Geography

Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma on the south; and Colorado on the west. The state is divided up into 105 counties with 628 cities. It is located equidistant from the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located in Smith County near Lebanon, Kansas. The geodetic center of North America was located in Osborne County until 1983. This spot was used until that date as the central reference point for all maps of North America produced by the U.S. government. The geographic center of Kansas is located in Barton County.

Topography

The western two thirds of the state, lying in the great central plain of the United States, has a generally flat or undulating surface. However, the eastern third has many hills and forests. The land displays a gradual slope up from east to west; its altitude above the sea ranges from 684 ft (208 m) along the Verdigris River at Coffeyville in Montgomery County, to 4,039 ft (1,231 m) at Mount Sunflower, one half mile from the Colorado border, in Wallace County. It is a popular belief that Kansas is the flattest state in the nation, reinforced by a well known 2003 study stating that Kansas was indeed "flatter than a pancake." This has since been debunked, with most scientists ranking Kansas somewhere between 20th and 30th flattest state, depending on measurement method.

The Missouri River forms nearly 75 mi (121 km) of the state's northeastern boundary. The Kansas River (locally known as the Kaw), formed by the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers at appropriately-named Junction City, joins the Missouri at Kansas City, after a course of 170 mi (270 km) across the northeastern part of the state. The Arkansas River (pronunciation varies), rising in Colorado, flows with a bending course for nearly 500 mi (800 km) across the western and southern parts of the state. It forms, with its tributaries (the Little Arkansas, Ninnescah, Walnut, Cow Creek, Cimarron, Verdigris, and the Neosho), the southern drainage system of the state. Other important rivers are the Saline and Solomon River's, tributaries of the Smoky Hill River; the Big Blue, Delaware, and Wakarusa, which flow into the Kansas River; and the Marais des Cygnes, a tributary of the Missouri River.

National parks and historic sites

Areas under the protection of the National Park Service include:

• Brown v. Board Of Education National Historic Site in Topeka
• California National Historic Trail
• Fort Larned National Historic Site in Larned
• Fort Scott National Historic Site
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• Nicodemus National Historic Site at Nicodemus
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Pony Express National Historic Trail
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City

Climate

Kansas contains three climate types, according to the Köppen 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 third of the state has a semiarid steppe climate. Summers are hot, often very hot. Winters are cold in the northwest and cool to mild in the southwest. Also, the western region is semiarid, receiving an average of only about 16 inches (40 cm) of precipitation per year. Chinook winds in the winter can warm western Kansas all the way into the 80°F (25°C) range. The far south-central and southeastern reaches of the state have a humid subtropical climate, with long, hot summers, short, mild winters, and much more precipitation than the rest of the state.

Precipitation ranges from about 46 inches (1200 mm) annually in the southeast of the state, to about 16 inches (400 mm) in the southwest. Snowfall ranges from around 5 inches (130 mm) in the fringes of the south, to 35 inches (900 mm) in the far northwest. Frost-free days range from more than 200 days in the south, to 130 days in the northwest. Thus, Kansas is the 9th or 10th sunniest state in the country, depending on the source. Western Kansas is as sunny as parts of California and Arizona.

In spite of the frequent sunshine throughout much of the state, the state is also vulnerable to strong thunderstorms, especially in the spring. Many of these storms become Supercell thunderstorms. These can spawn tornadoes, often of F3 strength or higher. According to statistics from the National Climatic Data Center, Kansas has reported more tornadoes (for the period 1st January 1950 through to 31st October 2006) than any state except for Texas - marginally even more than Oklahoma. It has also - along with Alabama - reported more F5 tornadoes than any other state. These are the most powerful of all tornadoes. Kansas averages over 50 tornadoes annually.

According to NOAA, the all time highest temperature recorded in Kansas is 121°F (49.4°C) on July 24, 1936, near Alton, and the all time low is -40°F (-40°C) on February 13, 1905, near Lebanon.

Kansas' all time record high of 121°F (49.4°C) ties with North Dakota for the fifth-highest all-time record high recorded in a state, behind California (134°F/56.7°C), Arizona (128°F/53.3°C), Nevada (125°F/51.7°C), and New Mexico (122°F/50°C).

