Nevada

In presidential elections Nevada has an uncanny knack in backing the eventual winner. It chose Kennedy in 1960, Nixon in 1968, was heavily Republican in the 1980s and opted for Clinton in the 1990s.

Key facts

Population: 1,603,163 (ranked 39 among states)

Governor: Kenny Guinn (R)

Electoral College votes: 4

But the party balance here is very even and the 1998 Senate race was decided by a tiny margin.

One important issue for Nevada's voters is nuclear testing. For years the state has been the government's main nuclear test site and an emotive and contentious local issue is whether to allow the building of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository.

1998 Congress

House of Representatives: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican

Senate: 2 Democrats

Congress chose the site in 1987 but the plan has since faced opposition from Nevadans anxious about the plant's affect on the environment and their health. In 1998 President Clinton's threat to a veto a bill creating a temporary site again stalled the issue.

When it was granted statehood in 1864 Nevada was a barren, isolated and unappealing place. Much of its population had come looking for silver from the Comstock mine and once they had drained $500 million by the 1880s many of them left again.

By the 1930s Nevada's population was just 91,000. Then Nevada hit the jackpot when it decided to legalise gambling.

Voting record

1996: Clinton 44%, Dole 43%

1992: Clinton 37%, Bush 35%, Perot 26%

1988: Bush 59%, Dukakis 38%

For the second time in its history Nevada became a cente for those seeking a fortune and since the 1960s it has been the fastest growing state in the nation with Hispanics among those moving in large numbers.

Las Vegas has grown to more than one million people and it now earns $24.6 billion from gamblers each year, an industry that in some way employs half the state's population.

Reno is the second largest city in the state and is famous for its quick divorces while Las Vegas is a mix of glitzy casinos, lurid hotels and museums devoted to the likes of Liberace, although it is not as seedy or dominated by the mob as it once was.