Nebraska - Two Million People, the Platte River, and Corn-Fed Economics
Nebraska spreads across 77,000 square miles of the Great Plains and holds just under two million residents, the majority of them concentrated in Omaha and Lincoln in the eastern third of the state. Omaha, the largest city at about 480,000, serves as the headquarters for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Union Pacific, Mutual of Omaha, and the retail brokerage formerly known as TD Ameritrade. This unusual concentration of major financial and logistics firms sits far from the coastal banking centers and gives Omaha an outsized role in the region.
Lincoln, the capital, has around 290,000 residents and is built around the University of Nebraska. The Cornhuskers football program has historically been one of the cultural anchors of the state, drawing fans from across the plains to Memorial Stadium on game days. Outside the two metro areas, Nebraska is largely agricultural. Corn and soybeans dominate the eastern counties, while beef cattle production is concentrated in the central and western rangelands. The state ranks among the top producers of each in the country.
The Platte River runs across Nebraska from west to east, giving its name to the state and historically serving as a corridor for the Oregon and Mormon Trails. The Sandhills in the central and western part of the state cover more than 19,000 square miles of grass-stabilized sand dunes, making up the largest sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere. The Interstate 80 corridor follows the Platte Valley and carries most of the long-haul traffic moving between Chicago and the Rocky Mountain states.
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Nebraska spreads across 77,000 square miles of the Great Plains and holds just under two million residents, the majority of them concentrated in Omaha and Lincoln in the eastern third of the state. Omaha, the largest city at about 480,000, serves as the headquarters for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Union Pacific, Mutual of Omaha, and the retail brokerage formerly known as TD Ameritrade. This unusual concentration of major financial and logistics firms sits far from the coastal banking centers and gives Omaha an outsized role in the region.
Lincoln, the capital, has around 290,000 residents and is built around the University of Nebraska. The Cornhuskers football program has historically been one of the cultural anchors of the state, drawing fans from across the plains to Memorial Stadium on game days. Outside the two metro areas, Nebraska is largely agricultural. Corn and soybeans dominate the eastern counties, while beef cattle production is concentrated in the central and western rangelands. The state ranks among the top producers of each in the country.
The Platte River runs across Nebraska from west to east, giving its name to the state and historically serving as a corridor for the Oregon and Mormon Trails. The Sandhills in the central and western part of the state cover more than 19,000 square miles of grass-stabilized sand dunes, making up the largest sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere. The Interstate 80 corridor follows the Platte Valley and carries most of the long-haul traffic moving between Chicago and the Rocky Mountain states.
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