History

For millennia, the land that is presently Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. The first European to set foot in present-day Kansas was Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who explored the area in 1541. In 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of 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 in 1848. From 1812 to 1821, Kansas was part of the Missouri Territory. The Santa Fe Trail traversed Kansas from 1821 to 1880, transporting manufactured goods from Missouri and silver and furs from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Wagon ruts from the trail are still visible in the prairie today.

In 1827, Fort Leavenworth became the first permanent settlement of white Americans in the future state. The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law on May 30, 1854, establishing the U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and opening the area to broader settlement by whites. Kansas Territory stretched all the way to the Continental Divide and included the sites of present-day Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.

Missouri and Arkansas sent settlers into Kansas all along its eastern border. These settlers attempted to sway votes in favor of slavery. The secondary settlement of Americans in Kansas Territory were abolitionists from Massachusetts and other Free-Staters, who attempted to stop the spread of slavery from neighboring Missouri. Directly presaging the American Civil War, these forces collided, entering into skirmishes that earned the territory the name of Bleeding Kansas. Kansas was admitted to the United States as a free state on January 29, 1861, making it the 34th state to enter the Union. By that time the violence in Kansas had largely subsided. However, during the Civil War, on August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led several hundred men on a raid into Lawrence, destroying much of the city and killing nearly two hundred people. Until the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Quantrill's raid was the single bloodiest act of domestic terrorism in America. He was roundly condemned by both the conventional confederate military and the partisan rangers commissioned by the Missouri legislature. His application to that body for a commission was flatly rejected due to his pre war criminal record. (see, Jones, Gray Ghosts and Rebel Riders Holt & Co. 1956, p.76)

After the Civil War, many veterans constructed homesteads in Kansas. Many African Americans also looked to Kansas as the land of "John Brown," and led by men like Benjamin "Pap" Singleton began establishing black colonies in the state. At the same time, the Chisholm Trail was opened and the Wild West era commenced in Kansas. Wild Bill Hickok was a deputy marshal at Fort Riley and a marshal at Hays and Abilene. Dodge City was another wild cowboy town, and both Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp worked as lawmen in the town. In one year alone, 8 million head of cattle from Texas boarded trains in Dodge City bound for the East, earning Dodge the nickname "Queen of the Cowtowns."

In part as a response to the violence perpetrated by cowboys, on February 19, 1881 Kansas became the first U.S. state to adopt a Constitutional amendment prohibiting all alcoholic beverages.

Demographics

As of 2007, Kansas has an estimated population of 2,775,997, which is an increase of 20,180, or 0.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 87,579, or 3.3%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 93,899 people (that is 246,484 births minus 152,585 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 20,742 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 44,847 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 65,589 people. The center of population of Kansas is located in Chase County, at 38°27′N, 96°32′W, approximately three miles north of the community of Strong City.

As of 2004, the population included 149,800 foreign-born (5.5% of the state population). The largest reported ancestries in the state are: German (25.9%), Irish (11.5%), English (10.8%), American (8.8%), French (3.1%), and Swedish (2.4%). People of German ancestry are especially strong in the northwest, while those of British ancestry and descendants 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. 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.

Rural flight

Kansas is one of the slowest-growing states in the nation. Known as a rural exodus, the last few decades have been marked by a migratory pattern out of the countryside into cities.

Out of all the cities in these Midwestern states, 89% have fewer than 3000 people, and hundreds of those have fewer than 1000. In Kansas alone, there are more than 6,000 ghost towns, according to one Kansas historian.

At the same time, some of the communities in Johnson County (metropolitan Kansas City) are among the fastest growing in the country.

Economy

The 2003 gross domestic product of Kansas was US$97 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. Eastern Kansas is part of the Grain Belt, an area of major grain production in the central United States. 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. 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 in Kansas has remained fairly constant, with an average monthly rate of about 2.8 million barrels (4.5×105 m³) in 2004. The 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-1990’s with the depletion of the Hugoton Natural Gas Field—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 km³).

