90 Interesting Facts About Nevada

Find out the many interesting things the Silver State is famous for with these 88 fun facts about Nevada!

From Las Vegas and Hoover Dam to Area 51 and the Burning Man Festival, Nevada is an American state with a truly unique personality.

General Nevada Facts

• Nevada is a state in the Western United States of America.

• At 110,577 mi² (286,382 km²), Nevada is the 7^th largest state of the US, between Arizona and Colorado in terms of size.

• Nevada is similar in size to Portugal, Greece, and Latvia combined.

• Nevada is bordered by Idaho and Oregon to the north, Arizona and Utah to the east, California to the west, and Arizona and California to the south.

• The capital of Nevada is Carson City, located in the state’s west on Lake Tahoe, a lake that the state shares with California. There are 5 other cities in Nevada that are larger than Carson City.

• Nevada is home to 3.2 million people, making it the 33^rd most populous state, between Connecticut and Utah.

• Several Native American groups traditionally inhabited Nevada, including the Washoe, Shoshone, and Paiute people. Today, indigenous people make up only 1.28% of the population.

• Arizona state is the driest state in the US, with the Great Basin Desert covering most of the state, as well as small part of the Mojave Desert (which is mostly in California) in the far south.

• Half of Nevada’s population lives in the Las Vegas Valley in the state’s far south. Las Vegas is the 26^th largest city in the US, but one of its most famous.

• Nevada is one of only two American states where casino-style gambling is legal across the whole state (the other is Louisiana). Other states only allow it in certain areas, such as Atlantic City in New Jersey. Gambling was first legalized in Nevada in 1931.

• Nevada isn’t pronounced “Nev-AH-dah”, but “Nev-ADD-ah.”

• Nevada was named after the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which it shares with California. The word Nevada means or “snow-covered” in Spanish.

• Nevada has several nicknames, including the Battle Born State, the Silver State, and the Sagebrush State.

• The Nevada flag has an all-blue background with the state’s emblem in the upper left corner. The emblem says “Battle Born” (referring to the state’s birth in the Civil War) and “Nevada” above two sprays of green sagebrush, the state flower.

• Nevada’s state animal is the desert bighorn sheep and state bird is the mountain bluebird.

• Nevada’s motto is “All for Our Country”.

Random Interesting Facts About Nevada

• The Burning Man Festival, one of the world’s most famous festivals, has been held annually in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert since 1991. Participants erect a city called Black Rock City for one week in the desert, and no money is exchanged there.

• The land speed record of 760.343 mph (1223.657 km/hr) was set in the Black Rock Desert in 1997 and was the first to beat the speed of sound.

• Also in the Black Rock Desert, a pair of filmmakers once built the first ever scale model of the solar system.

• Every year, thousands of tourists visit Area 51, the United States Air Force Facility in the Mojave Desert, in hopes of spotting UFOs or aliens. The hype started after a man who used to work there claimed that the area had been used to study alien spacecraft.

• Around 150 couples get married in Las Vegas every day – in fact, there are many romantic things to do in Las Vegas, and the city is considered to be a family-friendly travel destination.

• Nevada is the only state in the US that allows people to gamble on slot machines at the airport, convenience stores, local grocery stores, and other locations. 

• Nevada is one of only 5 US states that DON’T have a state lottery.

• Nevada has a statewide law that allows the sale of alcohol from liquor stores, clubs, bars, and restaurants 24/7. Drinking and/or being visibly intoxicated in public is legal, too.

• The sphinx at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is bigger (110 ft / 33.5 m) than the original in Egypt. However, the casino’s pyramid is smaller than the Great Pyramid of Giza to avoid interrupting flights to the nearby Las Vegan International Airport.

• When an extremely complex bomb was planted at Harvey’s Casino in 1980, the FBI couldn’t disarm it, so most of the casino was blown up in a controlled detonation.

• Nevada has two national parks: Death Valley National Park (which is mostly in California) and Great Basin National Park.

• Great Basin National Park is an official Dark Sky Park; on a clear and moonless night, thousands of stars and the Milky Way can be seen with the naked eye.

• More than any other state, there are 300+ named mountain ranges running through Nevada. These include the Carson Range of the Sierra Nevada, a mountain chain that is mostly in California.

• Boundary Peak is the highest point in Nevada, at 13,147 ft (4007 m). It is in the White Mountains, which are also shared with California.

• The largest alpine lake in North America is Lake Tahoe in Nevada and California. It’s also the second deepest lake in the US, at 1646 ft (501 m). Only Crater Lake in Oregon is deeper. Lake Tahoe is famous for its summer activities.

• There are over 44,000 acres of human-made reservoirs in Nevada.

• Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in Nevada (and the entire US when it is full). It is 24 mi (39 km) east of the Vegas Strip. Hoover Dam, the most visited dam in the United States, created it on the Colorado River on the Nevada–Arizona border.

• When Lake Mead was first created in the 1930s, the Mormon town of St. Thomas was drowned. Now, due to lowered lake levels, the ghost town is being exposed.  

• The Colorado River, which demarcates more than half of Nevada’s border with Arizona, is also Nevada’s lowest point, 479 ft (146 m) above sea level.

• Nevada has more hot springs than any other state in the US, with over 300 naturally occurring ones.

• The federal government owns 87% of Nevada’s land.

• The highest temperature ever recorded in Nevada was 125°F (52°C) in 1994, while the lowest was −50°F (−46°C) in 1937.

• Nevada is one of 18 states with an official state grass. Nevada and Utah share the same one, Indian Ricegrass, which is eaten by jackrabbits and bison.

• The Kangaroo Rat, found in Nevada’s Death Valley, can live its entire life without drinking a single drop of water. 

• Nevada is home to over 50% of the wild horse population in the US.

