When you think of Las Vegas, glittering lights, massive casinos, and over-the-top resorts probably come to mind. But here’s a fun twist to kick off your Fun Fact Friday: the famous Las Vegas Strip isn’t actually in Las Vegas.
That’s right! The Strip stretches just over four miles long and sits south of the official Las Vegas city limits, in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester, governed by Clark County—not the city of Las Vegas itself.
How Did That Happen?
The original city of Las Vegas was small and tightly regulated. Gambling was illegal for a period of time and later heavily controlled. When Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, savvy hotel and casino developers realized they could sidestep city taxes, stricter regulations, and political oversight by building just outside city limits.
The result? A booming resort corridor along U.S. Route 91 (now Las Vegas Boulevard)—prime real estate for travelers that fell under Clark County’s looser rules and lower taxes. And thus, the Strip was born.
The Birth of the Strip
The first full-service casino-resort on what we now call the Strip was El Rancho Vegas, which opened in 1941 with just 63 bungalow-style rooms. Its success led to the opening of the Hotel Last Frontier in 1942. Soon after, organized crime figures—including the infamous Bugsy Siegel—recognized the Strip’s potential and helped finance the completion of the Flamingo, forever changing the city’s skyline and reputation.
Fun bonus fact: the name “The Strip” was coined by Los Angeles police officer Guy McAfee, who named it after Hollywood’s Sunset Strip—his hometown’s famous entertainment corridor.
Bigger, Brighter, and Bolder
Today, the Strip is home to 8 of the world’s largest hotels. The biggest of them all? The Venetian Resort, boasting a staggering 7,264 rooms. The MGM Grand, once the largest hotel in the world when it opened in 1993, is still the 5th largest today—and features the largest bronze statue in the U.S.: a 45-foot-tall, 50-ton lion.
The Strip’s glow is so intense it’s considered the brightest place on Earth when viewed from space, even outshining Hong Kong. A big reason for that? The Luxor’s iconic pyramid beam, the most powerful man-made light in the world. It costs about $51 an hour to run and can be seen up to 275 miles away from aircraft cruising over places like Los Angeles.
Love, Liberty, and Little Oddities
Las Vegas also earns its reputation as the Wedding Capital of the World, with 200–300 couples tying the knot every day. Even better? Getting a marriage license takes about 10 minutes, and the bureau is open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight.
And here’s a quirky one: the Statue of Liberty Forever stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2010 was supposed to feature the real Statue of Liberty in New York—but instead showed the replica at the New York–New York casino in Las Vegas. The mistake went unnoticed until after production, and the stamp stayed in circulation. In 2018, the sculptor of the Vegas statue won a $3.5 million copyright lawsuit against the Postal Service.
Vegas by the Numbers
Las Vegas welcomes over 40 million visitors each year, making it one of the most visited cities in the U.S. and a top global tourist destination. Still, it might surprise you to learn that it’s not the world’s top gambling city—that title belongs to Macau, whose gambling industry is seven times larger than Las Vegas’.