Kansas has three income brackets for income tax calculation, ranging from 3.5% to 6.45%. The state sales tax in Kansas is 5.3%. 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%—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 company headquarters in Kansas include the Sprint Nextel Corporation (with operational headquarters in Overland Park), Embarq (with national headquarters in Overland Park), YRC Corp Overland Park, Garmin in Olathe, Payless Shoes (National headquarters and major distribution facilities in Topeka), and Koch Industries (with national headquarters in Wichita).

Transportation

Kansas is served by two Interstate highways with one beltway, two spur routes, and three bypasses, with over a total of 874 miles (1,407 km) in all. The first section of Interstate in the nation was opened on I-70 just west of Topeka on November 14, 1956. I-70 is a major east/west route connecting to 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, Lawrence, Topeka, Junction City, Salina, Hays, and Colby. 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, Emporia, El Dorado, and Wichita.

Spur routes serve as connections between the two major routes. I-135, a north/south route, connects I-70 at Salina to I-35 at Wichita. 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 I-470 around Topeka and I-235 around Wichita. I-435 is a beltway around the Kansas City Metropolitan Area while I-635 bypasses through Kansas City, Kansas.

US Route 69 runs north and south, from Minnesota to Texas. The highway passes through the eastern section of Kansas, from the Kansas City area, through Louisburg, Fort Scott, Frontenac, Pittsburg, and Baxter Springs before entering Oklahoma.

Kansas also has the second largest state highway system in the country after California. This is because of the high number of counties and county seats (105) and the inter-twineing of them all.

In January 2004, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) announced the new Kansas 511 traveler information service. By dialing 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. The elaborate and efficient transportation system in Kansas has attracted praise from experts nationwide, including the former Mayor of New York City, Ed Koch, who frequents Kansas roadways.

The state's only major commercial airport is Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, located along US-54 on the western edge of the city. Most air travelers in eastern Kansas fly out of Kansas City International Airport, located in Platte County, Missouri. For those in the far western part of the state, Denver International Airport is a popular option. Connecting flights are available from smaller airports in Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays, Manhattan, Salina, and Topeka.

Law and government

State and local politics

The top executives of the state are Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson. Both officials are elected on the same ticket to a maximum of two consecutive 4-year terms. Parkinson replaced John E. Moore who served as Lt. Governor during Sebelius's first term which ended on January 8, 2007. Sebelius will not be up for re-election in 2010. The state's Attorney General is Democrat Stephen Six, a former Douglas County District Court Judge who was appointed to the post.

The legislative branch of the state government is the Kansas Legislature. The bicameral body consists of the Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 members serving two year terms, and the Kansas Senate, with 40 members serving four year terms.

State symbols

• Amphibian: Barred Tiger Salamander
• Animal: Buffalo
• Fish: Channel Catfish
• Bird: Western Meadowlark
• Flower: Sunflower
• Insect: European honey bee
• Motto: Ad astra per aspera, or "To the stars through difficulties"
• Reptile: Ornate Box Turtle
• Soil: Harney silt loam
• Song: "Home on the Range"
• Tree: Cottonwood

Kansas has a reputation as a progressive state with many firsts in legislative initiatives—it was the first state to institute a system of workers' compensation (1910) and to regulate the securities industry (1911). 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 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 also at the center of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, a 1954 Supreme Court decision that 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's 1999 decision to eliminate evolution from the state teaching standards, a decision that was later reversed. In 2005, voters accepted a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The next year, the state passed a law setting a minimum age for marriage at 15 years. In 2008, Governor Sebelius vetoed permits for the construction of new coal-fired energy plants in Kansas, saying: "We know that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change. As an agricultural state, Kansas is particularly vulnerable. Therefore, reducing pollutants benefits our state not only in the short term – but also for generations of Kansans to come."

Federal politics

The state's current delegation to the Congress of the United States includes Republican Senators Sam Brownback of Topeka and Pat Roberts of Dodge City and Representatives Jerry Moran (R) of Hays (District 1), Nancy Boyda (D) of Topeka (District 2), Dennis Moore (D) of Lenexa (District 3), and Todd Tiahrt (R) of Goddard (District 4). Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt won his first term as President in the wake of the Great Depression. This is the longest Senate losing streak for either party in a single state. Senator Sam Brownback was a candidate for the Republican party nomination for President in 2008.

