Nevada is a first-level division of United States, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 38.7506° N, 116.9065° W.

What is the largest city in Nevada?

Las Vegas is the largest city mapped in Nevada, with a metropolitan population of about 1.82 million.

How many cities are in Nevada?

YearMaps maps 8 cities and towns in Nevada, with a combined metropolitan population of about 2.26 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.

What is the highest mountain in Nevada?

The highest summit mapped in Nevada is Wheeler Pk at 3,982 m.

What is the largest lake in Nevada?

The largest lake mapped in or beside Nevada is Lake Mead, at about 787 km².

Nevada Map — Cities & Geography, United States

Interactive Map of Nevada

5.4

About Nevada

Nevada ( , nə-VAD-ə; Spanish: [ne.ˈβa.ða] ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It is also sometimes placed in the Mountain West and Southwestern United States. It borders Idaho to the northeast, Oregon to the northwest, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive and the 31st-most populous U.S. state. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's population live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area. Nevada's capital is Carson City. 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. It is also known as the "Battle Born State" because it achieved statehood during the Civil War; as the "Sagebrush State", for the native plant of the same name; and as the "Sage-hen State". Native Americans of the Paiute, Shoshone, and Washoe tribes inhabit what is now Nevada. 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 area formed from mostly Alta California and part of Nuevo México's territory within the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which gained independence as Mexico in 1821. The United States annexed the area in 1848 after its victory in the Mexican–American War, and it was incorporated as part of the New Mexico and Utah Territory in 1850. The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in 1859 led to a population boom that became an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in 1861. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, 1864, 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.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Nevada (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Nevada in Depth

History

Before the arrival of Europeans, the earliest inhabitants were Indigenous tribes including the Goshute, Southern Paiute, Mohave, and Wašišiw (Washoe people).

Francisco Garcés was the first European in the area. Nevada was annexed as a part of the Spanish Empire in the northwestern territory of New Spain. Administratively, the area of Nevada was part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Nevada became a part of Alta California (Upper California) province in 1804 when the Californias were split. With the Mexican War of Independence won in 1821, the province of Alta California became a territory (state) of Mexico, with a small population.

Geography

Nevada is almost entirely within the Basin and Range Province and is broken up by many north–south mountain ranges. Most of these ranges have endorheic valleys between them.

Much of the northern part of the state is within the Great Basin, a mild desert that experiences hot temperatures in the summer and cold temperatures in the winter. Occasionally, moisture from the Arizona Monsoon will cause summer thunderstorms; Pacific storms may blanket the area with snow. The state's highest recorded temperature was 125 °F (52 °C) in Laughlin (elevation of 605 feet or 184 meters) on June 29, 1994. The coldest recorded temperature was −52 °F (−47 °C) set in San Jacinto in 1972, in the northeastern portion of the state.

Economy

The economy of Nevada is tied to tourism (especially entertainment and gambling related), mining, and cattle ranching. Nevada's industrial outputs are tourism, entertainment, mining, machinery, printing and publishing, food processing, and electric equipment. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates Nevada's total state product in 2018 was $170 billion. The state's per capita personal income in 2020 was $53,635, ranking 31st in the nation. Nevada's state debt in 2012 was calculated to be $7.5 billion, or $3,100 per taxpayer. In 2025, small businesses accounted for 99.3% of Nevada businesses, and employed 45.0% of its work force. As of May 2025, the state's unemployment rate was 5.5%.

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau determined Nevada had a population of 3,104,614 at the 2020 U.S. census. In 2022, the estimated population of Nevada was 3,177,772, an increase of 73,158 residents (2.36%) since the 2020 census. Nevada had the highest percentage growth in population from 2017 to 2018. At the 2020 census, 6.0% of the state's population were reported as under 5, 22.5% were under 18, and 16.1% were 65 or older. Females made up about 49.8% of the population. 19.1% of the population was reported as foreign-born.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Nevada (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Nevada: Key Facts

Key facts about Nevada
Population	3,104,614 (2020)
Area	286,380 km²
Capital	Carson City
Head of government	Joe Lombardo
Highest point	Boundary Peak
Established	31 October 1864

Facts from Wikidata Q1227 (CC0).

History of Nevada: Empires and States

One mapped polity is recorded over Nevada: United States of America, 1862–2024 CE.

Polities that held Nevada, in chronological order
Polity	Period here
United States of America	1862–2024 CE

Historical Maps of Nevada

Nevada on the world map in each year one of these states held it:

Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.

Visiting Nevada

Nevada is an arid state of the US, lying between California and Utah. Most of the state is within the Great Basin, but parts of the northeast drain into the Snake River and the southern portion is within the Mohave Desert and the Colorado river drainage. While many outsiders pronounce the state's name as "ne-VAH-duh", the correct local pronunciation is [nəˈvædə], with a short "a" as in apple.

Although the majority of tourists only visit Las Vegas, Reno and Tahoe to gamble, watch shows, and indulge themselves in food and drink, Nevada offers the more discerning traveler western frontier experiences verging on horse opera cliché, and landscapes utterly different from Europe, East Asia or more populated parts of North America.

In this more primitive environment, gambling seems not so much a high-tech means of fleecing the overly optimistic as the direct descendant of the itinerant cardsharp. Legal brothels are another holdover from the "soiled doves" of frontier times.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Nevada (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Largest Cities in Nevada

8 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.

Largest Cities in Nevada
#	Name	Population	Region	Role
1	Las Vegas	1.82 million	Nevada	Populated place
2	Reno	328,585	Nevada	Populated place
3	Carson City	57,341	Nevada	Admin-1 capital
4	Elko	19,252	Nevada	Populated place
5	Boulder City	15,479	Nevada	Populated place
6	Winnemucca	9,666	Nevada	Populated place
7	Ely	4,216	Nevada	Populated place
8	Tonopah	3,261	Nevada	Populated place

Highest Mountains in Nevada

2 mountains mapped. Ranked by summit elevation above sea level. A summit on a border is listed under both countries. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Highest Mountains in Nevada
#	Name	Elevation	Feet	Region
1	Wheeler Pk	3,982 m	13,064 ft	North America
2	Death Valley	-86 m	-282 ft	North America

Major Dams in Nevada

1 dam mapped. Ranked by structural height. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Major Dams in Nevada
#	Name	Height	River	Capacity	Completed
1	Hoover Dam	221 m	Colorado	2,080 MW	1936

Largest Lakes in Nevada

4 lakes mapped. Ranked by mapped surface area. A lake on a border is listed under each country it lies in, with the area of the whole lake. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Largest Lakes in Nevada
#	Name	Surface Area	Type
1	Lake Mead	787 km²	Reservoir
2	Lake Tahoe	485 km²	Lake
3	Pyramid Lake	408 km²	Alkaline Lake
4	Rye Patch Reservoir	42 km²	Reservoir

Nevada: Quick Answers

Where is Nevada?: Nevada is a first-level division of United States, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 38.7506° N, 116.9065° W.
What is the largest city in Nevada?: Las Vegas is the largest city mapped in Nevada, with a metropolitan population of about 1.82 million.
How many cities are in Nevada?: YearMaps maps 8 cities and towns in Nevada, with a combined metropolitan population of about 2.26 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.
What is the highest mountain in Nevada?: The highest summit mapped in Nevada is Wheeler Pk at 3,982 m.
What is the largest lake in Nevada?: The largest lake mapped in or beside Nevada is Lake Mead, at about 787 km².