Las Vegas

Las Vegas is the gambling capital of the USA. It's a city literally built from nothing in the middle of Mojave desert. It became a city in 1911 and really took off twenty years later when gambling was legalized. Here are some completely useless facts and figures that you really don't need to know but you might find interesting anyway.

The average Las Vegas Valley household consumes about 230,000 gallons of water a year. That's 4230 per week, and 602 per day! What do they do with it?

The famous Las Vegas Strip, where you can find all the lavish casinos, is not actually located in the city of Las Vegas.

There is one slot machine in Las Vegas for every 8 people who live there.

Seventeen of the top twenty hotels in the world are found in Las Vegas.

The average annual temperature in Las Vegas is 66 degrees Fahrenheit, or 19 centigrade.

On average, approximately 230 marriage licenses are issued per day in Las Vegas. In some cases you can get married and you don't even need to get out of your car - you just drive in and drive out again. Or your ceremony can even be conducted by a vicar dressed as Elvis Presley.

Talking of whom, Elvis 'The Pelvis' Presley performed in 837 consecutive sold out shows at the Las Vegas Hilton Casino.

The all-time one-off concert box-office record occurred in Las Vegas. The show took place on New Years Eve 1999 for the Barbara Streisand concert, at the MGM Grand. The total receipts were $14,694,750.00 from 12,477 tickets sold. That's an average ticket price of $1177

The Strip has featured in numerous films, including Ocean's Eleven (both the original and the remake) and Casino, one of Robert de Niro's finest.