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Introduction to Geography of Nebraska

Nebraska, a state in the central United States. It occupies more than 77,000 square miles (some 200,000 km 2) of the prairies and plains lying west of the Missouri River. Except for a panhandle in the west, Nebraska is roughly rectangular in shape. It is bordered by South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Nebraska in briefGeneral informationStatehood: March 1, 1867, the 37th state.State abbreviations: Nebr. or Neb. (traditional); NE (postal).State capital: Lincoln, chosen as Nebraska's capital in 1867. The government moved there from Omaha a year later. Omaha was the capital from 1855 to 1868.State motto: Equality Before the Law.Popular name: The Cornhusker State.State song: "Beautiful Nebraska." Words by Jim Fras and Guy G. Miller; music by Jim Fras.Symbols of NebraskaState bird: Western meadowlark.State flower: Goldenrod.State tree: Cottonwood.State flag and seal: The state flag, adopted in 1925, bears the state seal. The seal, adopted in 1867, includes a blacksmith with a hammer and anvil, a settler’s cabin, sheaves of wheat, a steamboat on the Missouri River, and a train. The Rocky Mountains rise in the background. Above the landscape is a banner with the state motto, “Equality Before the Law.” At the bottom of the seal is the date of Nebraska’s statehood, March 1, 1867.Land and climateArea: 77,359 mi2 (200,358 km2), including 481 mi2 (1,245 km2) of inland water.Elevation: Highest--5,426 ft (1,654 m) above sea level in southwestern Kimball County. Lowest--840 ft (256 m) above sea level in Richardson County.Record high temperature: 118 °F (48 °C) at Geneva on July 15, 1934, at Hartington on July 17, 1936, and at Minden on July 24, 1936.Record low temperature: –47 °F (–44 °C) at Camp Clarke, near Northport, on Feb. 12, 1899, and at Oshkosh on Dec. 22, 1989.Average July temperature: 76 °F (24 °C).Average January temperature: 23 °F (–5 °C).Average yearly precipitation: 22 in (56 cm).PeoplePopulation: 1,711,263.Rank among the states: 38th.Density: 22 per mi2 (9 per km2), U.S. average 78 per mi2 (30 per km2).Distribution: 70 percent urban, 30 percent rural.Largest cities in Nebraska: Omaha (390,007); Lincoln (225,581); Bellevue (44,382); Grand Island (42,940); Kearney (27,431); Fremont (25,174).EconomyChief productsAgriculture: beef cattle, corn, hay, hogs, soybeans, wheat.Manufacturing: chemicals, food products, machinery, medical equipment, transportation equipment.Mining: limestone, natural gas, petroleum, sand and gravel.GovernmentState governmentGovernor: 4-year term.State senators: 49; 4-year terms. (Nebraska has a one-house legislature.)Counties: 93.Federal governmentUnited States senators: 2.United States representatives: 3.Electoral votes: 5.Sources of informationThe Tourism Division of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development handles requests for information about the state's tourism, government, and history. Write to: Department of Economic Development, Tourism Division, Box 98907, Lincoln, NE 68509-8907. The Web site at http://visitnebraska.org also provides tourism information. The state's official Web site at http://www.state.ne.us also provides a gateway to much information on Nebraska's economy, government, and history.

Physical Geography

Nebraska is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States.Land

Nebraska occupies part of two major physiographic regions of the United States: the Great Plains and the Central Lowlands.

The Great Plains section is an elevated region of generally flat to gently rolling land occupying the western two-thirds of the state. It increases in height from roughly 1,500 feet (450 m) above sea level in the east to 4,000 to 5,000 feet (1,200 to 1,500 m) in the west. The westernmost part falls within the area commonly called the High Plains. The highest point, 5,426 feet (1,654 m) above sea level, lies in the state's southwestern corner.

Throughout Nebraska's Great Plains, the surface consists mainly of wind-blown loess and material washed from the Rocky Mountains during past geologic times. One of Nebraska's largest and most distinctive features is the Sand Hills, in the west-central part of the state. Here the dominant land-form is sand dunes, covered and held in place by a meager growth of grass. Elsewhere on the plains, particularly in the west, there are steep cliffs, river-cut bluffs, buttes, and badlands.

