History of Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska|Douglas County.{{GR|6}} As of the United States Census, 2000|2000 census, the city had a population of 390,007. According to the 2005 United States Census Bureau|census estimate, Omaha's population rose to 424,988, which includes an extra population count of approximately 8,400 people by annexing the smaller City of Elkhorn, Nebraska|Elkhorn. Located on the eastern edge of Nebraska, it is on the Missouri River, about 20 miles (30 km) north of the mouth of the Platte River. Omaha is the anchor of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Council Bluffs, Iowa|Council Bluffs, Iowa lies directly across the Missouri River from Omaha. The city and its suburbs formed the 60th-largest metropolitan area in the United States in 2000, with an estimated population of 822,549 (2006{{cite web | url = http://data.iowadatacenter.org/datatables/MetroArea/metroestpopcomp20002006.pdf| title = Population Estimates and Components of Population Change for Iowa's Metropolitan Areas}}) residing in eight counties or about 1.2 million within a 50-mile (80 km) radius.
Omaha has a rich cultural and historical legacy. Cultural highlights include the Joslyn Art Museum, the Durham Western Heritage Museum, the Holland Performing Arts Center, and the Omaha Community Playhouse. It was home to the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, and was the location of the Winter Quarters, Nebraska|winter quarters for settlers on the Mormon Trail. It has also been the location of important events in the Civil Rights Movement in Omaha, Nebraska|Civil Rights Movement. It is also a business center listed as a top 10 high tech haven by Newsweek in 2001.Noted on access Omaha website [http://www.accessomaha.com/MetroData/index.asp] and Creighton's Omaha scene page [http://admissions.creighton.edu/undergraduate/studentlife/omahascene.asp] Although crime in Omaha is comparable to United States cities by crime rate|other U.S. cities of similar size, Racial Tension in Omaha, Nebraska|racial tension and the scourge of methamphetaminesBonné, Jon. Scourge of the heartland [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3071773/] (accessed March 12, 2007) are social issues.
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