Nebraska
State of Nebraska
Flag of Nebraska
Seal
Nickname(s): Cornhusker State
Motto(s): Equality Before the Law
Official language(s) English
Demonym
Nebraskan
Capital
Lincoln
Largest city
Omaha
Largest metro area
Omaha-Council Bluffs
Area
Ranked 16th in the US
- Total
77,421 sq mi
(200,520 km²)
- Width
210 miles (340 km)
- Length
430 miles (690 km)
- % water
0.7
- Latitude
40° N to 43° N
- Longitude
95°19’ W to 104°03’
W
Population
Ranked 38th in the US
- Total
1,783,432 (2008
est.).)[1]
- Density
23.1/sq mi (8.91/km²)
Ranked 43rd in the US
- Median income
$44,623 (20th)
Elevation
- Highest point
Panorama Point[2]
5,424 ft (1,653 m)
- Mean
2,592 ft (790 m)
- Lowest point
Missouri River[2]
840 ft (256 m)
Admission to Union March 1, 1867 (37th)
Governor
Dave Heineman (R)
Lieutenant
Governor
Rick Sheehy (R)
U.S. Senators
Ben Nelson (D)
Mike Johanns (R)
U.S. House
delegation
Jeff Fortenberry (R)
Lee Terry (R)
Adrian M. Smith (R)
(list)
Time zones
- most of state
Central: UTC-6/-5
- panhandle
Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Abbreviations
NE US-NE
Website
www.nebraska.gov
Nebraska (
/nəˈbræskə/ ) is a state located
on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United
States and Western United States. The
state’s capital is Lincoln and its largest city is
Omaha.
Nebraska probably gets its name from the
archaic Otoe words Ñí Brásge pronounced
[ˌɲĩˈbɾaskɛ] (contemporary Otoe Ñí Bráhge)
or
the Omaha Ní Btháska pronounced
[ˌnĩˈbˡðaska] meaning "flat water," after the
Platte River that flows through the state.[3]
American Indian tribes in Nebraska have in-
cluded the Iowas, Omahas, Missourias, Pon-
cas, Pawnees, Otoes, and various branches of
the Sioux.
Once considered part of the Great Americ-
an Desert, it is now a leading farming and
ranching state.
History
On May 30, 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act
created the Kansas Territory and the Neb-
raska Territory, divided by the Parallel 40°
North.[4] The territorial capital of Nebraska
was Omaha.
In the 1860s, the first great wave of
homesteaders poured into Nebraska to claim
free land granted by th