The Central Lowlands section occupies the eastern third of the state. It is a low-lying, flat to rolling land with a deep mantle of loess and material laid down by glaciers during the last Ice Age. Throughout much of this plain, rivers have carved relatively deep, broad valleys. Elevations range from about 1,500 feet (450 m) in the west to less than 1,000 feet (300 m) in the east. The lowest point, 840 feet (256 m) above sea level, is in the Missouri River valley in the southeastern corner of the state.

Water

As throughout most of the northern Great Plains, drainage is eastward to the Missouri River, which forms Nebraska's eastern border. Within the state the chief river is the Platte, formed by the union of the North Platte and South Platte rivers. It follows an S-shaped course to the Missouri, draining all but the most northern and most southern parts of the state. Among the Platte's principal tributaries are the Loup and Elkhorn rivers. Northern Nebraska is drained primarily by the Niobrara; southern Nebraska, by the Republican and Blue river systems.

Artificial lakes constitute the only sizable bodies of water in the state. Among them are Lewis and Clark Lake, on the Missouri River; Lake McConaughy, on the North Platte; and Harlan County Lake, on the Republican River. Small natural lakes dot the hollows of the Sand Hills. Because so much of the plains readily holds the limited precipitation, Nebraska has one of the largest supplies of groundwater in the United States. Wells supply most of the water used for irrigation in the state.

Climate

Nebraska has a climate similar to that of other centrally located states. It is marked by hot summers, cold winters, limited rainfall, low humidity, and wide variations in temperature and precipitation, both seasonally and from year to year. Among the chief influences on the climate are the state's inland location, its varying elevation, and its exposure to storms and differing air masses from the north, south, and west.

Average July temperatures range from 78° F. (26° C.) in the east to 73° F. (23° C.) in the west. This difference stems mainly from increased elevation and cooler nights in the west. Throughout the state, summer daytime temperatures often reach 90° to 100° F. (32° to 38° C.). During January, the coldest month, temperatures average slightly below freezing in the south and slightly above 20° F. (-7° C.) in the north.

Annual precipitation averages about 27 inches (690 mm) in the eastern third of the state, 22 inches (560 mm) in the central third, and less than 18 inches (460 mm) in the western third. Most of it comes as rain during the growing season, especially May, June, and July. Snowfall each year is about 30 inches (760 mm), mainly during late winter and early spring. There are occasional blizzards, tornadoes, hailstorms, and droughts.

Vegetation and Wildlife

Before pioneers arrived, virtually all of Nebraska was virgin grassland. Tall prairie grasses, mainly blue-stem, covered the eastern part of the state. Westward, as precipitation declined, shorter grasses prevailed, Relatively little remains of the original vegetation, largely because of widespread farming and ranching.

Forests cover less than 2 per cent of the land. They occur mainly along major rivers as deciduous, hardwood stands and in some of the higher, rougher parts of the west as coniferous forests, primarily pine. Much of the forested land occurs in the Nebraska National Forest, which consists of several stands in the central and northwestern parts of the state.

Huge herds of bison once roamed Nebraska's plains. Wild animals still found in the state include deer, pronghorn, coyotes, jack-rabbits, skunks, squirrels, and prairie dogs. Nebraska also has a wide variety of freshwater fish, game birds, songbirds, and, seasonally, migratory waterfowl.

Interesting facts about NebraskaThe Cowboy Horse Race began in Chadron on June 13, 1893. John Berry won the nine-man race to Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in Chicago, almost 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away, in 13 days 16 hours. Berry won a prize of $1,000.Nebraska has the largest planted forest in the United States. It covers about 22,000 acres (8,900 hectares) and is part of the Nebraska National Forest.The National Museum of Roller Skating is located in Lincoln. It is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to roller skating, with exhibits on the sport and industry from 1819 to the present.The largest mammoth fossil ever found was unearthed in 1922 near Wellfleet. Scientists have determined that the mammoth was 13 feet 4 1/4 inches (4.07 meters) tall. The fossil is on display at the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln.Nebraska's state tree is the cottonwood.Nebraska's state bird is the western meadowlark.Nebraska's state flower is the goldenrod.

