The Dissected Till Plains region consists of gently rolling hills and contains the state's largest cities, Omaha and Lincoln.

Indigenous peoples, including Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and various branches of the Lakota (Sioux) tribes, lived in the region for thousands of years before European discovery and exploration.

The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad through Nebraska and passage of the Homestead Acts led to rapid growth in the population of American settlers in the 1870s and 1880s and the development of a large agriculture sector for which the state is known to this day.

The historic tribes in the state included the Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and various branches of the Lakota (Sioux), some of which migrated from eastern areas into the region.

After war broke out between the two countries, Spain dispatched an armed expedition to Nebraska under Lieutenant General Pedro de Villasur in 1720.

The party was attacked and destroyed near present-day Columbus by a large force of Pawnee and Otoe, both allied with the French.

This left Britain and Spain competing for dominance along the Mississippi River; by 1773, the British were trading with the native peoples of Nebraska.

Under the Homestead Act, thousands of settlers migrated into Nebraska to claim free land granted by the federal government.

Because so few trees grew on the prairies, many of the first farming settlers built their homes of sod, as had Native Americans such as the Omaha.

New agricultural innovations such as barbed wire, windmills, and the steel plow, combined with fair weather, enabled settlers to transform Nebraska into prime farming land.

Eventually, they moved primarily to Omaha which offered working-class jobs in meat packing, the railroads and other industries.

[32] During the early 20th century, In 1912, African Americans founded the Omaha chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to work for improved conditions in the city and state.

Instead, Nebraska's Northern border now extends east along the forty-third degree of north latitude until it meets the Missouri River directly.

[35] Locations given for the beginning of the "West" in Nebraska include the Missouri River, the intersection of 13th and O Streets in Lincoln (where it is marked by a red brick star), the 100th meridian, and Chimney Rock.

Western Nebraska, including The Panhandle and adjacent areas bordering Colorado have a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk).

However, chinook winds from the Rocky Mountains provide a temporary moderating effect on temperatures in the state's western portion during the winter.

[36][37] Thus, average January maximum temperatures are highest at around 43 °F or 6.1 °C in southwestern Dundy County, and lowest at about 30 °F or −1.1 °C around South Sioux City in the northeast.

[56] Mexico, India, China, Guatemala, and El Salvador are top countries of origin for Nebraska's immigrants.

[58] Note: For 2013–2015, births in table don't add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.

Nebraska has a large agriculture sector, and is a major producer of beef, pork, wheat, corn (maize), soybeans, and sorghum.

[77] Other important economic sectors include freight transport (by rail and truck), manufacturing, telecommunications, information technology, and insurance.

Omaha is home to Berkshire Hathaway, whose chief executive officer (CEO), Warren Buffett, was ranked in March 2009 by Forbes magazine as the second-richest person in the world.

Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., Nelnet, Sandhills Publishing Company, Duncan Aviation, and Hudl are based in Lincoln.

Sidney is the national headquarters for Cabela's, a specialty retailer of outdoor goods now owned by Bass Pro Shops.

The Vise-Grip was invented by William Petersen in 1924, and was manufactured in De Witt until the plant was closed and moved to China in late 2008.

It has few fossil-fuel resources except for crude oil from the Niobrara Formation which underlays a portion of the state's western region.

It has been a top-ten state for per-capita energy consumption due in large part to its energy-intensive agriculture, meat packing, and food processing industries.

Unicameral supporters also argued that a bicameral legislature had a significant undemocratic feature in the committees that reconciled House and Senate legislation.

Since then, the state has split its electoral vote twice, with the second district going for the Democratic Party candidates Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024.

Despite the current Republican domination of Nebraska politics, the state has a long tradition of electing centrist members of both parties to state and federal office; examples include George W. Norris (who served a few years in the Senate as an independent), J. James Exon, Bob Kerrey, and Chuck Hagel.