The US state of Nebraska is situated within the Midwestern Area of the United States on the Great Plains. The largest city in Nebraska is Omaha, whilst the capital city is Lincoln. The area which is currently part Nebraska was once part of the Great American Desert, is presently a leading state in the sectors of farming and ranching. The Ho-Chunk or Winnebago and Omaha are federally recognized American Indian tribes, each with a reservation within Thurston County within eastern Nebraska, where they constitute most of the population.
Bordering the state of Nebraska is the state of South Dakota to the north; Missouri to the southeast and Iowa to the east, while across the Missouri River; the state of Kansas lies towards the south; the state of Colorado sits towards the southeast; and Wyoming to the west. There are 93 counties in the state of Nebraska. Nebraska is divided into two time zones. The Central Time zone consists of the eastern half of the state of Nebraska, whilst the western half observes Mountain Time. Three rivers cross the state from west to east. The Platte River, formed by the confluence of the South Platte and the North Platte, runs through the central portion of the state of Nebraska, the Republican River runs across the southern region and the Niobrara River flows through the northern part.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates of Nebraska's gross state product in 2010 was $89.8 billion. Per capita personal income in the year 2004 was $31,339, 25th in the US. The state of Nebraska has a big agriculture sector, and is an essential producer of pork, beef, soybeans and corn. Other significant economic sectors consist of freight transport, by rail and truck; manufacturing; telecommunications; information technology; and insurance.
In 1927, Kool-Aid was created within the city of Hasting by Edwin Perkins. The business celebrates an event known as Kool-Aid Days, happens each month of August on the second weekend. CliffsNotes were developed by Clifton Hillegass of Rising City. He adapted his pamphlets from Coles Notes, a Canadian publications.
Omaha is the home to Mutual of Omaha, ConAgra, InfoUSA, TD Ameritrade, Valmont Industries, West Corporation, the Union Pacific Railroad, Woodmen of the World and Kiewit Corporation. Sandhills Publishing Company, Duncan Aviations and UNIFI Companies are based within Lincoln; The Buckle is based within Kearney. Sidney is the national headquarters for Cabela's, a specialty retailer of outdoor goods.
The globe's biggest train yard, Union Pacific's Bailey Yard, is in North Platte. The Vise-Grip was invented by William Petersen during the year 1924, and was manufactured in De Witt until the plant was closed and moved to China in late 2008. Lincoln's Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing is the only Kawasaki plant within the globe to produce the Jet-Ski, ATV, and Mule lines of product. The facility employs more than 1200 people. The Spade Ranch, in the Sand Hills, is one of the state's oldest and biggest beef cattle operations.