Kansas is a state in the Great Plains region of the United
States of America. Geographically, the state forms the center of
the USA. Thanks to the children's book The Wizard of Oz, Kansas
is not only known to strangers as a place you just leave.
However, there are many beautiful places to visit, especially if
you are interested in the history of the American West. With a
bit of exploration you can find something interesting in almost
every city.
Kansas is bordered by Nebraska to the north,
Missouri to the east,
Oklahoma to the south, and
Colorado to the
west.
The geographic center of the 48 contiguous United
States is located in its northern part, in Smith County. The
geodetic center of North America is also located on its
territory, in Osborne. This is used as a reference point for all
federal government maps.
He is one of the national
leaders in the agricultural industry. It is the largest national
producer of wheat, which is why it is known as the Wheat State
and Breadbasket of America. It also has one of the largest herds
of cattle in the country. Agriculture and livestock were its
main source of income for much of its history. Dodge City is
considered by many to be the "Cowboy Capital of the World." It
also has a strong mining industry, and is a national leader in
the production of oil and natural gas. Currently, the main
sources of income for the state are commerce and industry.
During the 1850s, with the Kansas-Nebraska Act, large
numbers of abolitionists and defenders of slave labor settled in
this state. It was the scene of many clashes between
abolitionist and slaveholding militias, as well as in the
neighboring state of Missouri (where slave labor was allowed).
These conflicts were so violent that it received the nickname
Bleeding Kansas. Another nickname with its origins in this
conflict is Jayhawker State. Jayhawker is the common act of
abolitionists invading slave farms in Missouri, plundering
estates and freeing slaves.
The most well-known nickname
is The Sunflower State. Sunflowers cover a good part of its
plains. The name Kansas originates from the Kansa Amerindian
tribe, who lived in the region until the 18th century. Kansa
means "people of the southern winds."
There is no clear division between eastern and western Kansas, but
there are clear regional differences.
Eastern Kansas - Most major
cities are in eastern Kansas, which is hillier, more vegetated, and has
more water features.
Western Kansas - Western Kansas is generally
more rural, with a very sparse population and lots of open land. With a
few notable exceptions, it is drier and flatter.
Central Kansas - A
mix of farmland, rolling hills and man-made lakes. Central Kansas
represents the transition zone between the hilly west and the arid east.
Flint Hills - The Flint Hills extend south from central Kansas.
Geologically interesting area, some of the last untouched grasslands of
the prairie.
Southeast Kansas - Southeast Kansas is part of the
Ozarks region. Pretty hills, coal mining and rural poverty define the
area. The influence of the Ozarks region wanes as one travels further
out of the Southeast.
1 Hutchinson - Home of the world's second largest space museum, the
Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.
2 Kansas City Area - Smaller
half of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which extends across the
state line into Missouri. Kansas City as a whole is far larger and more
cosmopolitan than Wichita. Currently, the second largest city in the
state is not Kansas City (Kansas), but Overland Park, a prosperous but
rather uninteresting suburb of Kansas City.
3 Lawrence (Kansas) -
Medium-sized city between Topeka and Kansas City, very artistic and
bohemian by Kansas standards. Seat of the University of Kansas.
4
Topeka - Capital of Kansas, Kansas State Historical Society Museum.
5
Wichita - Largest city in Kansas. Air Capital of the World, since a
large number of aircraft manufacturers are based here.
6 Dodge City
7 Manhattan
8 Liberal
Interstate 70 is a great way to travel from the east or west.
I-35 enters the state from the south, then heads northeast and meets
I-70 in Kansas City.
Both Wichita and Topeka have airports.
However, most travelers end up in Kansas City (Missouri). The only
scheduled passenger train is Amtrak's Southwest Chief.
The only way to really get around in Kansas is by car. It's part and parcel of spending a lot of time on the streets in Kansas. In any case, you should take enough time to explore the state without a car.
Regional cuisine represents the Kansas City barbecue associated with the Kansas City metropolitan area, including Wyandotte and Johnson Counties, and parts of Missouri.
Kansas is a "tornado alley". Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms are
not uncommon in the spring and summer months. You should definitely have
a radio in your car. If you hear the sirens, head straight to a suitable
tornado shelter - but don't stay outside to take photos! It's also true
that you shouldn't catch up with the tornado in any way. You can get
into the tornado lane very quickly.
