and the lowest recorded temperature is −50 °F (−46 °C) at San Jacinto on January 8, 1937. Nevada's 125 °F (52 °C) reading is the third highest temperature recorded in the U.S. just behind Arizona's 128 °F (53 °C) reading and California's 134 °F (57 °C) reading. Las Vegas strip . The majority of Nevada's population lives in Clark county. Nevada is divided into political jurisdictions designated as counties . Carson City is officially a consolidated municipality; however, for many purposes under state law it is considered to be a county. As of 1919 there were 17 counties in the state, ranging from 146 to 18,159 square miles (380 to 47,030 km 2 ). Clark County is the most populous county in Nevada, accounting for nearly three-quarters of its residents. Las Vegas, Nevada's most populous city, has been the county seat since the county was created. Clark County attracts numerous tourists. An estimated 40 million people have visited Clark County in 2009. [ 21 ] Eight days prior to the presidential election of 1864 , Nevada became the 36th state in the union. Statehood was rushed to the date of October 31 to help ensure Abraham Lincoln 's reelection on November 8 and post-Civil War Republican dominance in Congress, [ 25 ] as Nevada's mining-based economy tied it to the more industrialized Union . As it turned out, however, Lincoln and the Republicans won the election handily, and did not need Nevada's help. Nevada is one of only two states