A lot of people know about Las Vegas mostly from the movies or from the popular TV series with the same name. It is a city made famous by its gaming establishments especially along the world renowned Strip. This is one of the main reasons why over 40 million people visit the city every year. A study conducted in 2013 concluded that 15% of people come for the sole purpose of gambling, but that 71% of visitors end up gambling.

It is also one of the world’s most preferred locations for conventions, with over 22,000 held there every year. This makes the McCarran airport one of the busiest in the US. There is – however – more about Las Vegas that people are not very conversant with. This is a list of little known facts about this beautiful city.

It is not all roses

People know Las Vegas as the place to go when you are looking for a quick uncomplicated wedding. In fact, over 150 weddings happen there every single day. What people do not know, is that the city is also the divorce capital of the United States. This is because most of the weddings are a spur of the moment decision fuelled by the magic of the city and in a lot of cases, alcohol.

The Strip is not owned by Vegas

Funny story, the Las Vegas Strip is not actually located within the city limits of the City of Las Vegas. With the map lines drawn, the strip actually falls under the jurisdiction of the Clark County office.

Mostly for the shows

The city is well known for its fantastic shows. There have been great shows every day especially by iconic music stars from Frank Sinatra to Celine Dion. Other performances that happen in Vegas make it one of the most visited places for shows in the world. The Smith Center for the performing arts is actually ranked 10^th in world in ticket sales.

Welcome to my hotel

12 of the world’s top 20 hotels are located in Vegas; this is 60% of the world’s top hotels! Vegas is also home to 150 casinos and has at least 100,000 rooms available in both hotels and motels. If you started staying in every one of the rooms in Las Vegas, it would take about 300 years to cover all of them. It helps that most of the water used in the fountains comes from recycled bathroom and kitchen sink water. It is important to recycle in a city whose annual rainfall is slightly over 4 inches in total.

Lights! Lights! Lights!

Las Vegas is currently the brightest spot on the planet. It is home to about 15 miles of neon tubing and has over 9.9 million light bulbs on the Vegas strip alone. This means that the city consumes a hefty amount of power compared to other cities in the world. It is also home to the world’s tallest spotlight. The Luxor spotlight sits pretty at the apex of a 30 story pyramid at the top of the Luxor hotel.