Historically, Kansas has been strongly Republican. In fact, the only non-Republicans Kansas has given its electoral vote to are Populist James Weaver and Democrats Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. 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 in that election were Wyandotte, which contains Kansas City, and Douglas, home to the University of Kansas, located at Lawrence.

State law

The legal drinking age in Kansas is 21. In lieu of the state retail sales tax, a 10% Liquor Drink Tax is collected for liquor consumed on the licensed premises and an 8% Liquor Enforcement Tax is collected on retail purchases. Although the sale of cereal malt beverage (also known as 3.2 beer) was legalized in 1937, the first post-Prohibition legalization of alcoholic liquor did not occur until the state's constitution was amended in 1948. The following year the Legislature enacted the Liquor Control Act which created a system of regulating, licensing, and taxing, and the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) was created to enforce the act. The power to regulate cereal malt beverage remains with the cities and counties. Liquor-by-the-drink did not become legal until passage of an amendment to the state's constitution in 1986 and additional legislation the following year. As of November 2006, Kansas still has 29 dry counties and only 17 counties have passed liquor-by-the-drink with no food sales requirement.[19] Today there are more than 2600 liquor and 4000 cereal malt beverage licensees in the state.

State agencies

The state's investigative branch is the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The Kansas Corporation Commission regulates public utilities, common carriers, oil and gas production, telecommunications companies, and motor carriers. The Kansas Department of Agriculture regulates the supply of meat, milk and eggs among other agricultural goods and services. The Secretary of Agriculture is Adrian Polansky, who heads the department as well as operating Polansky farms.

Important cities and towns

Kansas has 627 incorporated cities. 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 are not included within the township's territory.

Northeast Kansas

The northeastern portion of the state, extending from the Eastern border to Junction City and from the Nebraska border to south of Johnson County, has a rich history and is home to more than 1.5 million people in the Kansas City, Lawrence,and Topeka metropolitan areas. In the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the cities of Johnson County have some of the fastest growing populations and highest median incomes in the state and the entire country. Overland Park, a young city incorporated in 1960, has the largest population and the largest land area in the county. It is home to Johnson County Community College, the state's largest community college, and the corporate campus of Sprint Nextel, the largest private employer in the metro area. In 2006 the city was ranked as the 6th best place to live in America; the neighboring city of Olathe was 13th.[22] Olathe is the county seat and home to Johnson County Executive Airport. The cities of Olathe, Shawnee, and Gardner have some of the state's fastest growing populations. The cities of Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe, and Gardner are also notable because they lie along the former route of the Santa Fe Trail. Among cities with at least one thousand residents, Mission Hills has the highest median income in the state.

Several institutions of higher education are located in Northeast Kansas including Baker University (the first university in the state) in Baldwin City, MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Ottawa University in Ottawa and Overland Park, Kansas City Kansas Community College and KU Medical Center in Kansas City, and KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park. Less than an hour's drive to the west, Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas, the largest public university in the state, and Haskell Indian Nations University.

To the north, Kansas City, Kansas, with the second largest land area in the state, contains a number of diverse ethnic neighborhoods. Its attractions include the Kansas Speedway, the Woodlands, and Kansas City T-Bones. Further up the Missouri River, the city of Lansing is the home of the state's first maximum-security prison. Historic Leavenworth, founded in 1854, was the first incorporated city in Kansas. North of the city, Fort Leavenworth is the oldest active Army post west of the Mississippi River. The city of Atchison was an early commercial center in the state and is well-known as the birthplace of Amelia Earhart.

To the west, nearly a quarter million people reside in the Topeka metropolitan area. Topeka is the state capital and home to Washburn University. Built at a Kansas River crossing along the old Oregon Trail, this historic city has several nationally registered historic places. Further westward along Interstate 70 and the Kansas River is Junction City with its historic limestone and brick buildings and nearby Fort Riley, well-known as the home to the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division, also known as the "Big Red One". A short distance away, the city of Manhattan is home to Kansas State University, the second largest public university in the state and the nation's oldest land-grant university, dating back to 1863. South of the campus, Aggieville dates back to 1889 and is the state's oldest shopping district of its kind.

