The area was previously settled by Mormon farmers in 1854 and later became the site of a United States Army fort in 1864, beginning a long relationship between southern Nevada and the U.S. In the 19th century, areas of the valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas, or meadows, hence the name Las Vegas ( vegas being Spanish for 'meadows'). Las Vegas was named by Mexicans in the Antonio Armijo party, including Rivera, who used the water in the area while heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail from Texas. The first reported non- Native American visitor to the Las Vegas Valley was the Mexican scout Rafael Rivera in 1829. In 2014, a record-breaking 41 million people visited the Las Vegas area, producing a gross metropolitan product of more than $100 billion. In its relatively short history, it has established a diverse presence in international business, commerce, urban development, and entertainment, as well as one of the most visited tourist attractions destinations in the world. The Las Vegas Valley remains one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. Since the 1990s, the Las Vegas Valley has seen rapid growth, tripling its population from 741,459 in 1990 to 2,227,053 estimated in 2018. The Valley is affectionately known as the 'ninth island' by Hawaii natives and Las Vegans alike, in part due to the large number of people originally from Hawaii who live in and regularly travel to Las Vegas. The names Las Vegas and Vegas are interchangeably used to indicate the Valley, the Strip, and the city, and as a brand by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to denominate the region.

Eleven unincorporated towns governed by the Clark County government are part of the Las Vegas Township and constitute the largest community in the state of Nevada. The Valley is home to the three largest incorporated cities in Nevada: Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas. The Valley is largely defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a 600 sq mi (1,600 km 2) basin area surrounded by mountains to the north, south, east and west of the metropolitan area. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is coextensive since 2003 with Clark County, Nevada. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S.

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