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State of Kansas

State of Kansas
Flag of Kansas State seal of Kansas
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Sunflower State (official);
The Wheat State;
The Free State
Motto(s): Ad astra per aspera (Latin for To the stars through difficulties)
State song(s): "Home on the Range"
Map of the United States with Kansas highlighted
Official language English
Demonym Kansan
Capital Topeka
Largest city Wichita
Area Ranked 15th
 • Total 82,278 sq mi
(213,100 km2)
 • Width 410 miles (660 km)
 • Length 213 miles (343 km)
 • % water 0.6
 • Latitude 37° N to 40° N
 • Longitude 94° 35′ W to 102° 3′ W
Population Ranked 34th
 • Total 2,911,641 (2015 est)
 • Density 35.1/sq mi  (13.5/km2)
Ranked 40th
 • Median household income $54,865 (30th)
Elevation
 • Highest point Mount Sunflower
4,041 ft (1232 m)
 • Mean 2,000 ft  (610 m)
 • Lowest point Verdigris River at Oklahoma border
679 ft (207 m)
Before statehood Kansas Territory
Admission to Union January 29, 1861 (34th)
Governor Sam Brownback (R)
Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer (R)
Legislature Kansas Legislature
 • Upper house Senate
 • Lower house House of Representatives
U.S. Senators Pat Roberts (R)
Jerry Moran (R)
U.S. House delegation Roger Marshall (R)
Lynn Jenkins (R)
Kevin Yoder (R)
Vacant (list)
Time zones  
 • Majority of state Central: UTC −6/−5
 • 4 western counties (Hamilton, Greeley, Wallace, and Sherman) Mountain: UTC −7/−6
ISO 3166 US-KS
Abbreviations KS, Kan.
Website www.kansas.gov
Kansas state symbols
Flag of Kansas.svg
Seal of Kansas.svg
Living insignia
Amphibian Barred tiger salamander
Bird Western meadowlark
Flower Wild sunflower
Grass Little bluestem
Insect Western honey bee
Mammal American bison
Reptile Ornate box turtle
Tree Plains cottonwood
Inanimate insignia
Motto Ad astra per aspera (Latin for To the stars through difficulties)
Soil Harney silt loam (unofficial)
Song "Home on the Range"
State route marker
Kansas state route marker
State quarter
Kansas quarter dollar coin
Released in 2005
Lists of United States state symbols

Kansas Listeni/ˈkænzəs/ is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind", although this was probably not the term's original meaning. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison.

Kansas was first settled by European Americans in 1812, in what is the now Bonner Springs, Kansas, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue. When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine whether Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists eventually prevailed, and on January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland.


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Wikipedia

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