Las Vegas, rightly named the Entertainment Capital of the World, is situated within Nevada State. The city is the largest in Nevada and serves as the seat of Clark County. The city of Las Vegas has long been recognized as a resort city famous for its casinos. Entertainment, gambling, shopping and fine dining keep tourists to this particular city always busy. Known in the past as Sin City for the various forms of adult entertainment which were tolerated and encouraged, Las Vegas is today becoming famous with families and retirees. Las Vegas has a population of 583,756, as of 2010. The larger Las Vegas metropolitan area has nearly two million people.
Founded in 1905, Las Vegas became incorporated as a city in 1911. Las Vegas was the most densely inhabited American city founded in the 20th century. Originally, railroads boosted the population of the city, but it was the beginning of legalized gambling, in the year 1931, which made the fortunes of the city. The downtown area developed many casinos and hotels. At the end of WWII, fortune seekers and people vacationing from all around the country looked for excitement at "the strip", an area of wonderful restaurants, glittering entertainment and luxurious hotels. The unique aesthetic and appeal of the city makes it a setting frequently used for movies and TV shows. Fremont Street's neon lighting displays earned the street the nickname Glitter Gultch.
There are several entertainment museums within the city with the Guinness World of Records Museum, the Liberace Museum and the Elvis-a-Rama Museum. The strip offers not just cheap type of entertainment run by hotels, but shows by amongst the top names within the music industry. Art lovers could see Picasso Collections and other artists showcased in lobbies of hotels. The Las Vegas Art Museum is a branch of the Guggenheim.
A factor that has helped boost the development of Las Vegas is that there are no state or city taxes. This development has seen the creation of 19 of the world's 20 largest hotels, that in turn has fueled the economy with many of jobs for young employees. About twenty percent of work in this globally recognized resort destination are gaming-related. Headquartered here are Harrah's Entertainment and MGM Mirage, two of the globe's largest gaming corporations. The population growth in Las Vegas has fueled a significant amount of construction.
Electronic gaming and telecommunications are notable businesses within the region. Companies such as CommPartners, Bigelow Aerospace, Datanamics, eVital Communications, SkywireMedia, Petroglyph, WorldDoc and Switch Communications.