mining in the 1920s. and the decline of the agricultural sector during the Great Depression, Nevada brought gambling back to legality in 1931. The main advocates of gambling at that time believed to temporarily support the state’s economy by legalizing gambling establishments, but since then a ban on gambling has not been seriously considered.

The significant growth of Las Vegas in recent years has led to a marked division in the political views of Northern and Southern Nevada. The “North” still continues to control key positions in the state government, despite the fact that Las Vegas County (South Nevada) is larger than the rest of the state. This state of affairs contributes to increasing tensions between the northern and southern parts of the state: the “north” sees in the “south” potential instigators of the introduction of majority decision-making, while the “south” sees the “north” as the “old guard” trying to rule on the basis of the oligarchy. Most people outside the state are unaware of the existence of such competition.

None of the major political parties is dominant in the state. Democrat Bill Clinton won the state in 1992 and won the presidential election in 1996, while Republican George W. Bush won Nevada in 2000 and 2004. In 2004, George W. Bush won by just 5 selective votes, giving him 50.5% of the vote. Clark County (Las Vegas), which contains the majority of the state’s population, was the only county to vote Democratic.

Currently, Nevada is the only state that has a different age limit for homosexual and heterosexual relationships. Heterosexual relationships are allowed from the age of 14, and homosexual relationships from the age of 18.

Nevada borders the states: Oregon and Idaho – the northern border, California – the western border, Arizona – the southeastern border, Utah – the eastern border. The border with Arizona runs along the Colorado River and the Hoover Dam.

Nevada, a land of snow-covered mountains, grassy valleys and sandy deserts, is the driest state in the US. The northern and central parts are mostly the Great Basin Desert, while part of the south of the state captures the territory of the Mojave Desert.