THINGS TO DO IN NEBRAKSA

Demographics

Statehood: March 1, 1867, the 37th state

Capital: Lincoln

Total Area: 16th among states, 200,356 sq km (77,358 sq mi)

Water Area: 1,246 sq km (481 sq mi)

Highest Point: Johnson Twp., Kimball Co 1,653 m (5,424 ft)

Total Population:  36th among states
1990 census -  1,578,385
1998 estimate -  1,662,719

Population Density in 1998: 7.8 people per sq km (20 per sq mi)

Distribution in 1990: 66% Urban, 34% Rural

Economy:
Gross State Product - $47.2 billion (1996)
Personal income per Capita - $23,656 (1997)

Largest cities in 1990:
Omaha: 335,795
Lincoln: 191,972
Grand Island: 39,386
Bellevue: 30,982
Kearney: 24,396

Nebraska became one of the first states to provide the entire state with educational television in 1963.
In 1927, Edwin E. Perkins of Hastings invented the powdered soft drink Kool-Aid.
The Lied Jungle located in Omaha is the world's largest indoor rain forest.
Nebraska is the only state in the union with a unicameral (one house) legislature.
The 911 system of emergency communications, now used nationwide, was developed and first used in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Mutual of Omaha Corporate headquarters is a public building built with 7 floors underground.
The world's only museum dedicated to Fur Trading is located at Fort Atkinson near Blair.
There are five army forts open to the public in Nebraska: Atkinson, Kearny, Hartsuff, Sidney, and Robinson.
One of the greatest American novelists, Willa Cather, grew up on a farm near Red Cloud and later attended the University of Nebraska.
The Sand Hills in central and north central Nebraska consist of grass-covered sand dunes and cover one-quarter of the state.
The Ogallala aquifer, which stretches as far south as Texas, is Nebraska's primary source of irrigation water.

State Facts