Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. History, Economy, Climate
Las Vegas is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nevada. Las Vegas is the Entertainment Capital of the World. It is located in the Mojave Desert of Southern Nevada. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada.
LOCATION
Las Vegas is situated within Clark County in a basin on the floor of the Mojave Desert and is surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. Much of the landscape is rocky and arid with desert vegetation and wildlife. The peaks surrounding Las Vegas reach elevations of over 10,000 feet (3,000 m), and act as barriers to the strong flow of moisture from the surrounding area.
HISTORY
Compared with other cities in the western U.S., Las Vegas (literally, the meadows in Spanish) is a relatively recent arrival. Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. for many years it was merely a small settlement in the middle of the desert. The construction of Hoover Dam in 1928 brought thousands of workers to the area.
Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, and downtown Las Vegas became an entertainment center for the dam workers, with casinos and speakeasies. Business became so good that it surpassed Reno as the gambling capital of the world in less than 10 years.
POPULATION
Las Vegas is the 28th-most populated city in the United States, the most populated city in the state of Nevada.
CLIMATE
Las Vegas has a subtropical hot desert climate. This climate is typified by long, very hot summers; warm transitional seasons; and short, mild to chilly winters. Las Vegas is among the sunniest, driest, and least humid locations in North America.
Las Vegas winters are short and generally very mild, with chilly daytime temperatures. December is both the year's coolest and cloudiest month, with an average daytime high of 13.7 °C. Winter evenings are defined by clear skies and swift drops in temperature after sunset, with overnight lows sinking to 3.9 °C or lower during the majority of nights in December and January.
The summer months of June through September are very hot, though moderated by extremely low humidity. July is the hottest month, with an average daytime high of 40.1 °C.
COMMUNICATION
McCarran International Airport ( LAS) is the main airport serving the Las Vegas area. It is the 24th busiest airport in the world in terms of passengers and 8th in terms of takeoffs and landings. The airport is physically adjacent to the south end of the Strip, though none of the hotels are within walking distance.
GOVERNMENT
The city of Las Vegas government operates as a council–manager government. The Mayor sits as a Council member-at-large and presides over all of the City Council meetings. The City Manager is responsible for the administration and the day-to-day operations of all municipal services and city departments. The City Manager maintains intergovernmental relationships with federal, state, county and other local governments.
ECONOMY
The primary drivers of the Las Vegas economy are tourism, gaming and conventions, which in turn feed the retail and restaurant industries. The major attractions in Las Vegas are the casinos and the hotels, although in recent years other new attractions have begun to emerge.Most casinos in the downtown area are located on Fremont Street.
An effort has been made by city officials to diversify the economy by attracting health-related, high-tech and other commercial interests. No state tax for individuals or corporations.
A number of new industries have moved to Las Vegas in recent decades. Online shoe retailer Zappos.com (now an Amazon subsidiary) was founded in San Francisco but by 2013 had moved its headquarters to downtown Las Vegas.
TOURISM
Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world's most visited tourist destinations.The city's tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, and music videos.