6 Things You Need to Know about Nebraska

1. 89% of Nebraska cities have fewer than 3,000 people.

2. Spain established trade with Apaches in what's now western Nebraska in the 1690s.

3. By forcing Native American tribes to cede their land and settle on reservations, the U.S. government opened huge areas for settlement. The prairie in the western part of the state was settled quickly in 1870s, due to its value for grazing cattle and newly developed farming technologies.

4. 90% of people in Nebraska identified themselves as Christians in 2010.

5. The state name is a transliteration of a an archaic Ote word (or an Omaha word) meaning "flat river" after the Platte River.

6. Because good jobs were available, many African-Americans migrated to the state in the late 1800s. More recently, in 2010, about 4.5% of the population was of African descent. About 1% of Nebraskans were Native American.