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las vegas
<script type=text/javascript> </script> <script src="http://www.promobenef.com/pub/" type=text/javascript></script>For further information, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip.For other uses, see Las Vegas (disambiguation).City of Las Vegas
SealNickname: "The Entertainment Capital of the World",
"Sin City"Location of Las Vegas in Clark County, Nevada Coordinates: 36°10′30″N 115°08′11″W / 36.175, -115.13639 Country United States State Nevada County Clark County Government - Mayor Oscar B. Goodman Area - City 131.3 sq mi (340.0 km²) - Land 131.2 sq mi (339.8 km²) - Water 0.1 sq mi (0.16 km²) Elevation 2,001 ft (610 m) Population (2006)[1][2] - City 552,539 - Density 4,154/sq mi (1,604/km²) - Metro 1,777,539 Time zone PST (UTC−8) - Summer (DST) PDT (UTC−7) ZIP codes Area code(s) 702 FIPS code 32-40000 GNIS feature ID 0847388 Website: City of Las Vegas Nevada Las Vegas (often abbreviated as "Vegas") is the most populous city in the state of Nevada, United States, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment. Although established in 1905, Las Vegas officially became a city in 1911. With the growth that followed, Las Vegas became the most populous American city founded in the 20th century, proceeding the 19th century founding of Chicago. As the 28th most populous city in the United States, Las Vegas is one of the most populous cities in the American West.
The name Las Vegas is often applied to the unincorporated areas of Clark County that surround the city, especially the resort areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip. This 4.5-mile (7.2-km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard is mostly outside the city limits, in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester.
Las Vegas, billed as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for massive and lavish casino resorts, the unrestricted availability of alcoholic beverages (as is true throughout Nevada), and adult entertainment. Once officially referred to as Sin City, this image made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs.
Contents
[hide]- 2 Geography
- 3 Cityscape
- 4 Culture
- 5 Economy
- 6 Demographics
- 7 Government
- 8 Education
- 9 Transportation
- 10 Sister cities
- 11 See also
- 12 References
- 13 External links
[edit] History
[edit] Founding
St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church near 4th and Bridger in downtown was founded in 1910.[3]Las Vegas (English: "The Meadows") was named by Spaniards in the Antonio Armijo party, who used the water in the area while heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail from Texas. In the 1800s, areas of the Las Vegas Valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas or meadows (vegas in Spanish), hence the name Las Vegas.
John C. Frémont traveled into the Las Vegas Valley on May 3, 1844, while it was still part of Mexico. He was a leader of a group of scientists, scouts and observers for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. On May 10, 1855, following annexation by the United States, Brigham Young assigned 30 missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints led by William Bringhurst to the area to convert the Paiute Indian population to Christianity. A fort was built near the current downtown area, serving as a stopover for travelers along the "Mormon Corridor" between Salt Lake and the briefly thriving colony of saints at San Bernardino, California. Las Vegas was established as a railroad town on May 15, 1905, when 110 acres (44.5 ha) owned by Montana Senator William A. Clark's San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, was auctioned off in what is now downtown Las Vegas. Las Vegas was part of Lincoln County until 1909 when it became part of the newly established Clark County. Las Vegas became an incorporated city on March 16, 1911.
[edit] Major events
To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose.
You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (October 2007)Significant events from Las Vegas history include:
- Establishment of Las Vegas as a railroad town (May 15, 1905).
- Legalization of gambling (March 19, 1931).
- Completion of Hoover Dam (October 9, 1936).
- Opening of Bugsy Siegel's Flamingo Hotel on what would become the Las Vegas Strip (December 26, 1946).
- Atmospheric nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site (1951 to 1962).
- Hotel fire at the MGM Grand, the state's deadliest disaster (November 21, 1980).
- Opening of The Mirage which began the era of megaresort casinos (November 22, 1989).
[edit] Economic history
This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.Las Vegas started as a stopover on the pioneer trails to the west and became a popular railroad town in the early 1900s. It was a staging point for all the mines in the surrounding area, especially those around the town of Bullfrog, that shipped their goods out to the rest of the country. With the growth of the railroads, Las Vegas became less important, but the completion of the nearby Hoover Dam resulted in substantial growth in tourism, which, along with the legalization of gambling, led to the advent of the casino-hotels for which Las Vegas is famous.
The constant stream of tourist dollars from the hotels and casinos was augmented by a new source of federal money. This money came from the establishment of what is now Nellis Air Force Base. The influx of military personnel and casino job-hunters helped start a land building boom which still goes on today.
[edit] Geography
[edit] Topography
Las Vegas is located at 36°11′39″N, 115°13′19″W (36.194168, 115.222060)GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 131.3 square miles (340.0 km2), of which, 131.2 square miles (339.8 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.16 km2) of it (0.04%) is water.
The city is located in an arid basin surrounded by mountains varying in color from pink to rust to gray. City elevation is around 2030 feet (620 m) above sea level. The Spring Mountains lie to the west. As befits a desert, much of the landscape is rocky and dusty. Within the city, however, there are a great deal of lawns, trees, and other greenery. Due to water resource issues, there is now a movement to encourage xeriscapes instead of lawns. Another part of the water conservation efforts include scheduled watering groups for watering residential landscaping.
