Towns and Cities in Kansas, USA

Kansas

Kansas is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Nebraska in the north, Missouri in the east, Oklahoma in the south, and Colorado in the west. Its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is the 15th-largest state by area and the 34th most-populous of the 50 states with a population of 2,913,314. Residents of Kansas are called Kansans. Its governor is Laura Kelly.

France took ownership of the area in 1800. It became a U.S. territory in 1803, when the United States bought this land and much more from France. This transaction was called the Louisiana Purchase.

Kansas’ name comes from the Kansa Native American tribe, which means "People of the South Wind", but its nickname is the "Sunflower State", which comes from the fields of sunflowers that bloom there. It has a temperate but continental climate, with great extremes between summer and winter temperatures, but few long periods of extreme hot or cold. The annual average temperature is 55 °F (13 °C). The growing season ranges from mid-April to mid-September.

The state is known for its vast plains, but it isn’t all flatlands. By 2015, Kansas was one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, corn, sorghum, and soybeans; placing Kansas first among the U.S. states in wheat and first in sorghum grains. Animal life has an important place in the state as deers, once almost extinct, were protected by law for many years and have multiplied to the degree that hunting again has been allowed. Bisons, which had nearly disappeared from Kansas, have increased in number and are raised on ranches and farms throughout the state.