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Kansas

*** Shopping-Tip: Kansas
{{Otheruses1|the U.S. State}} {{US state | Name = Kansas | Fullname = State of Kansas | Flag = Flag of Kansas.svg | Flaglink = Flag of Kansas | Seal = Kansas state seal.png | Map = Map of USA highlighting Kansas.png | Nickname = The Sunflower State | Capital = Topeka, Kansas Topeka | LargestCity = Wichita, Kansas Wichita | Governor = Kathleen Sebelius (D)| Senators = Sam Brownback (R) Pat Roberts (R) | PostalAbbreviation = KS | OfficialLang = ''None'' | AreaRank = 15^th | TotalArea = 82,277 Square mile miÂ²; 213,096 | LandArea = 81,815 miÂ²; 211,900 | WaterArea = 462 miÂ²; 1,196 | PCWater = 0.56 | PopRank = 32^nd | 2000Pop = 2,688,418 | DensityRank = 40^th | 2000Density = 32.9/miÂ²; 12.7 | AdmittanceOrder = 34^th | AdmittanceDate = January 29, 1861 | TimeZone = Central Standard Time Zone Central : Coordinated Universal Time UTC-6/Daylight saving time -5
Mountain Standard Time Zone Mountain: UTC-7/Daylight saving time -6
Counties are Central except for
4 counties on western border. | Latitude = 37Â°N to 40Â°N | Longitude = 94Â°38'W to 102Â°1'34"W | Width = 211 mi; 340 | Length = 400 mi; 645 | HighestElev = 4,039 feet; 1,231 | MeanElev = 2000 feet; 600 | LowestElev = 679 feet; 207 | ISOCode = US-KS | Website = www.kansas.gov }} '''Kansas''' is a Midwest Midwestern U.S. state state in the United States. The name is derived from the Sioux Siouan word ''Kansa'' meaning "People of the south wind." Located in the heartland of the country, Kansas is home to the geographical center of the contiguous United States. The state was first settled by Americans in the 1850s by abolitionists from Massachusetts, who attempted to stop the spread of slavery from neighboring Missouri. Kansas, which became a free state, was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces collided. After the American Civil War Civil War, the population of Kansas exploded as wave after wave of immigrants turned the desolate prairie into productive farmland. Today Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, leading the nation in wheat production.

Geography
Image:National-atlas-kansas.PNG thumb|Map of Kansas Image:Kansas_population_map.png thumb|Kansas Population Density Map Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma on the south; and Colorado on the west. It is located equidistant from the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The geodetic center of North America is located in Osborne County, Kansas Osborne County. This spot is used as the central reference point for all maps produced by the government. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located in Smith County, Kansas Smith County near Lebanon, Kansas, and the geographic center of Kansas is located in Barton County, Kansas Barton County. The eastern part of the state, containing the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Kansas, and the towns of Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth, Atchison, Kansas Atchison, and Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence, are usually considered a part of the Midwestern United States Midwest. The area roughly around Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson and west is the general dividing line between eastern Kansas and western Kansas. Western Kansas is considered by many to be the Western United States West, rather than Midwest. The southwest part of the state is often classifed as the Southwestern United States Southwest U.S., since the area once was part of Spain, Mexico, and Texas (while the rest of Kansas was not), and other historical, cultural, and economic ties to New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado. Southwest Kansas even tried to secede from the rest of Kansas in the early 1990s. The far southeast is a part of the Ozarks. The Kansas Ozarks are wooded, hilly, have a long mining history and much rural poverty. The area is Southern in feel. The state is divided up into List of counties in Kansas 105 counties with List of cities in Kansas 628 cities. Kansas is one of the six states located on the Frontier Strip.

Topography
The state, lying in the Great Plains great central plain of the United States, has a generally flat or undulating surface, and on a large scale is almost perfectly flat.[http://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume9/v9i3/kansas.html]. Its altitude above the sea ranges from 684 feet (208 m) along the Verdigris River at Coffeyville, Kansas Coffeyville in Montgomery County, to 4039 feet (1231 m) at Mount Sunflower, in Wallace County. The Missouri River forms nearly 75 miles (120 km) of the state's northeastern boundary. The Kansas River, formed by the junction of the Smoky Hill River Smoky Hill and Republican River Republican rivers at appropriately-named Junction City, joins the Missouri at Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, after a course of 150 miles (240 km) across the northeastern part of the state. The Arkansas River, rising in Colorado, flows with a tortuous course for nearly 500 miles (800 km) across three-fourths of the state. It forms, with its tributaries, the Little Arkansas River Little Arkansas, Walnut River (west Kansas) Walnut, Cow Creek (Kansas) Cow Creek, Cimarron River Cimarron, Verdigris, and the Neosho River Neosho, the southern drainage system of the state. Other important rivers are the Saline River (Kansas) Saline and Solomon River Solomon, tributaries of the Smoky Hill River; the Big Blue River (Kansas) Big Blue, Delaware River (Kansas) Delaware, and Wakarusa River Wakarusa, which flow into the Kansas River; and the Marais des Cygnes River Marais des Cygnes, a tributary of the Missouri River.