Economy

The Nebraska quarter quarter features images that highlight the state’s natural beauty and role in the settlement of the West: The spire at Chimney Rock National Historic Site rises about 500 feet (150 meters) in the western part of the state. The covered wagon represents the pioneers who traveled to or through Nebraska during the 1800’s.

Ever since its founding more than a century ago, Nebraska has been primarily an agricultural state. In recent decades, however, significant gains have been made by other sectors of the economy, most notably by service industries, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade. To a large extent, many of the newer economic activities are based on agriculture, through sales and services to farms and the processing and marketing of farm products. Service industries make up the biggest part of Nebraska's gross domestic product; insurance and telemarketing are major service industries in the state.

Agriculture

Nebraska is one of the principal grain- and livestock-producing areas of the world. The state is endowed with deep, rich soils, a generally favorable climate despite occasional droughts, vast grazing lands, and an abundance of underground water that can be used for irrigation. In irrigated acreage Nebraska is one of the leading states in the nation.

About 95 per cent of the state's total area is in farmland, about equally divided between cropland and grazing land. Farms and ranches are generally large, averaging 856 acres (347 hectares).

Livestock provides well over half of all farm cash receipts. Of greatest value are beef cattle, which are raised in large numbers on eastern diversified farms as well as on western ranches. In feedlot operations and in the marketing of cattle, Nebraska is one of the nation's leading states. It is also a major state in the production and marketing of hogs, virtually all of which are raised in the eastern part of the state, where feed grains are produced in abundance.

Corn, grown primarily in eastern Nebraska, is the state's chief crop, both in quantity and in value. Wheat, grown mainly in the southwestern corner of the state and in most of the panhandle, ranks second. Other major crops include grain sorghum, hay, soybeans, sugar beets, oats, and dry beans.

Service Industries

The largest part of Nebraska's domestice product comes from service industries, the majority of which are in the Lincoln and Omaha areas. Service industry groups include community, business, and personal services, and finance, insurance, and real estate. Also among Nebraska's service industry groups are trade, restaurants, and hotels, and government.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector of Nebraska's economy is dominated by the processing of agricultural products and the making of farm machinery. There is little diversification.

Food processing is the leading industry. Of primary importance is meat packing, which centers mainly in the Omaha area. Other processing industries include the making of flour, cereals, beet sugar, dairy products, vegetable oils, and animal feeds. Other manufacturing activities include the making of farm machinery, chemicals, metal products, printed materials, electrical machinery, and railway equipment.

The greatest concentration of manufacturing is in the Omaha area, where more than a third of the state's manufacturing establishments are located. Lincoln is also a significant center.

Minerals and Mining

Nebraska's most valuable mineral resource is petroleum, which was discovered in the 1950's in southwestern Nebraska. Sand and gravel and stone are next in importance. Small amounts of natural gas, lime, clays, natural gas liquids, and gemstones are also produced.

Transportation

During pioneer days Nebraska provided a corridor westward by way of the broad Platte Valley. It provided a route for the Oregon and Mormon trails, the Overland Stage Route, the Pony Express, and the first transcontinental railway and telegraph lines. Today, the entire state is well served by various modes of transportation. The Platte Valley remains the most heavily used route.

Rail and highway systems are best developed in eastern Nebraska, reflecting the greater population density and economic development in that part of the state. Nebraska's only Interstate highway is I-80, which crosses the southern part of the state.

Omaha and Lincoln are the chief centers of commercial aviation. The Missouri River is the only navigable waterway.

The People

Whites make up 89.6 per cent of Nebraska's population and blacks, 4 per cent. People of Hispanic origin make up 5.5 per cent of the population.

Nebraska's population density is 22.3 persons per square mite (8.6 per km 2), less than a third than that of the country as a whole.