Wichita

In south-central Kansas, the four-county Wichita metropolitan area is home to nearly 600,000 people. Wichita is the largest city in the state in terms of both land area and population. 'The Air Capital' is a major manufacturing center for the aircraft industry and the home of Wichita State University. With a number of nationally registered historic places, museums, and other entertainment destinations, it has a desire to become a cultural mecca in the Midwest. Although Wichita's population growth has been anemic in recent years, surrounding suburbs are among the fastest growing cities in the state. The population of Goddard has grown by more than 11% per year since 2000. Other fast-growing cities include Andover, Maize, Park City, Derby, and Haysville.

Up river (the Arkansas River) from Wichita is the city of Hutchinson. The city was built on one of the world's largest salt deposits, and it has the world's largest and longest wheat elevator. It is also the home of Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Prairie Dunes Country Club and the Kansas State Fair. North of Wichita along Interstate 135 is the city of Newton, the former western terminal of the Santa Fe Railroad and trailhead for the famed Chisholm Trail. To the southeast of Wichita are the cities of Winfield and Arkansas City with historic architecture and the Cherokee Strip Museum (in Ark City). The city of Udall was the site of the deadliest tornado in Kansas on May 25, 1955; it killed 80 people in and near the city. To the southwest of Wichita is Freeport, the state's smallest incorporated city (population 8).

Around the state

Located midway between Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita in the heart of the Bluestem Region of the Flint Hills, the city of Emporia has several nationally registered historic places and is the home of Emporia State University, well-known for its Teachers College. It was also the home of newspaper man William Allen White.

Southeast Kansas

Southeast Kansas has a unique history with a number of nationally registered historic places in this coal-mining region. Located in Crawford County (dubbed the Fried Chicken Capital of Kansas), Pittsburg is the largest city in the region and the home of Pittsburg State University. The neighboring city of Frontenac in 1888 was the site of the worst mine disaster in the state in which an underground explosion killed 47 miners. "Big Brutus" is located a mile and a half outside the city of West Mineral. Along with the restored fort, historic Fort Scott has a national cemetery designated by President Lincoln in 1862.

Central and North-Central Kansas

Salina is the largest city in central and north-central Kansas. South of Salina is the small city of Lindsborg with its numerous Dala horses. Much of the architecture and decor of this town has a distinctly Swedish style. To the east along Interstate 70, the historic city of Abilene was formerly a trailhead for the Chisholm Trail and was the boyhood home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. To the west is Lucas, the Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas.

Northwest Kansas

Westward along the Interstate, the city of Russell, traditionally the beginning of sparsely-populated northwest Kansas, is the home of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole and the boyhood home of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter. The city of Hays is home to Fort Hays State University and the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, and is the largest city in the northwest with a population of around 20,000. Two other landmarks are located in smaller towns in Ellis County: the "Cathedral of the Plains" is located 10 miles (16 km) east of Hays in Victoria, and the boyhood home of Walter Chrysler is 15 miles (24 km) west of Hays in Ellis. West of Hays, population drops dramatically, even in areas along I-70, and only two towns containing populations of more than 3,000: Colby and Goodland, which are located 35 milies apart along I-70.

Southwest Kansas

Southwest Kansas, and Dodge City in particular, is famously known for the cattle drive days of the late 19th century. The city of Dodge was built along the old Santa Fe Trail route. The city of Liberal is located along the southern Santa Fe Trail route. The first wind farm in the state was built east of Montezuma. Garden City has the Lee Richardson Zoo.

Education

Education in Kansas is governed primarily by the Kansas State Board of Education. Twice the Board has approved changes in the state science curriculum standards that encouraged the teaching of intelligent design. Both times, the standards were reversed after changes in the composition of the board in the next election.

