Southern Nevada (SNV) is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

and the southern portion of the U.S. state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

which includes the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

. It also includes the areas in and around Pahrump and Pioche. Tonopah and Hawthorne are sometimes also referred to as part of Southern Nevada, but all organizations based in the Las Vegas area, such as the Southern Nevada Health District, effectively limit the term to the Las Vegas Valley. Geographically, parts of Southern Nevada are within the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

. The population of the region, as measured by the 2020 U.S. Census, is 2,327,680, with 2,265,461 living in the Las Vegas Valley (i.e., Clark County). Over time and influenced by

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

s in Southern Nevada have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Las Vegas's and Southern Nevada’s water security.

Economy

The primary drivers of the Southern Nevada economy have been the confluence of

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, gaming and conventions which in turn feed the

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

and

dining A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in a ...

industries. Las Vegas serves as world

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

for the world's largest

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

gaming company,

MGM Resorts International MGM Resorts International is an American Multinational corporation, multinational hospitality, sports and entertainment company. It operates resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, Macau, Shanghai, ...

. Tourism also benefits the areas around Pahrump, which has served as a bedroom community of Las Vegas. Prostitution is also legal in areas of Southern Nevada, outside of Clark County.

Topography

The

and

Great Basin Desert The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range in the western United States. The desert is a geographical region that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife ...

cover all or most of Southern Nevada. Man-made lakes, seasonal, and dry lakes periodically dot the landscape. Examples of these are Lake Mead, Lake Las Vegas and the Ivanpah Dry Lake.

References

External links

* {{Nevada Regions of Nevada