Chapter 1

History
10,000 years ago Paleo-Indians first visited the Las Vegas valley hundreds of years ago. They lived as nomads, traveling and camping in different locations. These people left behind petroglyphs that help us tell our early history.

Economy

The primary drivers of the Las Vegas economy have been the confluence of tourism, gaming and conventions which in turn feed the retail and dining industries. The city serves as world headquarters for the world's two largest Fortune 500 gaming companies, Harrah’s Entertainment and MGM Mirage. Several companies involved in the manufacture of electronic gaming machines, such as slot machines, are located in the Las Vegas area.

Tourism

The major attractions in Las Vegas are the casinos and the hotels. The most famous hotel casinos are located on Las Vegas Boulevard on the portion of that road known as the Las Vegas Strip. These larger casinos are located outside of the city. Many of these hotels are massive, providing thousands of rooms, with their large adjoining casino areas.

 

Education
Elementary schools - 62
Middle schools - 16
High schools - 9
UNLV satellite campus - 1
CSN satellite campus - 1

Culture and Recreation
Parks - 68
Golf courses - 14
Public swimming pools - 12

Sources:
http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas,_Nevada

Chapter 2

Las Vegas is situated on the arid desert floor within Clark County. The surrounding environment is dominated by desert vegetation and some wildlife , and the area is subject to torrential flash floods. Enabling the rapidcapacity. The sewage treatment expansion resulted from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant funding 2008 programs to analyze and forecast growth and environmental impacts through the year 2019. The city is in an arid basin surrounded by dry mountains. City elevation is around 2,030 ft (620 m) above sea level. The Spring Mountains lie to the west. Much of the landscape is rocky and dusty. Within the city, however, there are many lawns, trees and other greenery. Due to water resource issues, there is now a movement to encourage xeriscapes. Another part of the water conservation efforts include scheduled watering groups for watering residential landscaping. population expansion was a major addition to the city's sewage treatment



Climate

(based on 30-year average)
Average minimum temperature - 56.3 F
Average maximum temperature - 79.9 F
Annual Sunshine - 294 days

Area
Land 133.2 square miles
City 131.3 square miles
Water 0.1 square miles

	Estimate	Margin of Error
Total:	564,484	+/-6,809
Not Hispanic or Latino	394,911	+/-5,616
Hispanic or Latino:	169,573	+/-5,686
Mexican	134,143	+/-5,568
Puerto Rican	4,474	+/-875
Cuban	4,372	+/-1,030
Dominican (Dominican Republic)	1,033	+/-717
Central American	14,127	+/-2,252
South American	3,756	+/-859
Other Hispanic or Latino	7,668	+/-1,296

Sources:
http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/index.htm
U.S. Census Bureau, 2006-2008 American Community Survey 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas,_Nevada

Chapter 3

	Las Vegas city, Nevada
	Estimate	Margin of Error
Total:	564,484	+/-6,809
White alone	399,848	+/-6,324
Black or African American alone	57,945	+/-2,712
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	3,286	+/-852
Asian alone	30,769	+/-1,763
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	2,856	+/-1,016
Some other race alone	49,417	+/-4,486
Two or more races:	20,363	+/-1,691
Two races including Some other race	3,501	+/-893
Two races excluding Some other race, and three or more races	16,862	+/-1,728

The first reported visit to the valley by someone of European descent was Raphael Rivera in 1829. Las Vegas was named by Spaniard in the Antonio Armijo party, who used the water in the area while heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail from Texas. In the 1800s, areas of the Las Vegas Valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas or meadows (vegas in Spanish), hence the name Las Vegas.

