1. A state in the western United States; Also called: Silver State, Battle Born State, Sagebrush State.
2. City in Iowa (USA); zip code 50201.
3. City in Missouri (USA); zip code 64772.
4. City in Texas (USA); zip code 75173.
5. Village in Ohio (USA); zip code 44849.
State in western US; nicknamed Silver State/Sagebrush State.
area 286,400 sq km/110,550 sq mi.
capital Carson City.
towns and cities Las Vegas, Reno.

physical Mohave Desert; lakes: Tahoe, Pyramid, Mead; mountains and plateaus alternating with valleys.
environment decontamination project underway after the discovery that plutonium and other radioactive materials are leaking out through cracks in the rocks around an underground nuclear weapons testing site, ground water and wild animals near the site have been found to be contaminated.
features the most arid state; Great Basin national park, with Wheeler Peak (3,981 m/13,061 ft), and the Lehman Caves; Red Rock Canyon; Hoover Dam and Lake Mead (the largest artificial lake in the W hemisphere); Valley of Fire state park, with Pueblo Indian rock drawings and brightly colored rock formations; Virginia City national historic district; legal gambling and prostitution in some counties; Las Vegas, a gambling resort, with casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, the easiest place to get married in the US, with 25 chapels along the Strip and hotel chapels; Reno, with the Reno Arch proclaiming it “The Biggest Little City in the Worl”.
industries mercury, barite, gold.
history explored by Kit Carson and John C Fremont 1843–45; ceded to the US after the Mexican War 1848; first permanent settlement a Mormon trading post 1848. Discovery of silver (the Comstock Lode) 1858 led to rapid population growth and statehood 1864.
The building of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s provided the water and power needed for the growth of Las Vegas. In 1931 the state created two industries: divorce (Reno) and gambling (Las Vegas). Oil was discovered 1954, but gold exceeds all other mineral production. Tourism and gambling now generate more than half of the state's income.