National Parks and Historic Sites
Areas under the protection of the National Parks Service include: *Brown v. Board Of Education National Historic Site in Topeka *California National Historic Trail *Fort Larned National Historic Site in Larned, Kansas Larned *Fort Scott National Historic Site *Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail *Nicodemus National Historic Site at Nicodemus, Kansas Nicodemus *Oregon National Historic Trail *Pony Express National Historic Trail *Santa Fe National Historic Trail *Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City, Kansas Strong City

Climate
Kansas contains three climate types, according to the KÃ¶ppen climate classification: humid continental, semiarid steppe, and humid subtropical. The eastern two-thirds of the state has a humid continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. Most of the precipitation falls in the summer and spring. The western one-third of the state has a semi-arid semiarid steppe climate. Summers are hot, and often very hot. Winters are cold in the northwest and cool to mild in the southwest. The region is semiarid, receiving on average only about 16 inches (40 cm) of precipitation per year. Chinook wind Chinook Winds in the winter can warm western Kansas all the way into the 80 degree Fahrenheit (25C) range. The far south central and southeastern reaches of the state have a humid subtropical climate, with long, hot summers and short, mild winters and much more precipitation than the rest of the state. Precipitation ranges from about 46 inches (120 cm) annually in the southeast of the state, to about 16 inches (40 cm) in the southwest. Snowfall ranges from around 5 inches (13 cm) in the fringes of the south, to 35 inches (90 cm) in the far northwest. Frost free days range from more than 200 in the south, to 130 in the northwest. Kansas is the 9th or 10th sunniest state in the country, depending on the source. No state east of Kansas, including Florida, is sunnier on average. Western Kansas is as sunny as parts of California and Texas.

History
''Main article'': History of Kansas Francisco VÃ¡squez de Coronado was the first European to be in present day Kansas, entering in 1541. In 1803, Kansas was secured through the Louisiana Purchase. Southwest Kansas, however, was still a part of Spain, Mexico, and the Republic of Texas until the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. The state was first settled by Americans in the 1850s by abolitionists from Massachusetts, who attempted to stop the spread of slavery from neighboring Missouri. Kansas, which became a free state, was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces collided. After the American Civil War Civil War, the population of Kansas exploded as wave after wave of immigrants turned the desolate prairie into productive farmland. Kansas became part of the Missouri Territory until 1821. The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law on May 30, 1854 and established the Political divisions of the United States U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas. Kansas Territory stretched all the way to the Continental Divide and included the sites of present-day Denver, Colorado Denver, Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs, and Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo, but that part was cut off when it became a state. Fort Leavenworth was the first community in the area around 1827. To travelers en route to Utah, California, or Oregon, Kansas was a waystop and outfitting place. On March 30, 1855, "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invaded Kansas during the territory's first election and forced the election of a pro-slavery legislature. Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861, making it the 34th state to enter the Union. American Civil War veterans constructed homesteads in Kansas following the war. On February 19, 1861, it became the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages. On August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led ''Quantrill's Raid'' into Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence destroying much of the city and killing hundreds of people. Wild Bill Hickok was a deputy marshal at Fort Riley and a marshal at Hays, Kansas Hays and Abilene, Kansas Abilene. Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City was a wide open American Old West Wild West town in the late 19th century. In one year alone, 8 million head of cattle from Texas boarded trains in Dodge City bound for the East, earning Dodge the nickname "Cowboy Capital." Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp were both lawmen in Dodge City. The Santa Fe Trail traversed Kansas from 1821 to 1880, transporting manufactured goods from Missouri and silver and furs from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and wagon ruts from the trail are still visible today.

