Nevada is the seventh-most extensive , the 32nd-most populous , and the ninth-least densely populated U.
Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's population live in Clark County , which contains the Las Vegas—Paradise metropolitan area , [ 7 ] including three of the state's four largest incorporated cities. Las Vegas is the largest city in the state. Nevada is officially known as the "Silver State" because of the importance of silver to its history and economy. In , The first Europeans to explore the region were Spanish.
They called the region Nevada snowy because of the snow which covered the mountains in winter, similar to the Sierra Nevada in Spain. The United States annexed the area in after its victory in the Mexican—American War , and it was incorporated as part of the New Mexico and Utah Territory in The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in led to a population boom that became an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, , as the second of two states added to the Union during the Civil War the first being West Virginia.
Nevada is known for its libertarian laws. In , with a population of just over , people, Nevada was by far the least-populated state, with less than half the population of the next least-populous state, Wyoming. The tourism industry remains Nevada's largest employer, [ 16 ] with mining continuing as a substantial sector of the economy: Nevada is the fourth-largest producer of gold in the world. State Assemblyman Harry Mortenson proposed a bill to recognize the alternative pronunciation of Nevada, [ 24 ] though the bill was not supported by most legislators and never received a vote.
The Nevadan pronunciation is the one used by the state legislature. Nevada became a part of Alta California Upper California province in when the Californias were split. With the Mexican War of Independence won in , the province of Alta California became a territory state of Mexico, with a small population. Following the suggestions by Rivera of a spring, on the published expedition's map, located in the Las Vegas area John C.
