Nebraska (abbreviated NE) is located almost in the dead center of the United States on the Great Plains of the Midwest. The capital city is Lincoln (population 241,167) and the largest of the cities in NE is Omaha (population 432,921). Other important Nebraska cities include Bellevue, Grand Island, Kearney, Fremont, Hastings, North Platte, Norfolk, Columbus, La Vista and Papillion. As of 2008, the state’s population is estimated at almost 1.8 million.
Known primarily as an agricultural, farming and ranching state, Nebraska is an important producer of beef, pork, corn and soybeans. And, perhaps more importantly to some of its residents, the University of Nebraska is home to college football’s Cornhuskers (or Huskers), a perennial powerhouse in the NCAA Division I-A and members of the Big 12 Conference. In addition to football, the Cornhuskers field over 20 different varsity teams competing in a number of different men’s and women’s athletics and boast 23 National Championships across these different sports.
But, no other sports compare to college football as far as this state is concerned. In fact, on game day, Memorial Stadium in Lincoln typically sells out its capacity of over 85,000, making it, at least for a day, Nebraska’s third largest “city”.
Nebraska is also known for some other industries and interests aside from corn and Cornhuskers. Kool-Aid brand drink mix was created in 1927 in the city of Hastings. Cliffs Notes were invented in Rising City by one Clifton Hillegass. Vise Grip pliers were manufactured until just recently in De Witt. Omaha gave birth to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and is also home to InfoUSA, Woodmen of the World and the Union Pacific Railroad. In fact, the world’s largest rail yard is Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard found in nearby North Platte. |