Demographics
{| class="toccolours" align="right" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan=4 bgcolor="#ccccff" align="center"| Historical populations |- ! align="center"| Census
year !! align="right"| Population || Change || Percent
Change |- | colspan=4|

|- | align="center"| 1860 || align="right"| 107,206 || align=right | - || align=right | - |- | align="center"| 1870 || align="right"| 364,399 || align=right | 257,193 || align=right | 239% |- | align="center"| 1880 || align="right"| 996,096 || align=right | 631,697 || align=right | 173% |- | align="center"| 1890 || align="right"| 1,428,108 || align=right | 432,012 || align=right | 43% |- | align="center"| 1900 || align="right"| 1,470,495 || align=right | 42,387 || align=right | 3% |- | align="center"| 1910 || align="right"| 1,690,949 || align=right | 220,454 || align=right | 15% |- | align="center"| 1920 || align="right"| 1,769,257 || align=right | 78,308 || align=right | 4% |- | align="center"| 1930 || align="right"| 1,880,999 || align=right | 111,742 || align=right | 6% |- | align="center"| 1940 || align="right"| 1,801,028 || align=right | -79,971 || align=right | -4% |- | align="center"| 1950 || align="right"| 1,905,299 || align=right | 104,271 || align=right | 5% |- | align="center"| 1960 || align="right"| 2,178,611 || align=right | 273,312 || align=right | 14% |- | align="center"| 1970 || align="right"| 2,246,578 || align=right | 67,967 || align=right | 3% |- | align="center"| 1980 || align="right"| 2,363,679 || align=right | 117,101 || align=right | 5% |- | align="center"| 1990 || align="right"| 2,477,574 || align=right | 113,895 || align=right | 5% |- | align="center"| United States 2000 Census 2000 || align="right"| 2,688,418 || align=right | 210,844 || align=right | 9% |} As of 2005, Kansas has an estimated population of 2,744,687, which is an increase of 10,990, or 0.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 55,863, or 2.1%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 76,138 people (that is 204,663 births minus 128,525 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 19,541 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 38,222 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 57,763 people. As of 2004, the population included 149,800 foreign-born (5.5% of the state population), and an estimated 47,000 illegal aliens (1.7% of state population).

Race and ancestry
The racial makeup of the state and comparison to the prior census: {{Racial_demographics_begin | year1=2000 | year2=1990 }} {{Racial_demographics_White | year1=86.1% | year2=90.1% }} {{Racial_demographics_Black | year1=5.7% | year2=5.8% }} {{Racial_demographics_Asian | year1=1.7% | year2=1.3% }} {{Racial_demographics_Amerindian | year1=0.9% | year2=0.9% }} {{Racial_demographics_Other | race=Other race | year1=3.4% | year2=2.0% }} {{Racial_demographics_Mixed | year1=2.1% | year2=* }} {{Racial_demographics_Hispanic | year1White=83.1% | year2White=88.4% | year1Hispanic=7.0% | year2Hispanic=3.8% }} {{Racial_demographics_end}} The largest reported ancestries in the state are: German American German (25.9%), Irish American Irish (11.5%), British American English (10.8%), American (8.8%), French American French (3.1%), and Swedish American Swedish (2.4%). 'American' includes those reported as Native American or African American. British American Americans of British ancestry are common throughout Kansas, as are German-Americans. People of German ancestry are especially strong in the northwest, people of British ancestry and descendents of white Americans from other states are especially strong in the southeast. Mexicans are present in the southwest and make up nearly half the population in certain counties. Kansas City and Junction City are predominantly black. Many African Americans in Kansas are descended from the "Exodusters", newly freed blacks who fled the South for land in Kansas following the Civil War.

Religion
The religious affiliations of the people of Kansas are as follows: *Christianity Christian – 82% **Protestantism Protestant – 60% ***Methodism Methodist – 14% ***Baptist – 14% ***Lutheranism Lutheran – 4% ***Presbyterianism Presbyterian – 3% ***Church of Christ – 3% ***Mennonite/Pietism Pietist – 1% ***Other Protestant – 21% **Roman Catholicism in the United States Roman Catholic – 20% **Other Christian – 2% *Other Religions – 1% *Non-Religious – 17%

Rural flight
Kansas, as well as five other Midwest states (Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota North and South Dakota and Iowa), is feeling the brunt of falling populations. 89% of the total number of cities in those states have fewer than 3000 people; hundreds have fewer than 1000. There are more than 6,000 Ghost Towns in the state, according to Kansas historian Daniel Fitzgerald. Between 1996 and 2004, almost half a million people, nearly half with college degrees, left the six states. ''"Rural flight"'' as it is called has led to offers of free land and tax breaks as enticements to newcomers.