Annual events in NebraskaJanuary-MaySt. Patrick's Day Celebration in O'Neill (March); Sandhill Crane Migration in Grand Island, Hastings, and Kearney (March-April); Arbor Day, statewide (April); Willa Cather Spring Festival in Red Cloud (May).June-AugustGrundlovs Fest, or Danish Day, in Dannebrog (June); Swedish Festival in Stromsburg (June); NCAA College World Series in Omaha (June); Nebraskaland Days in North Platte (June); North Platte Nightly Rodeo (June-July); Fur Trade Days in Chadron (July); John C. Fremont Days in Fremont (July); Old Mill Days in Neligh (July); Oregon Trail Days in Gering (July); State Fourth of July Celebration in Seward (July); Wayne Chicken Show (July); Winnebago Powwow in Winnebago (late July); Czech Festival in Wilber (August); Nebraska's Big Rodeo in Burwell (August); Omaha Powwow in Macy (August).September-DecemberHusker Harvest Days in Grand Island (September); Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Valentine (September); River City Roundup in Omaha (September); Oktoberfest in Sidney (October); Light of the World Pageant in Minden (December); Star City Holiday Weekend in Lincoln (December).

Education

Education is under the control of the state department of education. The department is headed by a commissioner appointed for an indefinite term by an elected board. School attendance is compulsory for children from age 7 to 16.

The University of Nebraska is a state-controlled, coeducational institution with campuses at Lincoln, Omaha, and Kearney. It was chartered in 1869 as a land-grant college and opened at Lincoln in 1871. The campus at Omaha (formerly the University of Omaha) became part of the university in 1968; the campus at Kearney (formerly Kearney State College), in 1991. All three campuses have programs in arts and sciences, business, and education. The University of Nebraska Medical Center is in Omaha.

Government

Nebraska's State Capitol is in Lincoln, chosen as the capital in 1867.

The present constitution was adopted in 1875 and has been amended many times; it replaced the original constitution, adopted in 1866. A 1934 amendment gave Nebraska a unicameral (one-house) legislature. Its 49 members, called senators, are elected for four-year terms on a nonpartisan basis. The legislature convenes in January of each year. Nebraska is the only state with a unicameral legislature.

Elected officials include the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, and auditor, all elected to four-year terms. Most other state officials are appointed by the governor.

Governors of NebraskaNamePartyTermDavid Butler Republican1867-1871William H. James Republican1871-1873Robert W. Furnas Republican1873-1875Silas Garber Republican1875-1879Albinus Nance Republican1879-1883James W. Dawes Republican1883-1887John M. Thayer Republican1887-1892James E. Boyd Democratic1892-1893Lorenzo Crounse Republican1893-1895Silas A. Holcomb Fusion1895-1899William A. Poynter Fusion1899-1901Charles H. Dietrich Republican1901Ezra P. Savage Republican1901-1903John H. Mickey Republican1903-1907George L. Sheldon Republican1907-1909Ashton C. Shallenberger Democratic1909-1911Chester H. Aldrich Republican1911-1913John H. Morehead Democratic1913-1917Keith Neville Democratic1917-1919Samuel R. McKelvie Republican1919-1923Charles W. Bryan Democratic1923-1925Adam McMullen Republican1925-1929Arthur J. Weaver Republican1929-1931Charles W. Bryan Democratic1931-1935Robert Leroy Cochran Democratic1935-1941Dwight Griswold Republican1941-1947Val Peterson Republican1947-1953Robert B. Crosby Republican1953-1955Victor E. Anderson Republican1955-1959Ralph G. Brooks Democratic1959-1960Dwight W. Burney Republican1960-1961Frank B. Morrison Democratic1961-1967Norbert T. Tiemann Republican1967-1971J. James Exon Democratic1971-1979Charles Thone Republican1979-1983Robert Kerrey Democratic1983-1987Kay A. Orr Republican1987-1991E. Benjamin Nelson Democratic1991-1999Mike Johanns Republican1999-2005Dave Heineman Republican2005-

The judiciary is headed by a supreme court of seven justices. Other tribunals are a court of appeals, district courts, municipal courts, county courts, and courts of justices of the peace.

Nebraska has 93 counties. The state is represented in Congress by two senators and three representatives.