When cloud cover increases
and daylight turns a greenish-yellow tint, it's a sign of an imminent
hailstorm. In this case, you should immediately go to a safe shelter.
Despite these warnings, however, it's important to keep in mind that
these storms are spread over a wide area and most locals have never seen
a tornado.
It borders the state of Nebraska to the north, Missouri to the east,
Oklahoma to the south, and Colorado to the west.
It is entirely
covered by the Missouri River watershed, which serves as the
northeastern border with Missouri. This can be divided into two smaller
basins. The first is that of the Kansas River, which covers the north
and east of the state, whose rivers flow mostly in an easterly
direction. The second is that of the Arkansas River, which runs south
and covers the southern part of the state.
It has few natural
lakes, due to its relatively flat terrain. Most of the 150 lakes are
artificial reservoirs, created by dams, of which the largest, Lake
Milford, has a surface area of 64 km². Forests cover less than 5%.
The geographic center of the 48 contiguous United States—that is,
the United States without Alaska and Hawaii—is located in the northern
region, in Smith County. The geodetic center of North America is also
located in Kansas, in Osborne County. This center is used as a reference
point for all maps made by the United States government.
It has
three different geographical regions:
The Dissected Till Plains cover
the northeast, east of the Kansas River and north of the Big Blue River.
This is the smallest of the three regions in surface area. The soil in
this region is mainly made up of sediments deposited by ancient
glaciers. This soil is extremely fertile.
The Southeastern Plains
cover the southeast. This region is very flat, covered mainly by
low-lying flattened mountains. The Southeastern Plains have the lowest
elevations in Kansas, including the lowest point in the state, 207
meters. The region's soil is the least fertile of Kansas' three
geographic regions.
The Great Plains, the largest of the three
regions, cover the entire west-central region. It is characterized by
its slightly rugged terrain and variable altitude, which increases as
you travel westward. The highest point, Mount Sunflower, with its 1,231
meters of altitude, is located in this region.
The western two-thirds of the state, which lies in the Great Central Plain of the United States, has a generally flat or rolling surface, while the eastern third has many hills and some forests. The land gradually rises from east to west; Its altitude varies from 208 meters along the Verdigris River in Coffeyville in Montgomery County, to 1,231 meters on Mount Sunflower, 0.8 kilometers from the Colorado border, in Wallace County. It is a common misconception that Kansas is the flattest state in the nation, this being Florida.
According to the Köppen climate classification, Kansas' climate can
be characterized into three types: it has humid continental steppe,
semiarid barren, and humid subtropical. The eastern two-thirds of the
state (especially the northeastern part) has a humid continental
climate, with cold winters and hot, often humid summers. Most
precipitation falls during summer and spring.
Generally, the
state's average temperature decreases as you travel north. In summer,
temperatures also decrease as you travel west. However, these
temperature differences are not very large.
The average
temperature in winter is -1° C. The average temperature in the north is
-4 °C, and in the south, 1 °C. The average winter minimum is -6 °C, and
the average maximum is 5 °C. The lowest temperature recorded was -40 °C,
in Lebanon, on February 13, 1905.
The average temperature in
summer is 26 °C. The average temperature in the northeast is 26 °C,
while that in the northwest is 24 °C, and in the south, 30 °C. The
average summer minimum is 20°C, and the average maximum is 31°C. The
highest temperature recorded was 49°C, twice in 1936, once in Fredonia
on July 18, and once in Alton on July 24.
Average annual rainfall
rates increase as you travel east. The extreme east receives more than
90 centimeters of rain per year, while the west receives less than 50.
The average annual snowfall rate is 43 centimeters.
Although
sunshine is common in most of the state, Kansas is also vulnerable to
strong storms, especially during the spring. Many of these storms become
supercells. These can generate tornadoes, often of force F3 or greater.
According to statistics from the United States National Climate Data
Center, Kansas has reported more tornadoes (in the period from January
1, 1950 to October 31, 2006) than any state except Texas—slightly higher
than Oklahoma. Also—along with Alabama—more Category F5 tornadoes were
reported than any other state (this category is the most powerful of all
recorded tornadoes). It averages more than 50 tornadoes annually.