Economy
Image:wiki_kansas.jpg thumb|275px|Greetings from Kansas The 2003 total gross state product of Kansas was US$93 billion, an increase of 4.3% over the prior year, but trailing the national average increase of 4.8%. Its per-capita income was US$29,438. The December 2003 unemployment rate was 4.9%. The agricultural outputs of the state are cattle, sheep, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, cotton, hogs, corn, and salt. The industrial outputs are transportation equipment, commercial and private aircraft, food processing, publishing, chemical products, machinery, apparel, petroleum and mining. Kansas ranks 8th in U.S. petroleum oil production. Production has experienced a steady, natural decline as it becomes increasingly difficult to extract oil over time. Since oil prices bottomed in 1999, oil production has remained fairly constant, with an average monthly rate of about 2.8 million barrels in 2004. The Oil price increases of 2004 and 2005 recent higher prices have made carbon dioxide sequestration and other oil recovery techniques more economical. Kansas ranks 8th in U.S. natural gas production. Production has steadily declined since the mid-1990â€™s with the depletion of the Hugoton natural gas fieldâ€”the state's largest field which extends into Oklahoma and Texas. In 2004, slower declines in the Hugoton gas fields and increased coalbed methane production contributed to a smaller overall decline. Average monthly production was over 32 billion cubic feet (0.9 kmÂ³). Kansas is the nation's second largest producer of beef cattle, behind only Texas. Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, leading the nation in wheat production. Kansas has 3 income brackets for income tax calculation, ranging from 3.5% to 6.45%. The state sales tax in Kansas is 5.3 percent. Various cities and counties in Kansas have an additional local sales tax. Except during the 2001 recession (March–November 2001) when monthly sales tax collections were flat, collections have trended higher as the economy has grown and two rate increases have been enacted. Total sales tax collections for 2003 amounted to $1.63 billion, compared to $805.3 million in 1990. Revenue shortfalls resulting from lower than expected tax collections and slower growth in personal income following a 1998 permanent tax reduction has contributed to the substantial growth in the state's debt level as bonded debt increased from $1.16 billion in 1998 to $3.83 billion in 2006. Some increase in debt was expected as the state continues with its 10-year Comprehensive Transportation Program enacted in 1999. As of June 2004, Moody's Investors Service ranked the state 14th for net tax-supported debt per capita. As a percentage of personal income, it was at 3.8%â€”above the median value of 2.5% for all rated states and having risen from a value of less than 1% in 1992. The state has a statutory requirement to maintain cash reserves of at least 7.5% of expenses at the end of each fiscal year. Major employers in Kansas include the Sprint Nextel Corporation (with operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park), Cessna (Wichita), Learjet Inc. (Wichita) Raytheon (mostly in Wichita, Kansas Wichita), Hallmark Cards (Topeka, Lawrence & Kansas City), Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (Topeka), Applebee's (Overland Park), Payless Shoes (National headquarters and major distribution facilities in Topeka), Koch Industries (Wichita), Department of Defense (Ft.Riley/Junction City and Fort Leavenworth) and Boeing.

Transportation
Kansas is served by two Interstate Highway System Interstate highways with two spur routes, three bypass (road) bypasses, and one beltway over a total of 874 miles. The first section of Interstate in the nation was opened on Interstate 70 I-70 just west of Topeka, Kansas Topeka on November 14, 1956. I-70 is a major east/west route connecting to St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, in the east and Denver, Colorado, in the west. Cities along this route (from east to west) include Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence, Topeka, Kansas Topeka, Junction City, Kansas Junction City, Salina, Kansas Salina, Hays, Kansas Hays, and Colby, Kansas Colby. Interstate 35 I-35 is a major north/south route connecting to Des Moines, Iowa, in the north and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the south. Cities along this route (from north to south) include Kansas City (and suburbs), Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa, Emporia, Kansas Emporia, El Dorado, Kansas El Dorado, and Wichita, Kansas Wichita. Spur routes serve as connections between the two major routes. Interstate 135 I-135, a north/south route, connects I-70 at Salina to I-35 at Wichita. Interstate 335 I-335, a northeast/southwest route, connects I-70 at Topeka to I-35 at Emporia. I-335 and portions of I-35 and I-70 make up the Kansas Turnpike. Bypasses include Interstate 470 (Kansas) I-470 around Topeka and Interstate 235 (Kansas) I-235 around Wichita. Interstate 435 I-435 is a beltway around the Kansas City Metropolitan Area while Interstate 635 (Kansas-Missouri) I-635 bypasses through Kansas City, Kansas. In January 2004, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) announced the new Kansas 5-1-1 511 traveler information service.[http://www.ksdot.org/offtransinfo/News04/511_Release.htm] By calling 511, callers will get access to information about road conditions, construction, closures, detours and weather conditions for the state highway system. Weather and road condition information is updated every 15 minutes.