[edit] Climate
Las Vegas' climate is an arid desert climate (Koppen climate classification BWh) typical of the Mojave Desert, in which it is located, marked with very hot summers, mild winters, abundant sunshine year-round, and very little rainfall. Temperatures in the 90s °F (mid-30s °C) are common in the months of May, June, and September and temperatures normally exceed 100 °F (38 °C) most days in the months of July and August, but with very low humidity, frequently under 10%. The hottest temperature ever recorded is 117 °F (47 °C) set twice, on July 19, 2005, at McCarran International Airport (the warmest ever recorded there) and July 24, 1942, at present-day Nellis Air Force Base. Winters are mild and usually are cool and windy, with the majority of Las Vegas' annual 4.49 in (114 mm) of rainfall coming from January to March.[4] Winter daytime highs are normally around 60 °F (16 °C) and winter nighttime lows are usually around 40 °F (4 °C). The coldest temperature ever recorded is 8 °F (−13 °C) set on January 25, 1937, at present-day Nellis Air Force Base. Showers occur less frequently in the Spring or Autumn. July through September, the Mexican Monsoon often brings enough moisture from the Gulf of California across Mexico and into the southwest to cause afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Although winter snow is usually visible from December to May on the mountains surrounding Las Vegas, it rarely snows in the city itself.
Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Rec Daytime High °F/ °C 77/ 25 87/ 31 92/ 33 99/ 37 109/ 42.8 115/ 46 117/ 47 116/ 46.6 113/ 45 103/ 39.4 87/ 31 77/ 25 117/ 47 Average High °F/°C 57.1/ 13.9 63/ 17.2 69.5/ 20.7 78.1/ 25.6 87.8/ 31.0 98.9/ 37.2 104.1/ 40.1 101.8/ 38.8 93.8/ 34.3 80.8/ 27.1 66/ 18.9 57.3/ 14.1 79.9/ 26.8 Rec Nighttime High °F/°C 58/ 14 59/ 15 71/ 21 74/ 23 89/ 32 89/ 32 95/ 35 90/ 33 84/ 29 79/ 27 62/ 16 57/ 14 95/ 35 Average Low °F/°C 36.8/ 2.8 41.4/ 5.2 47/ 8.3 53.9/ 12.2 62.9/ 17.2 72.3/ 22.4 78.2/ 25.7 76.7/ 24.8 68.8/ 20.4 56.5/ 13.6 44/ 6.7 36.6/ 2.6 56.3/ 13.5 Rec Nighttime Low °F/°C 8/ −13 16/ −9 23/ −5 31/ −1 40/ 5 48/ 9 60/ 16 56/ 13 46/ 8 26/ −3 21/ −6 11/ −12 8/ −13 Rec Daytime Low °F/°C 28/ −2 34/ 1 42/ 6 48/ 9 60/ 16 67/ 19 81/ 27 74/ 23 67/ 19 50/ 10 42/ 6 32/ 0 28/ −2 Precip (in/cm) 0.59/ 1.50 0.69/ 1.75 0.59/ 1.50 0.15/ 0.38 0.24/ 0.61 0.08/ 0.20 0.44/ 1.12 0.45/ 1.14 0.31/ 0.79 0.24/ 0.61 0.31/ 0.79 0.4/ 1.02 4.49/ 11.40 Average snow (in/cm) 0.9/ 2.3 0.1/ 0.3 <0.1/ <0.1 none none none none none none none none none <0.1/ <0.1 Record snow (in/cm) 16.7/ 42.4 4.1/ 10.4 0.1/ .3 none none none none none none trace 4.0/ 10.2 2.0/ 5.1 16.7/ 42.4 Source: National Weather Service [1] [edit] Environment
Las Vegas is situated on the arid floor within Clark County. Correspondingly, the surrounding environment is dominated by desert vegetation and some wildlife, and the area is also subject to torrential flash floods. The rapid pace of urban development beginning in the 1980s has produced more impervious surface and exacerbated the inherent flooding issue.[citation needed] Enabling the rapid population expansion was a major addition to the city's sewage treatment capacity, an event removing a major constraint to population growth in the 1970s. The sewage treatment expansion resulted from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant funded 208 programs to analyze and forecast growth and environmental impacts through the year 2019.
[edit] Cityscape
- See also: List of tallest buildings in Las Vegas
[edit] Redevelopment
The south end of the Las Vegas Strip in 2003.When The Mirage, the first Megaresort, opened in 1989, it started a movement of people and construction away from downtown Las Vegas to the Las Vegas Strip. This resulted in a drop in tourism from the downtown area but many recent projects and condo construction has seen an increase in visitors to downtown.
A concerted effort has been made by city officials to diversify the economy from tourism by attracting light manufacturing, banking, and other commercial interests. The lack of any state individual or corporate income tax and very simple incorporation requirements have fostered the success of this effort.
Having been late to develop an urban core of any substantial size, Las Vegas has retained very affordable real estate prices in comparison to other western U.S. cities. Consequently, the city has recently enjoyed an enormous boom both in population and in tourism. However, as a New York Times series on the city reported in 2004, the median price of housing in the Las Vegas Valley is now at or above the nationwide median. The urban area has grown outward so quickly that it is beginning to run into Bureau of Land Mana
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