Las Vegas

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Few towns conjure up images of excess such as Las Vegas. Located in the middle of the arid Mojave Desert, in the southern tip of Nevada, Las Vegas is an oasis of life, energy and money - a city where the only purpose in life is having fun.

Over 35 million people visit Las Vegas every year, being accommodated in the 150,000 hotel rooms in the town. According to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the city registered the fastest growth in North America, with approximately 80 acres of land being built every 24 hours and about 50,000 people annually settling here.

Ironically, the beginning of the city is quite humble. In the eighteenth century, the place where the city lies today has gained its name Las Vegas ("Plains" in Spanish) due to the presence of a natural spring that created an oasis in the desert. The town itself was founded in 1905 (as a railway station to Union Pacific, between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City).

In 1931 gambling was legalized and Las Vegas developed with unprecedented pace. At first, it attracted teams of workers at Hoover Dam, but soon it became a haven for gambling across the country - attracted stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Liberace and became the main entertainment center in America.

In the 1930s a tendency of building enormous hotel resorts has developed, competing for the title of the largest hotel in the world, a trend that is still available today. The competition was won by MGM Grand, with a capacity of over 5,000 rooms, while the Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas and Palazzo have certainly contributed to the definition of luxury.

Today, Las Vegas is more flourishing than ever. Entertainment is the business on which the city economy is based, giving rise to large hotels and industries of tourism and commerce. Residents of this city go normal lives in normal suburbs but to visitors, Las Vegas is just an endless playground with illuminated signs, places where one can have a good time, with live shows and casinos.

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