Reno is a city in the state of Nevada, which is commonly known for its casinos. Located in the northwestern part of Nevada, it is the county seat of Washoe County and the most populous city in Nevada outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Reno is located in the high desert valley at the foot of the Sierra Nevada about 26 miles north of the capital, Carson City, and 22 miles northeast of Lake Tahoe and it is known as "the Biggest Little City in the World."

The Reno-Sparks metropolitan area, or Truckee Meadows, has a population of more than 500,000 people. The city proper has a population density of 2,186 people per square mile or 844 people per square kilometer.

Reno Population Growth

Between 2011 and 2012, Reno's population grew more than 1% as many people moved to the county from other parts of the United States. There may not be enough jobs to sustain the population growth, however, according to The Nevada State Demographer, Washoe County had more significant growth in the last decade, with year-to-year growth of over 10,000 three different times.

As the population of Washoe County and Nevada grow, the demographics are shifting. The non-Hispanic white population has dropped in every county between 2010 and 2014 except for three counties. In Washoe County, the non-Hispanic white population grew very slightly, with the Latino population growing 5%.

Reno Facts

• Nevada produces 7% of the world's gold supply and is the third-largest gold producer after South Africa and Australia.
• The famous Reno Arch was constructed in 1926 to promote the upcoming Transcontinental Highways Exposition the next year.
• The city's slogan came from G.A. Burns of Sacramento, who won a $100 prize.
• Before writing his books, Mark Twain worked as a reporter in nearby Virginia City.
• There are thousands of tiny earthquakes in Reno every year that are too minor to notice.
• Reno was the divorce capital of the world through the 1940s due to its loose divorce requirements.

Reno was first inhabited by the prehistoric Martis people. Pioneers began settling in the area in the 1850s, many of whom lived off subsistence farming and business from travelers on the California Trail. Gold was discovered nearby in 1850 which started a small mining community, but it was the discovery of silver in 1859 that started a mining rush.

To connect nearby Virginia City with the California Trail and to earn a coin or two, a man named Charles Fuller constructed a toll bridge across the Truckee River that same year. It was renamed Lake's Crossing once it was sold to Myron Lake and it became the largest town in the county by 1864. Reno was established in 1868 after the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed and named after Major General Jesse Reno, a Union officer killed in the Civil War.

The economy grew as the Virginia and Truckee Railroad was extended. When the mining boom started to wane at the start of the 20th century, the business and economics of the state shifted to Reno and Las Vegas while mining communities became ghost towns.