Nevada/Las Vegas Travel and Registration

Nevada is an arid state of the USA, 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 the southern portion is within the Mohave desert and the Colorado river drainage. Please note that 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 cliche, 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 descendent of the itinerant cardsharp. Legal brothels are another holdover, from the "soiled doves" of frontier times. It isn't that Nevadans approve, so much as they haven't gotten around to outlawing all of their history yet.

Understand

Nevada achieved statehood in 1864, becoming the 36th state, despite its tiny population. The primary purpose of this early grant of statehood was to pack congress with two more Senators and thus help preserve Northern/Republican dominance in the post-civil war era. At the time, Nevada's economy was dominated by the mining industry, thus tying the state to the industrialized North. Nevada was also seen as a counter-balance to the more agrarian and confederate-sympathizing California.

Over the years, Nevada's economy has diversified somewhat into agriculture, light industry, distribution, and gaming. However, over 87% of the land in Nevada is still owned by the Federal Government.

There are fairly large cultural differences between Urban and Rural areas, and therefore they are treated separately here.

Urban

The urban areas, consisting of the Reno and Las Vegas areas, are heavily dependent on tourism and thus very welcoming to outsiders. In addition, these areas have seen a huge influx of immigration in recent years from both inside and outside the USA and thus have a cosmopolitan feel. In a gambling town, everyone's your friend as long as you have money. Recent immigrants from California are widely complained about (especially by the less recent immigrants from California), but that's about the extent of it.
Rural
Rural folk in Nevada are about like rural folk in the rest of the US, except more so. Although they are mostly conservative and highly individualistic, you'll be surprised by their helpful, easy going nature and tolerance of people that they don't feel threatened by. As the entire rural economy of Nevada is dependent on access to Federal lands for mining and grazing, environmental activists, and BLM and US Forest Service employees may be viewed as a threat. Young and hip people, especially from the north-eastern US, may be assumed to belong to one of those groups...

Some rural areas have significant populations of Native American peoples, mainly Paiute and Shoshone. Reservations are found at Fort McDermott on the Oregon border, in the Reese River Valley between the Toiyabe and Shoshone Ranges, around Pyramid Lake and at the northern end of Walker Lake. Local tribes were traditionally identified by their dietary mainstays, which were Cutthroat Trout at Walker Lake, Cui-Ui (a large type of sucker) at Pyramid Lake, and even a type of caterpillar in the mountains near Lake Tahoe. Pine nuts from Singleleaf Pinyons were a staple in most locations and can sometimes be found for sale in rural stores.

Talk

English is the official language of Nevada. Spanish is also widely spoken in Nevada, and like much of the southwest Nevada is heavily influenced by the language, Hispanic culture, and history under Spanish and Mexican rule. Tagalog is also spoken among Filipino populations.

Travel Registration for Nevada/Las Vegas