• Nevada’s main economic success is Las Vegas–most importantly, the tourism and gambling sectors. Reno (also known for its casinos) and Lake Tahoe are big earners.

• Las Vegas earns over $2 billion from the gambling industry per year.

• Besides tourism and gambling, the main industries in Nevada include mining, manufacturing, and agriculture.

• Nevada is the largest gold-producing state in the US, producing over 170 tonnes of gold per year, second only to South Africa in the world.

• Nevada is one of seven states that doesn’t collect individual income tax or corporate income tax.

• Most of Nevada is in the Pacific Time Zone, but West Wendover is in the Mountain Time Zone due to its strong economic ties with neighboring Utah.

• Famous people born in Nevada include actresses Dawn Wells, Rutina Wesley, and Jena Malone, race car driver Kyle Busch, and former first lady Pat Nixon.

• Celebrities who have houses in Nevada include eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, model Holly Madison, actor Nicolas Cage, former boxers Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather, musicians Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Coolio and Carlos Santana, and performer Wayne Newton.

• Jacob Davis of Reno, Nevada invented Levis blue jeans.

• The Bradley Timepiece watch was built for blind people and named after the Reno-born Paralympic swimmer Brad Snyder. 

• The first “all-you-can-eat” buffet was introduced in Las Vegas in 1946. It cost $1 per person.

• More than the rest of the US combined, over 60,000 pounds of shrimp is eaten daily in Nevada.

• Fallon, Nevada is home to the Naval Air Station, popularly known as the Top Gun Flight School, made famous by the 1986 Tom Cruise film Top Gun.

• Virginia City, Nevada is considered one of the most haunted cities in the US.

• The world’s largest margarita was made in Nevada, taking 60 people over 300 hours to make. Fittingly, the 8,500-gallon behemoth was made at the Margaritaville Casino in Las Vegas. Named “Lucky Rita”, the cocktail stood two-stories tall.

• According to an old Nevada law, you can’t kiss women in Eureka if you’re a man wearing a mustache. 

• It’s technically illegal to hang a person for shooting your dog on your property in Nevada.

• It’s also against the law to have sex without a condom in Nevada.

• Prostitution is legal in 10 of Nevada’s 16 counties.

• Sex toys are technically illegal in Reno, Nevada, so they are sold as “adult novelty items.”

• You can be arrested in Reno, Nevada for placing a bench in the middle of the street.

• Even before Covid-19, it was mandatory to wear masks while walking the streets of Elko, Nevada.

• It’s illegal to ride a camel on any highway in Nevada (so don’t even consider it!)

Historical Facts About Nevada

• For most of the Earth’s history, Nevada was covered in a shallow sea, until the time of the dinosaurs. The Berlin-Icthyosaur State Park contains extinct marine reptiles from the period, including the largest known Shonisaurus fossil. 

• During the Pleistocene era (2.5 mya to 12,000 years ago), Nevada was home to mastodons and giant sloths.

• The Spirit Cave Mummy, found near Fallon, Nevada, is the oldest mummy ever found in North America, dating to around 10,600 years ago. It has since been returned to a local tribe.

• Prior to European contact, tens of thousands of Native Americans lived in the Great Basin area.

• The area of Nevada was initially claimed by Spain in 1519.

• When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, the area of Nevada became part of Mexico, along with parts of present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Utah.

• Traders and trappers, including the likes of Peter Skene Ogden and Jedediah Smith, entered the state in the 1820s.

• At the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the US took over the area, and Nevada became a part of the Utah Territory.

• Major silver deposits were discovered at Comstock Lode in 1859, hence the state’s nickname, “The Silver State.”

• The word “bonanza,” meaning a situation when one suddenly becomes rich, is often associated with the silver rush in Nevada. A hit American West TV series called Bonanza was set in the area. The word is also associated with the Klondike Gold Rush in Yukon, Canada.

• The subsequent population boom led to the separation of the Nevada Territory from Utah in 1861.

• Nevada officially became the 36^th state of the US in 1864.

• After becoming a state, Carson City sent the Nevada State Constitution by telegram to Washington D.C. The transmission, which took several hours, is considered the longest morse code telegram ever.

• On March 1, 1869, Nevada became the first state to give African-American men the right to vote. They did this by ratifying the 15^th Amendment of the US Constitution.

• Nevada became known as “The Fight Capital of the World” in 1910, when it became the only US state to allow professional boxing events.

• In March 1931, the first bill was passed to legalize gambling in Nevada. 

• The first casino to open on Highway 91, the future Las Vegas Strip, was the Pair-O-Dice Club in 1931.

• In 1951, the first nuclear tests were conducted at Frenchman Flat in Nevada. Over 1000 bombs would be tested there over the next 11 years, with the most recent underground bomb test in 1992.

• The I-15 Highway from Los Angeles to Las Vegas was opened to traffic in 1966.

• In 1977, a huge Ichthyosaurs Shonisaurus Popularis fossil that had been found in the Shoshone mountains became the official state fossil of Nevada.

• Great Basin National Park, the first and only national park entirely in Nevada, was established in 1987.

• In 1999, the Venetian Resort opened in Las Vegas, becoming the largest hotel in the world.

• In 2007, OJ Simpson was arrested for kidnapping and armed robbery in Las Vegas, Nevada.

• In 2017, a Nevada man killed 60 and injured 400+ by shooting over 1000 rounds of bullets at the crowd of a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.

• In December 2020, the Supreme Court of Nevada rejected an appeal from Donald Trump to overturn the election results in the state, leading a win for Biden.

• At the end of 2021, Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas Valley was named after the Nevada politician Harry Reid. Two weeks later, Reid passed away.

• In 2022, as Lake Mead’s water level continued to drop, over half a dozen discoveries on human bodies were made on its shores.