Nebraska is a US state in the Midwest of the United States. The
name Nebraska comes from the Oto or Omaha language and means
"shallow water". The name comes from the Platte River that flows
through the state. Originally part of the Great American Desert,
Nebraska is now one of the largest producers of agricultural
produce. This is also evidenced by Nebraska's nickname:
Cornhusker State (“corn sheller state”).
Nebraska's
modern agriculture has transformed the prairie plains into a
land of ranches and farms. Nebraska's recent history is
therefore deeply linked to agriculture.
1 Lincoln – Capital and second largest city of the state
2
Bellevue
3 Grand Island
4 Kearney
5 Hastings
6 Omaha – the
largest city in the state
7 Nebraska City - the city is famous for
its Arbor Day and also bills itself as "Home of the Arbor Day".
8
Norfolk
Homestead National Monument of America
By plane
Epley Airfield (Omaha Airport, IATA: OMA) . Nebraska's
largest airport.
Lincoln Airport (IATA: LNK)
By car
interstate
I29 runs from Kansas City, MO along the eastern border of
Nebraska to Sioux City, IA
I80 runs from Cheyenne WY through Nebraska
NE and on to Des Moines, IA
Highway
H81 from Wichita via York
to Salem SD
H20 from Cheyenne WY via Sidney and Omaha NE and on to IO
H26 from Casper WY to Ogallala NE
Nebraska's riparian states are South Dakota to the north; Iowa and
Missouri to the east, beyond the Missouri River; Kansas to the south;
Colorado to the southwest, and
Wyoming to the west. The largest city in
Nebraska is Omaha; the capital of Nebraska is Lincoln. The state is
divided into 93 counties.
Nebraska is located in the middle of
the Great Plains at the western foothills of the grain belt and is
counted predominantly in the Midwest. One of Nebraska's slogans is
"Where the West begins."
A special feature is that, no matter in
which direction, at least three borders to other states or the state
border to Canada have to be crossed to get to the sea.
Nebraska lies in two climate zones. The eastern half of the state is
located in the zone of humid continental climate, the western half - in
the zone of semi-arid climate. Nebraska as a whole has significant
seasonal fluctuations in temperature and precipitation. Average
temperatures with hot summers and cold winters for the entire state are
approximately the same. The average annual rainfall decreases from east
to west from 800 mm in the southeastern part of the state to 350 mm in
the western part. Humidity also drops significantly from east to west.
Snowfalls in Nebraska are quite frequent, in most of the state the snow
cover reaches from 65 to 90 cm. of the year).
Nebraska is located
in the so-called Tornado Alley. Thunderstorms, severe storms and
tornadoes are common in spring and summer.
The word "Nebraska" comes from the Sioux Indian language, where it sounded like Ñí Brásge or Ní Btháska, which means "flat water" and goes back to the name of the Platte River, which flows through this state.
Nebraska was inhabited before the arrival of European settlers by
several native tribes, including the Iowa, Omaha, Missouri, Ponca,
Pawnee, Otoe, and various branches of the Sioux family.
The 18th
century was the time of European explorers for whom French Louisiana (to
which present-day Nebraska belonged) was largely terra incognita. In
1714, the Frenchman Étienne de Veniard, lord of Bourgmont, was the first
European to recognize the mouth of the Platte River, which he called
Nebraskier, a word from the Otoe Indian language meaning "flat water."
From 1794, the fur trade developed when Jean-Baptiste Truteau
established a trading post on the Niobrara River. In 1820, the United
States Army established its first fort in present-day Nebraska, Fort
Atkinson, to ensure protection for trappers and fur traders who roamed
the region.
After the 1840s, the Platte River Valley was very
important in the western expansion of the United States, with the Great
Platte River Road running through its valley, the main route to the west
in which other cities converged at Fort Kearny. three routes: the Oregon
Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail. Settlers followed the
river and other natural landmarks, especially the mounds that
characterize the unique geological formations. Old native French name,
later Spanishized in Nebraska, this corridor was used to designate the
known territory.
On May 30, 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act
proclaimed the founding of Nebraska and Kansas, with the 40th parallel
north as the border. Omaha was designated as the capital. Dakota,
Wyoming and Colorado will take some of its parts, and it will only have
its final form in 1867.
In the 1860s, the first wave of young
farmers took advantage of the Rural Settlements Act to appropriate
native land. Many of these early settlers built mud houses due to the
lack of trees on the Nebraska prairies.
Nebraska became the 37th
state of the United States on March 1, 1867, shortly after the end of
the Civil War.
The extensive production of cereals and livestock
have marked the history of the state. The first with means that damage
the soil, and the second in the worst terrain, such as badlands, which
increases degradation and erosion. This encourages dust storms and
landslides during floods.
Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a unicameral
legislature. The members of this parliament, the Nebraska Legislature,
call themselves "senators".
In its political orientation,
Nebraska is typical of the states of the Great Plains. The predominantly
rural part of the state is deeply Republican-conservative, while the
Democrats can only occasionally achieve success in the only two major
cities, Lincoln and Omaha. Republicans Pete Ricketts and Deb Fischer
represent the state in the US Senate. Nebraska's delegation to the 118th
Congress of Representatives consists of three Republicans, Mike Flood,
Adrian M. Smith and Don Bacon.
