Nevada is a state in the west of the United States, between California and Utah. Most of it is desert, and it is the driest state in the country — rain almost never stays. Though actually, the name comes from Spanish nevada, meaning ‘covered in snow’. That sounds wrong until you know it was named after the Sierra Nevada, the high mountains on the California side that really do get snow. People outside the US often say the name like ‘ne-VAH-da’, but people who live there usually say ‘ne-VAD-uh’. The city visitors know best is Las Vegas, famous for hotels, shows, and gambling. Reno, in the north, used to be famous because it was easy to get a divorce there. The state also has a mining past and a lot of empty land. In careful writing you may say the state of Nevada; in talk, people just say Nevada.