Law and government
The top executives of the state are Governor of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Lieutenant Governor John E. Moore. Both are elected on the same ticket to a maximum of two consecutive 4-year terms. Their current term will end in January of 2007, and they are able to run for re-election in 2006. The current Attorney General is Phill Kline; his office is also up for re-election in November of 2006. {{Template:MetaSidebar|250px|#ffffaa|left|Kansas state symbols State symbols| *'''State amphibian Amphibian:''' Barred Tiger Salamander *'''State animal Animal:''' American Buffalo *'''List of U.S. state birds Bird:''' Western Meadowlark *'''State flower Flower:''' Sunflower *'''State insect Insect:''' Honeybee *'''State motto Motto:''' ''Ad astra per aspera'', or "To the stars through difficulties" *'''State reptile Reptile:''' Ornate Box Turtle *'''State soil Soil:''' Harney silt loam *'''State song Song:''' "Home on the Range (song) Home on the Range" *'''State tree Tree:''' Cottonwood }} The state's current delegation to the Congress of the United States includes Senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts and Representatives Jerry Moran (1st Congressional District of Kansas District 1), Jim Ryun (2nd Congressional District of Kansas District 2), Dennis Moore (3rd Congressional District of Kansas District 3), and Todd Tiahrt (4th Congressional District of Kansas District 4). Moore is the only Democrat in the delegation; all others are Republicans. Kansas has a reputation as a progressive state with many firsts in legislative initiativesâ€”it was the first state to institute a system of workers compensation (1910). Kansas was also one of the first states to permit women's suffrage in 1912. Suffrage in all states would not be guaranteed until ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. The council-manager government was adopted by many larger Kansas cities in the years following World War I while many American cities were being run by political machines or organized crime. Kansas was first among the states to ban the concept of separate but equal schools. ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas Topeka'' banned racially segregated schools throughout the U.S. Since the 1960s, Kansas has grown more socially conservative. The 1990s brought new restrictions on abortion, the defeat of prominent Democrats, including Dan Glickman, and the Kansas State Board of Education Kansas State Board of Education's infamous 1999 decision to eliminate the Evolution theory of evolution from the state teaching standards, a decision that was later reversed. In 2005, voters accepted a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. On November 8, 2005, The Kansas State Board of Education, at the urging of intelligent design advocates, voted to add criticisms of evolution to the state science standards. However, the Manhattan-Ogden school board has voted to reject the faulty standards. [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/923599751.html?dids=923599751:923599751&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+9%2C+2005&author=Nicholas+Riccardi&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=A.14&desc=THE+NATION] Kansas has not supported a Democratic Party (United States) Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. In 2004, George W. Bush won the state's 6 electoral votes by an overwhelming margin of 25 percentage points with 62% of the vote. The only two counties to support Democrat John Kerry were those containing the city of Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City and the college town of Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence. ''See also'': List of Governors of Kansas; U.S. Congressional Delegations from Kansas

Important cities and towns
''See also List of cities in Kansas'' By state statute, cities are divided into three classes as determined by the population obtained "by any census of enumeration". A city of the third class has a population of less than 5,000, but cities reaching a population of more than 2,000 may be certified as a city of the second class. The second class is limited to cities with a population of less than 25,000, and upon reaching a population of more than 15,000, they may be certified as a city of the first class. First and second class cities are independent of any township and not included within the township's territory. {| cellpadding=10 |- valign=top | rowspan=2 | Population > 10,000 (urbanized area) *Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence, site of University of Kansas *Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan, site of Kansas State University *Salina, Kansas Salina *Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth *Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson *Garden City, Kansas Garden City *Junction City, Kansas Junction City *Emporia, Kansas Emporia, site of Emporia State University *Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City *Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg, site of Pittsburg State University *Hays, Kansas Hays, site of Fort Hays State University *Newton, Kansas Newton *Liberal, Kansas Liberal *Great Bend, Kansas Great Bend *El Dorado, Kansas El Dorado *McPherson, Kansas McPherson *Arkansas City, Kansas Arkansas City *Winfield, Kansas Winfield *Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa *Coffeyville, Kansas Coffeyville *Parsons, Kansas Parsons *Atchison, Kansas Atchison *Independence, Kansas Independence *Gardner, Kansas Gardner *Derby, Kansas Derby | Population > 100,000 (urbanized area) *Wichita, Kansas Wichita ("''The Air Capital''") *Kansas City, Kansas *Topeka, Kansas Topeka, site of Washburn University |- valign=top | Important Suburbs (of Kansas City, Kansas, neighbor to Kansas City, Missouri) *Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park, site of Johnson County Community College *Olathe, Kansas Olathe *Lenexa, Kansas Lenexa *Shawnee, Kansas Shawnee *Leawood, Kansas Leawood |}

Education
{{main|Education in Kansas}} Education in Kansas is governed primarily by the Kansas State Board of Education. On August 9, 2005, the Board approved a draft of science curriculum standards that mandated equal time for the theories of "evolution" and "intelligent design" This echoes a previous decision in Kansas. In 1999, the Board ruled that instruction about evolution, the age of the earth, and the origin of the universe was permitted, but not mandatory, and that those topics would not appear on state standardized tests. However, the Board reversed this decision February 14th, 2001, ruling that instruction of all those topics was mandatory and that they would appear on standardized tests.

