Nevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital is Carson City, Nevada and the largest city is Las Vegas.
The state's nickname is the "Silver State," due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there.
Eight days prior to the presidential election of 1864, Nevada became the 36th state in the union.
Statehood was rushed to the date of October 31 to help ensure Abraham Lincoln's reelection on November 8 and post-Civil War Republican dominance in Congress, as Nevada's mining-based economy tied it to the more industrialized Union.
The name Nevada comes from the Spanish "Nevada", meaning "snow-covered" after the Sierra Nevada ("snow-covered mountains") mountain range.
As of 2006, there were about 2.6 million residents, with over 85% of the population residing in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno.
