Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska. It is the county seat of Douglas County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 390,007. According to the 2006 census estimate, Omaha's population rose to 427,872, which includes an extra population count of approximately 8,300 people by annexing the smaller city of 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 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) residing in eight counties or about 1.2 million within a 50 mile (80 km) radius.

The city grew on the Missouri River, with the first settlement extending from the Lone Tree Ferry crossing from Kanesville, Iowa in the early 1850s. Omaha earned its nickname, the "Gateway to the West", because of its central location as a transportation hub for the United States in the late 1800s.

Today Omaha has a rich cultural background, including the Joslyn Art Museum, the Durham Western Heritage Museum, the Holland Performing Arts Center, the Omaha Community Playhouse, and the Old Market - Omaha's Arts and Entertainment District. The city's historical and cultural attractions have been lauded by numerous national newspapers, including the Boston Globe and the New York Times.

Along with headquarters for such companies as Berkshire Hathaway, Union Pacific Railroad, Valmont Industries, and Conagra Foods, Omaha is known for its history with Mutual of Omaha. In 2001 Newsweek identified the city as one of the Top 10 high-tech havens, showing how much the local economy had changed. Music in Omaha has always been important to the city, with North Omaha's music scene being historically important and in modern times, the "Omaha Sound", defining an important trend across the nation.

  Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium has been the home of the College World Series since 1950. It cost $770,000 to build Omaha Municipal Stadium, which opened in 1948 with a seating capacity of 10,000. Original construction plans called for a brick exterior, but that was scaled back to concrete to save money. Even so, construction of the ballpark cost $290,000 more than planned.

Two years after opening, Omaha attracted the College World Series to their new stadium and the CWS has been married to Rosenblatt ever since. Over the years the CWS has become a major event, and the city of Omaha has spent over $35 million in upgrades to keep the stadium up to championship standards. Total seating is now 23,100, with 17,700 seats located in the grandstand and View Club, while another 5,400 patrons occupy the outfield bleacher seats, which are sold as General Admission.

The ballpark's design is fairly simple. It's signature press box, held up by a lattice work of exposed blue steel and recognizable to millions of fans from ESPN's broadcasts, beams "Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium" in neon red. Two other things that stand out are the large glassed-in auxiliary press box behind the first base grandstand and the raised narrow walkway that connects the right field bleachers to the first base grandstand. Rosenblatt Stadium has one main scoreboard in left field and a pair of smaller video boards in center field. It's one of a handful of stadiums that still uses live music instead of prerecorded music.

The ballpark does have a full-time tenant: The Omaha Royals, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, have played here since their inception in 1969. Capacity is limited to 9,441 for O-Royals games.

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, is located next to Rosenblatt Stadium. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The mission of the zoo is conservation, research, recreation, and education. Today, it is considered by many to be one of the top zoos in the United States; in May 2004, it was voted by Reader's Digest as the best zoo in America. Also, in a survey conducted by Disney-owned Family Fun Magazine, the zoo was ranked as America's #1 Family Friendly Attraction.

As of October 2004, the zoo had 130 acres, more than 17,000 animals; 962 species; 276 species of birds and 1626 specimens; 184 species of mammals and 2025 specimens; 181 species of fish and 7600 specimens; 176 species of reptiles and 598 specimens; 103 species of invertebrates and 5000 specimens; 42 species of amphibians and 487 specimens; 44 endangered species, and; 7 threatened species.