Professional sports teams
* Kansas City T-Bones, Wichita Wranglers, Wichita Thunder, Topeka Tarantulas, Wichita Wings (defunct). * Although there are no major professional sports league teams within Kansas itself, many Kansans support the sports teams of Kansas City, Missouri, including the Kansas City Royals, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Kansas City Wizards. * Two major auto racing facilities are situated in Kansas. The Kansas Speedway located in Kansas City hosts races of the NASCAR, IRL, and ARCA circuits. Also, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) holds drag racing events at Heartland Park Topeka, situated in Topeka.

Miscellaneous topics
The state name is derived from the Sioux Siouan word Kansa meaning "People of the south wind." Kansas has been home to Amelia Earhart, and Carrie Nation, Dwight D. Eisenhower President Eisenhower, and presidential candidates Bob Dole and Alf Landon. Famous athletes from Kansas include Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim Ryun, Walter Johnson, Maurice Greene (athlete) Maurice Greene, and Lynette Woodard. Despite its agricultural reputation, Kansas is the home of Walter Chrysler of automotive fame, Clyde Cessna (aviation), Jack Kilby (microchip inventor) and George Washington Carver (educator/African American pioneer).

Landmarks
* The disputed world's largest ball of twine created August 15, 1953, in Cawker City, Kansas Cawker City, is still growing. * Big Brutus, the world's second largest electric shovel resides in West Mineral, Kansas West Mineral. It is 160 feet (49 m) tall and weighs 11 million pounds (5000 t). * Samuel P. Dinsmoor S.P. Dinsmoor created the Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas Lucas in 1905, and opened it up to tourists in 1908. The garden features sculptures of biblical scenes and political messages. One scene has ''labor'' being crucified by a doctor, lawyer, banker, and preacher. Dinsmoor even built his own mausoleum in which you can still see him today in his concrete coffin by paying for the tour. [http://www.missioncreep.com/tilt/dinsmoor.html] * Lucas, Kansas Lucas is also home to the Grassroots Art Center [http://home.comcast.net/~ymirymir/index2.htm]. The museum features many works of art created by people with no formal training, and it sits only a block or two from the Garden of Eden. * The John Brown (abolitionist) John Brown museum is located in Osawatomie, Kansas Osawatomie. * The Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant in De Soto, Kansas\De Soto opened in 1942 to manufacture gunpowder and munitions propellants for World War II. The closed plant sits on over 9000 acres (36 kmÂ²) of land which was made up of more than 100 farms. * The boyhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Eisenhower Library, and his grave are located in Abilene, Kansas Abilene. *The Greyhound Hall of Fame is also located in Abilene. *Abilene is the ending point of the Chisholm Trail where the cattle driven from Texas were loaded onto rail cars. * The house of Carrie Nation, now a museum, is located in Medicine Lodge, Kansas Medicine Lodge. * Constitution Hall in Lecompton, Kansas Lecompton is the location where the Kansas Territorial Government convened and drafted a pro-slavery constitution. ([http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/index.php?doc=consthall.php website]) * The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics houses the largest collection of papers for a politician other than a president. The institute is located in Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence, on the campus of the University of Kansas. ([http://www.doleinstitute.org website]) * The Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City features Old West memorabilia and history. * The Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas Wamego features Dorothy's House, a recreation of the farm house featured in the film ''The Wizard of Oz (1939 movie) The Wizard of Oz''. * The National Teachers Hall of Fame is located in Emporia, Kansas Emporia. * The National Agriculture Center and Hall of Fame is located in Bonner Springs, Kansas Bonner Springs. * The Horace Greeley museum is located in Tribune, Kansas Tribune. * The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, located in Hutchinson, is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute. The museum features the largest collection of artifacts from the Russian Space Program outside of Moscow. It is also home to Apollo 13, an SR-71 Blackbird, and many space artifacts. * The Boyer Gallery, a collection of animated sculptures made by Paul Boyer is located in Belleville, Kansas Belleville. * The fifth largest collection of civilian and military aircraft in the United States is located at the Mid-America Air Museum. * The Big Well (Kansas) Big Well, the world's largest hand dug water well well, is in Greensburg, Kansas Greensburg. * The Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas Hays, features exhibits of several fossils discovered by Charles Hazelius Sternberg as well as various temporary exhibits ([http://www.fhsu.edu/sternberg/]). *Big Basin and Little Basin are two large sinkholes located in Clark County. *Arikaree Breaks are badlands located in Cheyenne County, Kansas. *The Cimarron National Grassland, Kansas's largest tract of public land, is located in Morton County, Kansas Morton County. *Monument Rocks (Kansas) Monument Rocks is a series of chalk arcs and other formations. Kansas also has many other formations of this nature. *The boyhood home of General Frederick Funston is located in Iola, Kansas Iola[http://skyways.lib.ks.us/museums/funston/].

