Kansas Geography

Basic Facts

• Geographical Region: Midwest
• Size: 82282 sq.mi., 15th rank overall.
• Admitted to Statehood: January 29, 1861
• Population: 2,818,747;33rd rank overall.
• Capital: Topeka
• Other Major City: Wichita
• Abbreviation: KS

Fun Facts

• Nickname: Sunflower State
• State Flag: Click Here (opens window to 50states.com)
• State Bird: Western Meadowlark (opens window to 50states.com)
• State Flower: Sunflower (opens window to 50states.com)

Geographical Description

• The Great Plains make up the western half of the state.
• The Dissected Till Plains encompass the northeast section of the state.
• The land rises more than 3,000 ft from the eastern alluvial prairies of Kansas to its western semiarid high plains.
• The state is drained by the Kansas and Arkansas rivers.

Map: Relief Map of KS

Industry

Transportation equipment, industrial and computer machinery, food processing, printing and publishing, aircraft industry, chemical products, machinery, apparel, petroleum, mining, natural gas

Agriculture

Cattle, hay, dairy products, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, hogs, corn

Other Information

Fun Facts:

The windiest city in the United States is Dodge City. Serving ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas was at one time against the law. Susan Madora Salter was the first woman mayor elected to office in Argonia in 1887. The geographical center of the 48 contiguous states is Smith County. In 1990 you could have made 33 billion loaves of bread with the amount of wheat produced by Kansas wheat farmers. That equated to 6 loaves for each person on Earth.

More Fun Facts: http://www.50states.com/facts/kansas.htm