"Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas (Spanish: "The Meadows") is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment. Las Vegas, billed as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of casino resorts and associated entertainment. A growing retirement and family city, it is the 28th most populous city in the United States with an estimated population by the U.S. Census Bureau of 558,880 as of 2007.The federal census bureau estimated the population of the Las Vegas metropolitan area on 1 July 2007 as 1,836,333.The metropolitan area is synonymous with Clark County. The population now exceeds 2.1 million people.

The name Las Vegas is often applied to unincorporated suburbs that surround the city, especially the resort areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip. This 4.5-mile (7.2-km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard is mostly outside the city limits, in the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester. For a review of gaming inside the city limits see: Downtown Gaming. The valley is named Las Vegas, Spanish for The Meadows.

Established in 1905, Las Vegas officially became a city in 1911. With the growth that followed, at the close of the century Las Vegas was the most populous American city founded in the 20th century (a distinction held by Chicago in the 19th century). The city's tolerance for various forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and this image has made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs. Outdoor lighting displays are everywhere on the Las Vegas Strip and are seen elsewhere in the city as well; as seen from space, Las Vegas is the brightest city on earth."