See also
*List of Kansas-related topics *List of people from Kansas *Lists of places in Kansas

External links

- Kansas.gov: the official website for the State of Kansas
- Kansas History Online
- Cutler's History of Kansas
- Kansas Maps
- Kansas Department of Transportation maps
- Kansas Travel and Tourism
- Kansas State Constitution
- Kansas weather
- Kansas webcam directory
- Map of average annual precipitation at Oregon State University
- Kansas Obituary Links Page
- GenealogyBuff.com - Kansas Library of Files
- Kansas Heritage the first Kansas history on the web
- Old West Kansas

References
*Kansas, Inc. (April 2005) [http://www.kansasinc.org/pubs/working/IKE2004DataBook.pdf ''Indicators of the Kansas Economy''] {{PDFlink}}. Kansas economic information. *Kansas Board of Regents. [http://www.kansasregents.org/download/news/fall04enrolltable.pdf "Enrollment Headcount at Kansas State Universities—Fall 2004"] {{PDFlink}}. *U.S. Census Bureau. *
- Kansas QuickFacts. Geographic and demographic information. *
- Kansas - Race and Hispanic Origin: 1860 to 1990 {{PDFlink}} {{Kansas}} {{United_States}} Category:Kansas * Category:States of the American West Category:States of the United States Category:1861 establishments af:Kansas ang:Kansas bg:ÐšÐ°Ð½Ð·Ð°Ñ? bn:à¦•à§?à¦¯à¦¾à¦¨à¦¸à¦¾à¦¸ ca:Kansas cs:Kansas da:Kansas de:Kansas et:Kansas es:Kansas eo:Kansaso eu:Kansas fr:Kansas ga:Kansas ko:ìº”ìž?ìŠ¤ ì£¼ id:Kansas is:Kansas it:Kansas he:×§× ×–×¡ ka:áƒ™áƒ?áƒœáƒ–áƒ?áƒ¡áƒ˜ ks:à¤•à¥‡à¤¨à¥?â€?à¤¸à¤¾à¤¸ kw:Kansas la:Cansia lv:Kanzasa lt:Kanzasas hu:Kansas mk:ÐšÐ°Ð½Ð·Ð°Ñ? ms:Kansas nl:Kansas (staat) ja:ã‚«ãƒ³ã‚¶ã‚¹å·ž no:Kansas nn:Kansas os:ÐšÐ°Ð½Ð·Ð°Ñ? pl:Kansas pt:Kansas ru:ÐšÐ°Ð½Ð·Ð°Ñ? sa:à¤•à¥‡à¤¨à¥?â€?à¤¸à¤¾à¤¸ sq:Kansas sh:Kanzas simple:Kansas sl:Kansas sr:ÐšÐ°Ð½Ð·Ð°Ñ? fi:Kansas sv:Kansas th:à¸¡à¸¥à¸£à¸±à¸?à¹?à¸„à¸™à¸‹à¸±à¸ª uk:ÐšÐ°Ð½Ð·Ð°Ñ? zh:å ªè–©æ–¯å·ž tr:Kansas {| class="toccolours" align="center" width=94% style="margin:0.5em 1em; clear:both" |- !style="background:#ccccff" align=center width="100%"| U.S. state State of Kansas .html">Image:Flag of Kansas.svg 50px|Flag of Kansas |- |align=center colspan=2| '''Capital:''' Topeka, Kansas Topeka ---- |- |align=center colspan=2| '''Regions:''' Cherokee Strip (Kansas) Cherokee Strip | Flint Hills .html">High Plains (United States) High Plains | Kansas City Metropolitan Area .html">Smoky Hills Red Hills ---- |- |align=center colspan=2| '''List of cities in Kansas Largest Cities:''' Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City | Emporia, Kansas Emporia | Garden City, Kansas Garden City | Hays, Kansas Hays | Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson | Junction City, Kansas Junction City | Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City | Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence | Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth | Leawood, Kansas Leawood | Lenexa, Kansas Lenexa | Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan | Olathe, Kansas Olathe | Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park | Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg | Prairie Village, Kansas Prairie Village | Salina, Kansas Salina | Shawnee, Kansas Shawnee | Topeka, Kansas Topeka | Wichita, Kansas Wichita ---- |- |align=center colspan=2| '''List of counties in Kansas Counties:''' Allen County, Kansas Allen | Anderson County, Kansas Anderson | Atchison County, Kansas Atchison | Barber County, Kansas Barber | Barton County, Kansas Barton | Bourbon County, Kansas Bourbon | Brown County, Kansas Brown | Butler County, Kansas Butler | Chase County, Kansas Chase | Chautauqua County, Kansas Chautauqua | Cherokee County, Kansas Cherokee | Cheyenne County, Kansas Cheyenne | Clark County, Kansas Clark | Clay County, Kansas Clay | Cloud County, Kansas Cloud | Coffey County, Kansas Coffey | Comanche County, Kansas Comanche | Cowley County, Kansas Cowley | Crawford County, Kansas Crawford | Decatur County, Kansas Decatur | Dickinson County, Kansas Dickinson | Doniphan County, Kansas Doniphan | Douglas County, Kansas Douglas | Edwards County, Kansas Edwards | Elk County, Kansas Elk | Ellis County, Kansas Ellis | Ellsworth County, Kansas Ellsworth | Finney County, Kansas Finney | Ford County, Kansas Ford | Franklin County, Kansas Franklin | Geary County, Kansas Geary | Gove County, Kansas Gove | Graham County, Kansas Graham | Grant County, Kansas Grant | Gray County, Kansas Gray | Greeley County, Kansas Greeley | Greenwood County, Kansas Greenwood | Hamilton County, Kansas Hamilton | Harper County, Kansas Harper | Harvey County, Kansas Harvey | Haskell County, Kansas Haskell | Hodgeman County, Kansas Hodgeman | Jackson County, Kansas Jackson | Jefferson County, Kansas Jefferson | Jewell County, Kansas Jewell | Johnson County, Kansas Johnson | Kearny County, Kansas Kearny | Kingman County, Kansas Kingman | Kiowa County, Kansas Kiowa | Labette County, Kansas Labette | Lane County, Kansas Lane | Leavenworth County, Kansas Leavenworth | Lincoln County, Kansas Lincoln | Linn County, Kansas Linn | Logan County, Kansas Logan | Lyon County, Kansas Lyon | Marion County, Kansas Marion | Marshall County, Kansas Marshall | McPherson County, Kansas McPherson | Meade County, Kansas Meade | Miami County, Kansas Miami | Mitchell County, Kansas Mitchell | Montgomery County, Kansas Montgomery | Morris County, Kansas Morris | Morton County, Kansas Morton | Nemaha County, Kansas Nemaha | Neosho County, Kansas Neosho | Ness County, Kansas Ness | Norton County, Kansas Norton | Osage County, Kansas Osage | Osborne County, Kansas Osborne | Ottawa County, Kansas Ottawa | Pawnee County, Kansas Pawnee | Phillips County, Kansas Phillips | Pottawatomie County, Kansas Pottawatomie | Pratt County, Kansas Pratt | Rawlins County, Kansas Rawlins | Reno County, Kansas Reno | Republic County, Kansas Republic | Rice County, Kansas Rice | Riley County, Kansas Riley | Rooks County, Kansas Rooks | Rush County, Kansas Rush | Russell County, Kansas Russell | Saline County, Kansas Saline | Scott County, Kansas Scott | Sedgwick County, Kansas Sedgwick | Seward County, Kansas Seward | Shawnee County, Kansas Shawnee | Sheridan County, Kansas Sheridan | Sherman County, Kansas Sherman | Smith County, Kansas Smith | Stafford County, Kansas Stafford | Stanton County, Kansas Stanton | Stevens County, Kansas Stevens | Sumner County, Kansas Sumner | Thomas County, Kansas Thomas | Trego County, Kansas Trego | Wabaunsee County, Kansas Wabaunsee | Wallace County, Kansas Wallace | Washington County, Kansas Washington | Wichita County, Kansas Wichita | Wilson County, Kansas Wilson | Woodson County, Kansas Woodson | Wyandotte County, Kansas Wyandotte |} This category is for topics and locations related to the U.S. state State of Kansas. Image:Flag of Kansas.svg|Official state flag Image:Kansas state seal.png|Official state seal Image:Map of USA highlighting Kansas.png|Locator map Category:States of the American West Category:States of the United States de:Kategorie:Kansas fr:CatÃ©gorie:Kansas ko:ë¶„ë¥˜:ìº”ìž?ìŠ¤ ì£¼ ja:Category:ã‚«ãƒ³ã‚¶ã‚¹å·ž pt:Categoria:Kansas fi:Luokka:Kansas sv:Kategori:Kansas zh:category:å ªè–©æ–¯å·ž

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