Las Vegas is the largest city in Nevada and in the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. Revenue from hotels including most of the world’s largest gambling, entertainment, resorts, and other tourist-oriented industries forms the backbone of the economy. Entertainment enterprises have led to an increasing array of sports, music, gambling, and amusement centers up and down the main “strip,” as the city succeeded in the 1990s in redefining itself as a family resort, complete with monorail (opened 2004). The nightclubs, casinos, and championship boxing matches are world famous. The 1,149-ft (350-m) Stratosphere tower is the country's tallest observation tower. Las Vegas is also the commercial hub of a mining and ranching area and has diverse manufacturing, including gaming equipment. In 1855-57 the Mormons maintained a fort there, and in 1864, Fort Baker was built by the U.S. army. In the 19th century Las Vegas was a watering place for travelers heading for southern California. In 1867 Las Vegas was detached from the Arizona Territory and joined onto Nevada. Its main growth began when a railroad was completed in 1905.

 

A campus of the University of Nevada is there, and Las Vegas also has a number of museums, including ones devoted to natural history, old neon signs from the strip, the entertainer Liberace, and atomic testing. Hoover Dam is nearby and Nellis Air Force Base lies to the north of the city.