Landscape photo from Kansas

Kansas Cities, Climate and Sights

The US state of Kansas got its name from the Indians, the Sioux are godfather to the people of the south wind, as “Kansa” means in their language. Kansas is located in the midwestern United States and is bordered by Nebraska to the north, Colorado to the west, Oklahoma to the south, and Missouri to the east.

  • Liuxers: List of Federal school codes for educational institutions located in Kansas. Includes FAFSA codes in the state of Kansas.

The US state of Kansas

Landscape photo from Kansas

Landscape photo from Kansas

About 2.8 million people live in the state’s 105 counties. Mainly whites (about 85%), some Latinos (about 6%) and 2% African Americans can be found there.

At 32%, German-born immigrants make up the largest population group in Kansas.

As the geographic center of the 48 contiguous United States, Kansas is equally distant from the Pacific and the Atlantic.

The largest rivers are the Kansas River, Arkansas River and the Missouri River, which also represents the northeastern border of the state of Kansas. The western two-thirds are part of the Central Plains. A large plain that is mostly prairie and was once inhabited by large herds of buffalo.

Today, mainly cattle are bred and wheat is grown there. Due to the moderate amount of precipitation, artificial irrigation is usually used in agriculture. The eastern third of the state is hilly, partly forested, and has more rainfall. The highest point in Kansas is Mount Sunflower in Wallace County (1231 m). The capital of Kansas is Topeka and the largest city is Wichita. At 75,000 square miles, Kansas is one of the larger states, ranking 15th in the US.

The biggest cities

Here is the list of the largest cities in Kansas with their population (rounded). See Kansas counties list.

  1. Wichita
  2. Overland Park
  3. Kansas City
  4. Topeka
  5. Olathe

Climate and weather

Kansas has a typical continental climate with cold winters, hot summers and little rainfall. The average annual rainfall in the east of the state is sometimes more than 1000 millimeters per year, in the west it is only about half. Very occasionally, less than 100 millimeters are measured per year. Temperatures in Kansas can change quickly, with winter blizzards in the west. Tornado Alley also has the most tornadoes in the United States. After Florida and Oklahoma, Kansas is the state with the most tornadoes per year and area , which repeatedly cause severe damage and also cause fatalities.

Business

Major industries in Kansas are

  • Agriculture (Corn, Wheat, Cattle)
  • Aircraft construction (Hawker Beechcraft and others)
  • Mining (oil, natural gas, salt, gypsum, lead and zinc ore)
  • Helium Production (Airgas MidSouth,BP,Airgas Nitrous Oxide ua)

Kansas is the nation’s largest producer of wheat (the nation’s breadbasket), has the world’s largest natural gas field, and is the nation’s second-largest producer of beef. The USA has the world’s largest beef production with more than 12 million tons per year.