Sports in Kansas

Professional Sports Teams

Club	Sport	League
Kansas City Wizards	Soccer	Major League Soccer
Kansas City T-Bones	Baseball	Northern League
Wichita Wingnuts	Baseball	American Association of Independent Professional Baseball
Topeka Roadrunners	Ice hockey	North American Hockey League
Wichita Thunder	Ice hockey	Central Hockey League
Dodge City Legend	Basketball	United States Basketball League
Kansas Cagerz	Basketball	United States Basketball League
Kansas Koyotes	Indoor Football	American Professional Football League

Even though the Wizards are the only major professional sports league team within Kansas (although they were based in Missouri at the time of their founding), many Kansans also support the sports teams of Kansas City, Missouri, including the Kansas City Royals (MLB), the Kansas City Chiefs (NFL) and the Kansas City Brigade (AFL). All three teams except the Brigade, play at the Truman Sports Complex, located about 10 miles (16 km) from the Kansas-Missouri state line. However, the Wizards are considering relocating to a new stadium or complex in Johnson County. The Kansas City Brigade played at the Kemper Arena and will move to the new Sprint Center in 2008.

Persons in western Kansas may sometimes support the major league teams in Denver. Many people who live close to the Oklahoma state line support the Dallas Cowboys. All Chiefs games are televised throughout Kansas by television stations in Topeka and Wichita, and Broncos and Cowboys games which do not conflict with Chiefs telecasts are also broadcast across the state.

Two major auto racing facilities are located 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.

College Sports

While there are no franchises of the four major professional sports within the state, many Kansans are fans of the state's major college sports teams, especially the Jayhawks of the University of Kansas, commonly referred to as "KU," and the Wildcats of Kansas State University, known as "KSU" or "K-State" by many. Wichita State University, which also fields teams (called the Shockers) in Division I of the NCAA, is best known for its baseball program, winning the College World Series in 1989.

Although this is certainly not a hard and fast rule, most KU fans tend to hail from the eastern third of the state, and urban areas throughout Kansas, specifically the Kansas City suburbs in Johnson County. However, much of rural Kansas, especially the west, is dominated by K-State supporters. This perhaps stems from the historic roles of the schools: KU as the liberal arts and professional university, and K-State as the agricultural science and engineering university. However, over the past 15 years, with K-State becoming dominant in football and KU in basketball, many Kansans support both schools, depending on which sport is in season.

Both KU and K-State have tradition-rich programs in men's college basketball. The Jayhawks are a perennial national power, ranking third in all-time victories among NCAA programs, behind Kentucky and North Carolina. The Jayhawks are also the reigning national champions of men's college basketball, winning the 2008 NCAA Tournament in April for their third national crown. K-State also had a long stretch of success on the hardwood, lasting from the 1940s to the 1980s. Kansas State returned to the NCAA tournament in 2008 for the first time in 12 years.

However, success on the football field has been infrequent for either team. When the two teams met in 1987, KU's record was 1-7 and K-State's was 0-8. Fittingly, the Sunflower Showdown that year, dubbed the "Toilet Bowl" by the media, ended in a 17-17 tie. There have been recent breakthroughs for both schools. KU won the Orange Bowl for the first time in three tries in January 2008, capping a 12-1 season, the best in school history. K-State was historically one of the worst college football programs in the country, until Bill Snyder arrived to coach the Wildcats in 1989. He turned K-State into a national force for most of the 1990s and early 2000s, until he retired after the 2005 season. The team won the Fiesta Bowl in 1997 and took the Big XII Conference championship in 2003. Notable success has also been achieved by the state's smaller schools in football. Pittsburg State University, a NCAA Division II participant, has claimed three national titles in football, two in the NAIA and most recently the 1991 NCAA Division II national title. Pittsburg State became the winningest NCAA Division II football program in 1995. PSU passed Hillsdale College, Mich., at the top of the all-time victories list in the 1995 season on its march to the national runner-up finish. The Gorillas, in 96 seasons of intercollegiate competition, have accumulated 579 victories – posting a 579-301-48 overall mark.

In 1992-93, KU became the first college program to participate in a football bowl game, the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and the College World Series in the same academic year.

Notable residents

Amelia Earhart (aviation pioneer), Carrie Nation (temperance activist), former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Vice President Charles Curtis, and former presidential candidates Bob Dole and Alf Landon called Kansas their home. NASA astronauts Ronald Evans, Joe Engle, and Steve Hawley also lived in Kansas.