After the last ice age, today's grasslands developed
and the forests retreated into the river valleys. Between 10,000 and
9000 BC The first Paleo-Indian inhabitants of Kansas can be proven. It
was cooler at that time, although there were no glaciers here, mammoths
and mastodons only disappeared around 8000 BC.
This Paleo-Indian
period was followed by the Archaic period (7000 BC to the birth of
Christ). Around 5000 BC The warming was at its strongest in the 3rd
century BC, and the large mammals disappeared. The residents adjusted to
smaller animals and a higher proportion of plant-based food. At the same
time, the settlements became more permanent and the way of life more
settled. The growing population made use of new milling techniques, and
around 3500 B.C. Clay objects were created. The Atlatl, the spear
thrower, also spread.
In the subsequent Woodland period (until
about 1000 AD) further growing societies with higher social
differentiation developed. Now pottery, such as pots and jugs, came into
being. The bow and arrow supplanted the atlatl. Corn cultivation was
taken over from the South before 1000 AD. The construction of mounds,
especially in eastern and northern Kansas, for the burial of members of
the upper classes was particularly influential. The Hopewell culture
along the Missouri was particularly influential.
Between 1000 and
1500, most of the inhabitants made a living from hunting bison on the
one hand, and on the other hand they cultivated corn, pumpkin and beans,
but also continued to collect wild fruits and roots. The Atlatl was less
and less used. Sound processing has been significantly improved. In the
north, rectangular earthen houses became more common, while in the
south, houses made of grass and mud were more common. The villages were
inhabited almost permanently, while the population continued to grow.
Trade with the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest increased greatly.
European artifacts appeared during the protohistoric period between
1500 and 1800. The archaeological sites can now be linked to modern-day
tribes such as the Pawnee, Kansa, Wichita, and Apache. Most groups
continued to live from bison hunting and agriculture, although some
groups tended to be more nomadic, such as the Apaches in the west. The
El Cuartelejo site is thought to date back to fugitive Pueblo Indians
who hailed from New Mexico. It is the northeasternmost site of this
culture. Spanish artefacts, such as chain mail, were also found in
Kansas, such as in the so-called Wichita grass lodge villages.
The Spanish conquistador Francisco
Vásquez de Coronado was the first European to reach the area in 1541.
The Europeans introduced horses, which led to the immigration of nomadic
Indians (e.g. Kansa, Wichita, Osage, Kiowa, Apaches, Comanche) who
displaced long-established tribes.
French explorers and some
American expeditions visited later Kansas, e.g. B. French missionary
Jacques Marquette and cartographer Louis Joliet around 1673. French
built a trading post in Kansas in 1744, near Forth Leavenworth. In 1803
the area became US property through the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis
and Clark Expedition traveled through the area, as did the Pike
Expedition in 1806. Since that time, the US government has tried to
resettle Indians in land west of the Mississippi, including Kansas,
which some did voluntarily, but was also enforced with pressure and
violence, especially after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Tribes such
as the Kickapoo, Sauk, Fox, Shawnee, Ottawa, Iowa, and Peoria were
pushed into Kansas during this period. Kansas was not cleared for
European settlement until 1854, and some reservations still exist today.
Territorial time and founding of the state
The period leading up
to the founding of the state became known as Bleeding Kansas. On May 30,
1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed into law. Thus Nebraska and
Kansas were attached to the United States as "territories". Although the
territories belonged to the USA, they were not yet federal states with
corresponding rights. Settlers quickly developed the Kansas Territory,
some on their own and some with the help of settlement companies (e.g.,
the New England Emigrant Aid Company, which founded several towns). The
non-Native American population grew rapidly, to 140,000 in 1865 and one
million in 1880. Life in the Kansas Territory was uncertain as
pro-slavery and anti-slavery (abolitionists) fought for control of the
future state and guerrillas rioted (cf. Jayhawkers). On March 30, 1855,
the Border Ruffians invaded Kansas from Missouri and forced the election
of a pro-slavery government. In the period that followed, violent
clashes erupted again and again, e.g. For example, abolitionist John
Brown's raid on pro-slavery advocates in 1856, in which he and his sons
murdered several people. In the intense political debate between forces
for and against slavery, a total of four draft constitutions for the
future federal state were voted on. On January 29, 1861, Kansas became
the 34th state to join the Union with a constitutional prohibition of
slavery (as a "Freestate").
