Nebraska

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This article is about the U.S. state. For other uses, see Nebraska (disambiguation).
Coordinates:  41.5378°N 99.7951°W

Nebraska

State

State of Nebraska

Flag

Seal

Nickname(s): 

Cornhusker State

Motto(s): 

Equality before the law

Anthem: "Beautiful Nebraska"

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 Map of the United States with Nebraska highlighted

Country United States

Before statehood Nebraska Territory
Admitted to the Union March 1, 1867 (37th)

Capital Lincoln
Largest city Omaha
Largest metro and urban areas Omaha–Council Bluffs

Government
 • Governor Pete Ricketts (R)
 • Lieutenant Governor Mike Foley (R)
Legislature Nebraska Legislature
Judiciary Nebraska Supreme Court
U.S. senators Deb Fischer (R)
Ben Sasse (R)
U.S. House delegation 1: Jeff Fortenberry (R)
2: Don Bacon (R)
3: Adrian Smith (R) (list)

Area
 • Total 77,358 sq mi (200,356 km2)
 • Land 76,874 sq mi (199,099 km2)
 • Water 481 sq mi (1,247 km2)  0.7%
Area rank 16th

Dimensions
 • Length 430 mi (690 km)
 • Width 210 mi (340 km)

Elevation 2,600 ft (790 m)

Highest elevation 5,424 ft (1,654 m)
 (Panorama Point[1][2])
Lowest elevation 840 ft (256 m)
 (Missouri River at Kansas border[1][2])

Population
 (2020)
 • Total 1,961,504
 • Rank 37th
 • Density 24.94/sq mi (9.63/km2)
 • Density rank 43rd
 • Median household income $59,970[3]
 • Income rank 22nd

Demonym(s) Nebraskan

Language
 • Official language English

Time zones
most of state UTC−06:00 (Central)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−05:00 (CDT)
Panhandle UTC−07:00 (Mountain)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−06:00 (MDT)

USPS abbreviation NE
ISO 3166 code US-NE

Traditional abbreviation Neb., Nebr.

Latitude 40° N to 43° N

Longitude 95° 19′ W to 104° 03′ W

Website www.nebraska.gov

hideNebraska state symbols

Flag of Nebraska
 Living insignia

Bird Western meadowlark[4]

Fish Channel catfish

Flower Tall Goldenrod[5]

Grass Little bluestem[6]

Insect Western honey bee[7]

Mammal White-tailed deer[8]

Tree Eastern Cottonwood[9]

Inanimate insignia

Beverage Milk

Soft drink: Kool-aid

Dance Square dance

Fossil Mammoth[10]

Gemstone Blue agate[11]

Rock Prairie agate[12]

 Slogan Welcome to NEBRASKAland where the West

begins[13] 

Soil Holdrege series

Other River: Platte River

State route marker

State quarter

Released in 2006

Lists of United States state symbols

Nebraska /nəˈbræskə/ ( listen) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It

is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the
southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the
southwest; and Wyoming to the west. It is the only triply landlocked U.S. state.
Indigenous peoples, including Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and various
branches of the Lakota (Sioux) tribes, lived in the region for thousands of years before
European exploration. The state is crossed by many historic trails, including that of
the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Nebraska's area is just over 77,220 square miles (200,000 km2) with a population of
over 1.9 million. Its capital is Lincoln, and its largest city is Omaha, which is on
the Missouri River. Nebraska was admitted into the United States in 1867, two years
after the end of the American Civil War. The Nebraska Legislature is unlike any other
American legislature in that it is unicameral, and its members are elected without any
official reference to political party affiliation.
Nebraska is composed of two major land regions: the Dissected Till Plains and
the Great Plains. The Dissected Till Plains region consists of gently rolling hills and
contains the state's largest cities, Omaha and Lincoln. The Great Plains region,
occupying most of western Nebraska, is characterized by treeless prairie. Nebraska has
two major climatic zones. The eastern two-thirds of the state has a humid continental
climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa); a unique warmer subtype considered
"warm-temperate" exists near the southern plains, which is analogous to that in Kansas
and Oklahoma, which have a predominantly humid subtropical climate. The
Panhandle and adjacent areas bordering Colorado have a primarily semi-arid
climate (Köppen BSk). The state has wide variations between winter and summer
temperatures, variations that decrease moving south within the state.
Violent thunderstorms and tornadoes occur primarily during spring and summer and
sometimes in autumn. Chinook wind tends to warm the state significantly in the winter
and early spring.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
 3Geography
o 3.1Federal land management
o 3.2Climate
 4Demographics
o 4.1Population
 4.1.1Birth data
o 4.2Religion
o 4.3Settlement
 5Taxation
 6Economy
o 6.1Industry
o 6.2Energy
 7Transportation
o 7.1Railroads
o 7.2Roads and highways
 8Law and government
o 8.1Executive branch
o 8.2Legislative branch
o 8.3Judicial branch
o 8.4Federal representation
o 8.5Politics
 9Education
o 9.1Colleges and universities
 10Culture
 o 10.1Arts
o 10.2Sports
 10.2.1Professional sports
 10.2.2Junior-level sports
 10.2.3College sports
 11See also
 12References
 13Bibliography
o 13.1Surveys
o 13.2Scholarly special studies
 14External links

Etymology[edit]
Nebraska's name is the result of anglicization of the archaic Otoe words Ñí Brásge,
pronounced [ɲĩbɾasꜜkɛ] (contemporary Otoe Ñí Bráhge), or the Omaha Ní Btháska,
pronounced [nĩbɫᶞasꜜka], meaning "flat water", after the Platte River which flows through
the state.[14]

History