Nebraska has five electoral votes
up for grabs; since 1992, their allocation in presidential elections has
differed from the system in most states. Nebraska allocates two
electoral votes to the state-wide winner and one vote to each
congressional district winner. This means Nebraska doesn't necessarily
have to vote unanimously -- which has only happened twice so far, in the
2008 and 2020 presidential elections. The only other state that also
votes by this method is Maine.
As of 2010, the population of Nebraska was 1,826,341. Compared to the
2000 census data, the population has increased by more than 85,000 (5%)
mainly due to natural increase. The center of population is in Polk
County.
Racially, Nebraska is a state with an absolute
predominance of whites - 93.53%. African Americans make up 4.48%,
Indians - 1.32%, Asians - 1.58%, Hawaiians - 0.11%.
Whites by
origin are distributed as follows: German Americans - 38.6%, Irish -
12.4%, English - 9.6%, Swedish - 4.9%, Czech - 4.9%. Percentage-wise,
Nebraska is home to the largest group of Czech Americans in the US, with
Butler County being one of the two US counties with a majority of Czech
Americans.
Thurston County has an Indian majority.
Only 11% of all settlements in Nebraska have more than
3,000 people. Hundreds of settlements have less than 1000 people.
Nebraska is seeing a significant decline in the rural population,
leading to the consolidation of many rural schools.
Fifty-three
of Nebraska's ninety-three counties experienced population declines
between 1990 and 2000. Conversely, Nebraska's major cities are
experiencing steady and rapid population growth. The main reason for
this phenomenon is the migration of the rural population to large
cities. Thus, the population of Omaha grew by 6.3% over the five years
from 2000 to 2005, while the population of Lincoln increased by 14.5%
over the same period.
By religion, the population of
the state is divided as follows: Christians make up 90%, do not identify
themselves with any religion - 9%, other religions account for 1%.
Among Christians stand out: Catholics (28%), Lutherans (16%),
Methodists (11%), Baptists (9%), Presbyterians (4%), other Protestants
(21%), other Christians (1%).
The government of Nebraska operates under the Nebraska Constitution, adopted in 1875. Power is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.
The head of the executive branch is the governor (James Pillen). Other elected positions in the executive branch include lieutenant governor (Joseph Kelly; elected in tandem with the governor), attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, and comptroller of the state. All these persons are elected for a four-year term.
Nebraska is the only US state with a unicameral parliament. Although it is called simply "Legislature", its members call themselves "Senators". The Nebraska Legislature is also the only "nonpartisan" state legislature in the United States. The candidate's party affiliation is not indicated on the ballot papers. The speaker and committee heads are elected by majority vote, so these positions can be filled by a representative of any party. The Nebraska Legislature can override a governor's veto with a three-fifths majority vote.
The lowest level of court in Nebraska is the county courts. Above
them are twelve district courts, uniting several districts. Above them
stands the Nebraska Supreme Court. Judges at all levels are elected.
Until May 27, 2015, Nebraska allowed the death penalty as capital
punishment. However, during the first decade of the 21st century, not a
single such sentence was issued by Nebraska courts.
Nebraska is represented in the US Senate by Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer
(both Republicans).
Nebraska has three representatives in the
House of Representatives. As of 2011, they are: Jeff Fortenberry, Lee
Terry and Adrian Smith (all Republicans).
State law provides for
a non-unanimous distribution of Electoral College votes: of the 5 votes
that a state has, only 2 go to the candidate with a simple majority of
votes in the entire state, and the remaining 3 go to the winners in each
of the state's three congressional districts. The first division of
electoral votes occurred in the 2008 elections, when John McCain
received the majority of the state's votes, but Barack Obama won in one
of the three districts; thus, 1 of Nebraska's 5 electoral votes went to
Obama. A similar system was adopted in the state of Maine, which,
however, has never before divided votes in history.
In 2008, there were 56,754 crimes reported in Nebraska, including 68 murders.
Nebraska's gross domestic product in 2010 was $89.9 billion,
according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Per capita income (2004) -
$31,339, according to this indicator, Nebraska ranks 25th among all
states.
The agricultural sector plays an important role in
Nebraska's economy. Nebraska is a major producer of beef, pork, corn and
soybeans. Other important sectors of the economy include: trucking,
manufacturing, telecommunications, information technology and insurance.
As of January 2010, unemployment in Nebraska was 4.6%.
Omaha is the headquarters of Berkshire Hathaway, whose CEO Warren
Buffett is one of the world's richest people, according to Forbes
magazine. The following companies are also headquartered in Omaha:
ConAgra, Mutual of Omaha, InfoUSA, TD Ameritrade, West Corporation,
Valmont Industries, Woodmen of the World, Kiewit Corporation and Union
Pacific Railroad.
UNIFI Companies, Sandhills Publishing Company
and Duncan Aviation are headquartered in Lincoln. Buckle, a clothing and
footwear retailer, is based in Kearney.
The Kool-Aid company,
which produces the worldwide popular drink of the same name, was founded
by Edwin Perkins in 1927 in Hastings. Kool-Aid is currently the official
drink of Nebraska.
Nebraska has progressive taxation. Persons with income from $0 to
$2,400 pay 2.56%, from $2,400 to $17,500 - 3.57%, from $17,500 to
$27,000 - 5.12%, over $27,000 - 6.84%. The standard tax deduction is
$5,700.
Nebraska uses a sales tax of 5.5%. In addition to the
general state tax, some cities impose their own additional tax of no
more than 1.5%.