Nebraska, NE

Nebraska is a state located on the Great Plains of the United States of America. Nebraska gets its name from a Chiwere word meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state.

Once considered part of the Great American Desert, it is now a leading farming state. Nebraskans are sometimes colloquially referred to as "Cornhuskers" (which is derived from the state nickname).

Geography

Nebraska is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwest; and Wyoming to the west.

Nebraska has 93 counties; it also occupies the central portion of the Frontier Strip. Nebraska is composed of two major land regions: the Dissected Till Plains and the Great Plains.

The easternmost portion of the state was scoured by Ice Age glaciers; the Dissected Till Plains were left behind after the glaciers retreated.

The Dissected Till Plains is a region of gently rolling hills; Omaha and Lincoln are located within this region. The Great Plains occupy the majority of western Nebraska.

The Great Plains itself is comprised of several smaller, diverse land regions, including the Sandhills, the Pine Ridge, the Rainwater Basin, the High Plains and the Wildcat Hills.

Panorama Point, at 5,424 feet (1,653 m), is the highest point in Nebraska; despite its name and elevation, it is merely a low rise near the Colorado and Wyoming borders.

A past Nebraska tourism slogan was "Where the West Begins"; locations given for the beginning of the "West" include the Missouri River, the intersection of 13th and O Streets in Lincoln (where it is marked by a red brick star), the 100th meridian, and Chimney Rock. Nebraska claims to have more miles of river than any other state.

Climate

Two major climates are represented in Nebraska: the eastern two-thirds of the state has a hot summer continental climate, and the western third of the state has a semiarid steppe climate.

The entire state experiences wide seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation.

Average temperatures are fairly uniform across Nebraska, while average annual precipitation decreases from about 31.5 inches (800 mm) in the southeast corner of the state to about 13.8 inches (350 mm) in the Panhandle.

Snowfall across the state is fairly even, with most of Nebraska receiving between 25 and 35 inches (650 to 900 mm) of snow annually.

Nebraska is located in Tornado Alley; thunderstorms are common in the spring and summer months.

The chinook winds from the Rocky Mountains provide a temporary moderating effect on temperatures in western Nebraska during the winter months.

The National Wildlife Federation has found that global warming could have a harmful effect on Nebraska's ecology and economy, promoting the kinds of drought that led to the Dust Bowl conditions of the 1930s.

History

On May 30, 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the Kansas Territory and the Nebraska Territory, divided by the Parallel 40° North.

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 the federal government.

Many of the first farm settlers built their homes out of sod because they found so few trees on the grassy land.

Nebraska became the 37th state in 1867, shortly after the American Civil War.

At that time, the capital was moved from Omaha to Lancaster, later renamed Lincoln after the recently assassinated President of the United States Abraham Lincoln.

The Arbor Day holiday began in Nebraska, and the National Arbor Day Foundation is still headquartered in Nebraska City.

Nebraska has a long history of civil rights activism, starting in 1912 with the foundation of Omaha's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter.

Recent legislation proposed by Senator Ernie Chambers continues a legacy that includes the Black Panthers, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Creighton University's unique DePorres Club.

Demographics

As of 2006, Nebraska has an estimated population of 1,768,331, which is an increase of 10,168, or 0.6%, from the prior year and an increase of 57,066, or 3.3%, since the year 2000.

This includes a natural increase since the last census of 65,881 people (that is 160,471 births minus 94,590 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 5,233 people out of the state.

Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 26,224 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 31,457 people.

The center of population of Nebraska is located in Polk County, in the city of Shelby. As of 2004, the population of Nebraska included about 84,000 foreign-born residents (4.8% of the population).

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Nebraska".