Nevada

Sablon:USA tagállam adatlap Nevada 1864-ben lett az Amerikai Egyesült Államok 36. tagállama, a kifejezés "harcban született" (Baattle Born), utal arra, hogy Nevada az polgárháború idején lepett be az Unióba. Az Államok nyugati területén helyezkedik el. Fővárosa Carson City, s legnagyobb városa Las Vegas. Az állam bece neve "az ezüst állam" ("The Silver State"), mivel sok ezüst lelő helyet fedeztek fel itt. Az első település Mormon Station volt.

Nevada a hetedik legnagyobb állam, mely magában foglalja délen a Mojave Desert-et és északon a Great Basin-t. Az állam területének megközelítőleg 86%-a az Központi kormány tulajdonában van, mind polgári, mind katonai szempontból.

A 2006. évi U.S. Census felmérései alapján az államnak 2,6 millió lakosa volt, s ennek 85 %-a Las Vegas és Reno metropolisz körzetében élt. ]</ref> The state is well known for its easy marriage and divorce proceedings, legalization of gambling and, in a few counties, legalized brothels.

In 2005, the state issued a specialty license plate via the Nevada Commission on Tourism that lists the name of the state as Nevăda to help with the pronunciation problem. The local pronunciation of the state's name is not /nəˈvɑ.də/ (as in the "a" in "father"), but /nəˈvæ.də/ (as in the "a" in "glad"). Local residents - particularly natives of the state - resent hearing Nevada's name mispronounced in the national media, a problem that has crystallized with increased coverage of the state following the 2008 Presidential Primary Elections.

Geography

Fájl:Great Basin National Park 102007 096.JPG

Welcome to Nevada sign.

Digitally colored elevation map of Nevada

Sablon:Further 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 inland-draining (unconnected to the ocean by waterways) valleys between them, which belies the image portrayed by the term Great Basin.

Pinion Juniper forests cover large areas of the north and central parts of the state.

Sunrise over Reno

Much of the northern part of the state is within the Great Basin Desert, a mild desert that experiences hot temperatures in the summer and sub-freezing 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 láb (184 m)) on June 29, 1994.

The Humboldt River crosses from east to west across the northern part of the state, draining into the Humboldt Sink near Lovelock. Several rivers drain from the Sierra Nevada eastward, including the Walker, Truckee and Carson rivers.

Mountains west of Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert.

The mountain ranges, some of which have peaks above 13 000 láb (4000 m), harbor lush forests high above desert plains, creating sky islands for endemic species. The valleys are often no lower in elevation than 3000 láb (900 m).

The eastern parts of the state receive more summer moisture and have a slightly more verdant terrain. Sagebrush grows everywhere and some rivers and streams break the desert terrain.

The southern third of the state, where the Las Vegas area is situated, is within the Mojave Desert. The area receives less rain in the winter but is closer to the Arizona Monsoon in the summer. The terrain is also lower, mostly below 4000 láb (1200 m), creating conditions for hot summer days and cool to chilly winter nights due to inversion. Nevada and California have by far the longest diagonal line (in respect to the cardinal directions) as a state boundary at just over 400 mérföld (640 km). This line begins in Lake Tahoe nearly 4 mérföld (6 km) offshore (in the direction of the boundary), and continues to the Colorado River where the Nevada, California, and Arizona boundaries merge 12 mérföld (19 km) southwest of the Laughlin Bridge.

The largest mountain range in the southern portion of the state is the Spring Mountains, just west of Las Vegas. The state's lowest point is along the Colorado River, south of Laughlin.

Climate

Nevada is made up of mostly desert areas, where temperatures can reach up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit in short, hot summers and can reach as low as 20 degrees in long, cold winters. Nevada rarely has any precipitation during the year. Most rain falls on the lee side of the Sierra Nevada Range.

Bordering states

• Utah—East
• Arizona—Southeast
• California—West
• Oregon—North
• Idaho—North

History

Before 1861

Fájl:Early Locomotive.JPG

Early locomotives, such as this one in Ely, Nevada played an important role in the early Nevada mining industry.

See History of Utah (beginning 12,000 BC), History of Las Vegas, and the discovery of the first major U.S. deposit of silver ore in Comstock Lode under Virginia City, Nevada in 1859.

Statehood

On March 2, 1861, the Nevada Territory separated from the Utah Territory and adopted its current name, shortened from Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy range"). 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, it was viewed as more politically reliable than other Confederate-sympathizing states such as neighboring California. (Citation Needed. This is questionable because California was a state long before this happened)

Nevada achieved its current boundaries on May 5, 1866 when it absorbed the portion of Pah-Ute County in the Arizona Territory west of the Colorado River, essentially all of present day Nevada south of the 37th parallel. The transfer was prompted by the discovery of gold in the area, and it was thought by officials that Nevada would be better able to oversee the expected population boom. This area includes most of what is now Clark County.

