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Kansas
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Kansas: flag The Great Seal of the State of Kansas features a sunrise over mountains, a river with a steamboat, a settler plowing a field with horses, a log cabin, and covered wagons, with Native Americans hunting bison in the background. The motto Ad Astra Per Aspera appears above, and the outer ring reads Great Seal of the State of Kansas, January 29, 1861. The western meadowlark is the state bird of Kansas. The state flower of Kansas is the wild sunflower. Political map of Kansas showing state and county boundaries, major cities, county seats, and the state capital, Topeka. Surrounding states-Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Colorado-are labeled at the borders. An inset locator map at the bottom left highlights Kansas within the central United States. Small farm buildings and fenced enclosures sit amid wide, rolling grasslands under a blue sky in Kansas. Map of the United States highlighting the state of Kansas in orange at the center of the country, with the capital city Topeka labeled. Surrounding states and major geographic features such as the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Canada, and Washington, D.C. are also shown for context. Map of Kansas showing major physical features, including rivers, lakes, and reservoirs such as the Arkansas, Kansas, and Smoky Hill rivers, as well as Milford Lake, Perry Lake, and Cheney Reservoir. The map highlights Mt. Sunflower, the state's highest point, and marks Kansas's borders with Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma. An inset locator map shows Kansas's position within the United States. Map of the Midwestern United States showing state boundaries, major cities, state capitals, rivers, lakes, and notable physical features such as the Black Hills, Badlands, Sand Hills, Ozark Plateau, and Flint Hills. The map covers states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, with the Great Lakes and major rivers labeled. An inset in the upper right highlights the Midwest region on a map of the entire U Aerial view of the Arkansas River flowing through downtown Wichita, Kansas, with city buildings and a baseball stadium in the foreground.
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Small farm buildings and fenced enclosures sit amid wide, rolling grasslands under a blue sky in Kansas.
Kansas summary
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Kansas: flag
Kansas: flag

Kansas

state, United States
Also known as: Sunflower State
Written by
Charles G. Pearson
Emeritus Professor of Journalism, Wichita State University, Kansas.
Charles G. PearsonAll
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

Kansas, constituent state of the United States of America. It is bounded by Nebraska to the north, Missouri to the east, Oklahoma to the south, and Colorado to the west. Lying amid the westward-rising landscape of the Great Plains of the North American continent, Kansas became the 34th state on January 29, 1861. In that year the capital was located in Topeka by popular election, outpolling nearby Lawrence by some 2,700 votes. The state’s name...

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