Despite its strong agricultural reputation, Kansas was home to industrial and intellectual pioneers Walter Chrysler of automotive fame, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman (aviation pioneers), Jack Kilby (microchip inventor, The Nobel Prize Winner in Physics 2000), George Washington Carver (educator and scientist), Earl W. Sutherland, Jr. (The Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine 1971), and Vernon L. Smith (The Nobel Prize Winner in Economics 2002). Also from Kansas are General Richard Myers (Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2001-05) and Robert Gates (United States Secretary of Defense December 2006 - Present). In addition, Kansas is the home of "Top Cop" Vern Miller who raided an Amtrak train on July 20, 1972 and confiscated all the liquor on board. He charged Amtrak with selling liquor-by-the-drink, illegal in Kansas at that time and the case was eventually declared al certiore, validating both the lower court's conviction and the flamboyant Miller's stance that "If you don't like a law, get it changed...don't break it." -- Wichita Eagle July 20, 1972

Kansas was also home to Danny Carey (musician), Del Close (comdedian/actor), Inger Stevens (actress),Vivian Vance (actress), Samuel Ramey (opera singer), Louise Brooks (actress), Annette Bening (actress), Bill Kurtis (Journalist), Jack Cafferty (Journalist}, John Brown (abolitionist), Langston Hughes (poet), Gordon Parks (photographer, movie director, musician, author), Fatty Arbuckle (actor), William Inge (writer), Dennis Hopper (actor), Kelli McCarty (actress and Miss USA 91), Buster Keaton (actor), Coleman Hawkins (Jazz musician), Martina McBride (Country Singer), Joe Walsh (Musician), Chely Wright (Country Musician), Melissa Etheridge (musician), Kirstie Alley (actress), Paul Rudd (actor), Sarah Lancaster (actress), Charlie Parker (Jazz musician), Mike Jerrick (network journalist), Steve Doocy (network journalist, author), Campbell Brown (network journalist), Jeff Probst (Survivor host), Survivor: Guatemala winner Danni Boatwright, Jessica Hughbanks(Big Brother 8 contestant), Sharon Obermueller (Big Brother 9 contestant), Melissa McDermott (Journalist), Phil McGraw (psychologist), Phil Stacey (American Idol Finalist) and William Allen White (editor).

Famous athletes from Kansas include Braden Looper, Johnny Damon, Kyle Farnsworth, Wes Santee, Joe Carter, Wilt Chamberlain, George Brett, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, John H. Outland, Billy Mills, Jim Ryun, Walter Johnson, Jackie Stiles, Caroline Bruce, John Riggins, Maurice Greene, Kendra Wecker, and Lynette Woodard. Kansas was also home to coaches James Naismith, Larry Brown, Phog Allen, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Gene Keady, Lon Kruger,John Calipari Born and lived in Pittsburgh most of his life, but assistant coached at Kansas, Roy Williams, Glen Mason, Tex Winter, Mark Turgeon, Bill Self, Bill Snyder and Eddie Sutton.

Famous fictional residents include Marshal Matt Dillon from the TV show Gunsmoke, Mary Ann Summers of Gilligan's Island, Dennis Mitchell (Dennis the Menace), Dean and Sam Winchester from the TV show Supernatural, Clark Kent/Superman, Liz Sherman, Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell of Stargate SG-1, Walter and India Bridge from Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, Jonas Nightengale from Leap of Faith, and Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz.

Landmarks

• The John Brown museum is located in Osawatomie.
• The boyhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Eisenhower Library, and his grave are 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.
• Constitution Hall in Lecompton is the location where the Kansas Territorial Government convened and drafted a pro-slavery constitution.
• The Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego features Dorothy's House, a re-creation of the farm house featured in the film The Wizard of Oz.
• The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, located in Hutchinson, is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 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, Libery 7, and many space artifacts.
• The award-winning Kansas Museum of History is the state museum, and is located in the capital city of Topeka.
• The world's largest ball of twine (disputed), created August 15, 1953, in Cawker City.
• The Big Well, billed as the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well, is located in Greensburg, Kansas.