Industry

Mining shaped Nevada's economy for many years (see Silver mining in Nevada). When Mark Twain lived in Nevada during the period described in Roughing It, mining had lead to an industry of speculation and immense wealth. However, both mining and population declined in the late 19th century. However, the rich silver strike at Tonopah in 1900, followed by strikes in Goldfield and Rhyolite, again put Nevada's population on an upward trend.

Gaming and labor

Gambling erupted once more following a recession in the early 20^th century, helping to build the city of Las Vegas.

Unregulated gambling was common place in the early Nevada mining towns but outlawed in 1909 as part of a nation-wide anti-gaming crusade. Due to subsequent declines in mining output and the decline of the agricultural sector during the Great Depression, Nevada re-legalized gambling on March 19, 1931, with approval from the legislature. At the time, the leading proponents of gambling expected that it would be a short term fix until the state's economic base widened to include less cyclical industries. However, re-outlawing gambling has never been seriously considered since, and the industry has become Nevada's primary source of revenue today.

The Hoover Dam, located outside Las Vegas near Boulder City, was constructed in the years 1932–1935. Thousands of workers from across the country came to build the dam, and providing for their needs in turn required many more workers. The boom in population is likely to have fueled the re-legalization of gambling, alike present-day industry. Both Hoover Dam and later war industries such as the Basic Magnesium Plant first started the growth of the southern area of the state near Las Vegas. Over the last 75 years, Clark County has grown in relation to the Reno area, and today encompasses most of the state's population.

Nuclear Testing

The Nevada Test Site, 65 mérföld (105 km) Northwest of the City of Las Vegas, was founded on January 11, 1951 for the testing of nuclear weapons. The site is composed of approximately 1350 négyzetmérföld (3500 km²) of desert and mountainous terrain. Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with a one-kiloton of TNT (4 terajoule) bomb dropped on Frenchman Flats on January 27, 1951. The last atmospheric test was conducted on July 17, 1962 and the underground testing of weapons continued until September 23, 1992. The location is known for the highest amount of concentrated nuclear detonated weapons in the U.S. It is also the home of Area 51.

Over 80% of the state's area is owned by the federal government. The primary reason for this is that homesteads were not permitted in large enough sizes to be viable in the arid conditions that prevail throughout desert Nevada. Instead, early settlers would homestead land surrounding a water source, and then graze livestock on the adjacent public land, which is useless for agriculture without access to water (this pattern of ranching still prevails). The deficiencies in the Homestead Act as applied to Nevada were probably due to a lack of understanding of the Nevada environment, although some firebrands (so-called "Sagebrush Rebels") maintain that it was due to pressure from mining interests to keep land out of the hands of common folk. This debate continues to be argued among some state historians today.

Demographics

Népesség különböző években
Év	Népesség		Vált. (%)
1860	6 857		—
1870	42 941		526,2%
1880	62 266		45%
1890	47 355		−23,9%
1900	42 335		−10,6%
1910	81 875		93,4%
1920	77 407		−5,5%
1930	91 058		17,6%
1940	110 247		21,1%
1950	160 083		45,2%
1960	285 278		78,2%
1970	488 738		71,3%
1980	800 493		63,8%
1990	1 201 833		50,1%
2000	1 998 257		66,3%
2007 (becsült)	2 565 382

Nevada népedssétge

A U.S. Census Bureau 2007. évi felmérése szerint Nevada lakossainak száma 2 565 382 fő volt, mely az előző évvel összevetve 92 909 fővel növekedett, százalékban kifejezve 3,5%-ot nőtt. Ha a 2000.évi adatokat vesszük alapul a lakosság száma 516 550 fővel nőtt, amely 20,8 %-os növekedés jelent. Ez magában foglalja a természetes növekedést is, ahol a születések száma 170 451 fő, a hatálozások száma 81 661 fő, s az ujjonnan letelepedettek száma 337 043 volt. A 2006-os becslések alapján Nevada a második leggyorsabban növekvő állam lakosságát illetően.

Las Vegas az Államok leggyorsabban növekvő városa.

Vallás

Nevada állam lakosainak vallás szerinti megoszlása:

• Római katolikus – 27%
• Protestáns; 11 %
  • Evangélikus – 13%
  • Más protestáns – 2%
• Mormon – 11%
• Muszlim – 2%
• Zsidó – 1%
• Más vallás – 1%
• Nem válaszolt – 20%

A legnagyobb számú felekezet a 2000. évi tanulmányok alapján a római katolikus egyház, tagjainak száma 331 844, a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 116 925; és a déli babtista felekezet 40 233 taggal. 77 100 nevadai a zsidó egyházközösséghez tartozik.

Külső hivatkozások

• USA Travel - Nevada magyarul
• Nevada.lap.hu - linkgyűjtemény