Sources: 
U.S. Census Bureau, 2006-2008 American Community Survey
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en&_ts= 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas,_Nevada

Chapter 4

Economic Characteristics	Estimate	Percent	U.S.	Margin of Error
In labor force (population 16 years and over)	284,146	66.8	65.2%	+/-4,071
Mean travel time to work in minutes (workers 16 years and over)	25.7	(X)	25.3	+/-0.4
Median household income (in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars)	55,113	(X)	52,175	+/-1,178
Median family income (in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars)	63,589	(X)	63,211	+/-1,477
Per capita income (in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars)	27,988	(X)	27,466	+/-661
Families below poverty level	(X)	8.7	9.6%	(X)
Individuals below poverty level	(X)	11.7	13.2%	(X)

The Las Vegas metropolitan area, is a metropolitan area  in the southern part of the U.S. state ofNevada, consisting of Clark County. A central part of the metropolitan area is the Las Vegas Valley, a 600 square miles basin in which is located the metropolitan area's largest city, Las Vegas. The area contains the largest consentration of people in the state. The area was previously settled by Mormon farmers in 1854 and later became the site of a United States Army fort in 1864, beginning a long relationship between southern Nevada and the U.S. military. Since the 1930s, Las Vegas has generally been identified as a gaming center as well as a resort destination, primarily targeting adults. Relatively inexpensive real estate prompted a residential population boom in the Las Vegas Valley in the 1990s and is still expanding in every direction.

Map of Nevada with the Las Vegas metropolitan area highlighted in red.

Sources: 

U.S. Census Bureau, 2009 Population Estimates, Census 2000, 1990 Census
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_metropolitan_area

Chapter 5

Major Industries and Commercial Activity

Tourism drives the economy in Las Vegas, with 37 million people visiting the city each year. According to the University of Nevada's Center for Business and Economic Research Center, the figure for visitor spending in 2004 was a staggering $33.7 billion. In 2004, 20 percent of all jobs were gaming-related.
Though many miles away, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, had a devastating effect on the Las Vegas economy, costing thousands who worked in the entertainment and service industries their jobs in the weeks following. While the city had mostly recovered by 2003, other problems had set in, namely difficulties in drawing tourists to the other aspects of the city, in particular the downtown area. Developments in 2004 and 2005 are helping to revitalize the downtown economy.
Constant population growth means that the housing construction industry is vitally important. In 2000 more than 21,000 new homes and 26,000 resale homes were purchased; more than one third of Las Vegas homes are only five years old or less. In early 2005 there were 20 residential development projects of more than 300 acres each currently underway.
While the entertainment and service industries are, collectively, the largest employers in Las Vegas, the major single employer is the Clark County School District.


Sources: 
http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-West/Las-Vegas-Economy.html

Chapter 7

The four seasons are actually well defined in Las Vegas, although they differ from the traditional view of seasonal variation. Summers display classic desert southwest characteristics. Daily high temperatures typically exceed 100 degrees with lows in the 70s. The summer heat is tempered somewhat by the extremely low relative humidity. However, it is not uncommon for humidity to increase markedly for several weeks each summer in association with a moist monsoonal flow from the south, typically during July and August. Aside from increasing the discomfort level, these moist winds also support the development of spectacular desert thunderstorms which are frequently associated with significant flash flooding and/or strong downburst winds.


 Topography 

Las Vegas is located in a broad desert valley in extreme southern Nevada. Mountains surrounding the valley extend 2,000 to 10,000 feet above the valley floor. The Las Vegas Valley comprises about 600 square miles and runs from northwest to southeast. The valley is bounded on the north by the Sheep Range, while Boulder City and the Lake Mead National Recreation Area are generally considered its southern extent. To the west are the Spring Mountains, which include Mt. Charleston, the region's highest peak at 11,918 feet. Several smaller ranges line the eastern rim of the valley, including the Muddy Mountains, the Black Mountains and the Eldorado Range. 

Source:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/vef/climate/pagei.php

Chapter 8

Though the manufacturing sector has declined in the past fifty years, manufacturing is still the most common industry throughout the Eastern half of the United States. Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting are prevalent throughout the Great Plains region. The western states are composed of a tapestry of most common industries.

Source:
http://www.censusscope.org/index.html