A casino (also known as a gambling house or a gaming establishment) is a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are often combined with hotels, resorts, cruise ships or other tourist attractions and offer a variety of entertainment options including concerts, shows and sports events. Some casinos specialize in one or more specific types of games, while others are more general in nature.

The word casino comes from the Latin for “house of games”, reflecting the fact that early casinos were places where people could play a variety of different card and board games. Gambling, in some form or another, has been a part of human civilization for millennia. Evidence of dice-based gambling dates back as far as 2300 BC, and the earliest card games appeared in the 1400s.

In modern times, casinos have become a major source of revenue for many countries and regions, and are often a centerpiece of tourism. Because of the large amount of money that is handled within a casino, it can be tempting for patrons and staff to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently; to prevent this, most casinos have specialized security departments that patrol the facility and monitor its closed-circuit television systems.

Here are 10 of the largest casinos in the world, based on floor space dedicated to casino games. (Note: As with all casino rankings, this list is subject to change as new casinos open and existing ones expand.)