Wichita, Kansas | |||
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City | |||
Downtown Wichita
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Nickname(s): Air Capital Of The World, ICT | |||
Location within Sedgwick County and Kansas |
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KDOT map of Sedgwick County (legend) |
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Coordinates: 37°41′20″N 97°20′10″W / 37.68889°N 97.33611°WCoordinates: 37°41′20″N 97°20′10″W / 37.68889°N 97.33611°W | |||
Country | United States | ||
State | Kansas | ||
County | Sedgwick | ||
Founded | 1868 | ||
Incorporated | 1870 | ||
Government | |||
• Type | Council-Manager | ||
• Mayor | Jeff Longwell | ||
• City Manager | Robert Layton | ||
Area | |||
• City | 163.59 sq mi (423.70 km2) | ||
• Land | 159.29 sq mi (412.56 km2) | ||
• Water | 4.30 sq mi (11.14 km2) | ||
Elevation | 1,299 ft (396 m) | ||
Population (2010) | |||
• City | 382,368 | ||
• Estimate (2015) | 389,965 | ||
• Rank | US: 48th KS: 1st Midwest: 10th |
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• Density | 2,300/sq mi (900/km2) | ||
• Metro | 644,610 (US: 85th) | ||
• CSA | 680,398 (US: 72nd) | ||
Demonym(s) | Wichitan | ||
Time zone | CST (UTC-6) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) | ||
ZIP Codes | 67201-67221, 67223, 67226-67228, 67230, 67232, 67235, 67260, 67275-67278 | ||
Area code | 316 | ||
FIPS code | 20-79000 | ||
GNIS feature ID | 0473862 | ||
Interstates | |||
U.S Highways |
US-54 / US-400 US-81 |
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Kansas Highways | K-96 K-42 K-15 K-254 | ||
Website | www |
Wichita (/ˈwɪtʃᵻtɔː/ WITCH-ə-taw) is the largest city in the state of Kansas and the 48th-largest city in the United States. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 382,368; as of 2014, it was estimated to have increased to 389,965. In 2015, the estimated population of the Wichita metropolitan area was 644,610, and that of the larger Wichita-Winfield combined statistical area was 680,398.
The city began as a trading post on the Chisholm Trail in the 1860s, then was incorporated in 1870. It subsequently became a key destination for cattle drives traveling north from Texas to access railroads, earning it the nickname "Cowtown". In the 1920s and 1930s, businessmen and aeronautical engineers established a number of successful aircraft manufacturing companies in Wichita including Beechcraft, Cessna, and Stearman Aircraft. The city transformed into a hub of U.S. aircraft production and became known as "The Air Capital of the World". Beechcraft, Cessna, (both now part of Textron Aviation) and other firms including Learjet, Airbus and Spirit AeroSystems continue to operate design and manufacturing facilities in Wichita today, and the city remains a major center of the U.S. aircraft industry.