The population of Kansas was u. a. divided over the slave issue in
the civil war. However, the pro-unionists dominated the institutions, so
the state took part in the war on the union side. During the Civil War
(1861-1865) there were no major battles in Kansas, but there were
repeated clashes between groups from Kansas and Missouri. The greatest
incident was the Lawrence Massacre of 1863, led by pro-slavery and
guerrilla leader William Clark Quantrill. Military action also took
place against Native Americans, who continued to raid settlements and
military posts in retaliation for their displacement and oppression
until a few years after the Civil War. By the early 1870s, Kansas had
stabilized and the westward expansion of the railroad began. Initially,
numerous smaller railroad companies were formed (e.g. the Leavenworth,
Pawnee, and Western) which built short railroad lines in the east. But
soon larger companies were also pushing the railroad lines east across
the state. The Union Pacific Railroad expanded numerous lines and also
bought the Kansas Pacific Railway in 1880. The Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe Railway built a line to Colorado between 1868 and 1873, the
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad completed its main eastbound
line in 1880, the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1890. Southbound
connections to the Gulf of Mexico were also established started (e.g. by
the Missouri River, Fort Scott and Gulf). An important business for the
railroad's neighbors was the loading of cattle herded from Texas along
the Chisholm Trail to the nearest train station in Kansas for shipment
to markets north and east. The train station, which was the nearest end
of the rail line, grew into a boom town until the expansion of the rail
line reached a more conveniently located city. Prior to 1871, Abilene
was the main railroad station, then Newton further west for a year,
later Ellsworth, but also Wichita and finally Dodge City in the
southwestern state (1875 and 1885). At this time, Dodge City became the
prototypical cowboy town, which e.g. was attended by gunslingers Wyatt
Earp, Doc Holliday, Bill Tilghman, Luke Short and Bat Masterson. The
boom ended when cattle were banned from entering Kansas in 1885.
In November 1880, Kansas became the first state to ban the sale of
alcoholic beverages (Prohibition), and the ban went into effect in May
1881. Officially, the alcohol ban lasted until 1948, with the exception
of low-alcohol beer, which had been allowed to be sold since 1937.
Kansas was also one of the last states to enact the end of federal
prohibition (enacted by the 21st Amendment of 1933) into state law.
During the 1880s and 1890s, the Populist Party flourished in Kansas,
elected primarily by Midwestern farmers who wanted more support from the
state. In 1892, Populist Party candidate Lorenzo D. Lewelling (with
Democrat support) was elected governor and the party dominated the
Kansas Senate. As early as 1899, however, a Republican regained the
governorship.
During World War I, Kansas played no significant military role, but
did train soldiers at Camp Funston. 2,500 Kansans died in World War I,
but more than 5,000 died from the Spanish flu. It is believed that
Kansas was the state of origin of the Spanish flu, which spread
worldwide. Soldiers who were transferred from the Fort Riley military
base to various theaters of war are said to have carried a flu pathogen
into the world. Like all states, Kansas was hit by the economic crisis
of the 1930s, which also coincided with a drought in the Midwest. The
drought not only caused crop failures, but also dust storms, which is
why the Midwest was also called the Dust Bowl. Many farmers had to give
up their farms at this time and left Kansas.
During World War II,
numerous German prisoners of war were interned in prisoner of war camps
in Kansas. The largest of the 14 camps in Kansas between 1943 and 1946
were Camp Concordia and Camp Phillips. Due to the great distance from
coasts and national borders, but also due to the good treatment of the
prisoners, there were hardly any attempts to escape. Some of the
prisoners worked on farms and some made friends with Americans.
German-speaking Americans lived in some areas with POW camps.
Economically, World War II had a major impact on Kansas because of the
importance of the aircraft industry that was growing in the Wichita
area. In addition, ammunition was produced in Kansas and soybeans were
increasingly cultivated to secure the food supply of the USA.
In
the 1950s, Kansas received national attention twice, rather indirectly.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, who grew up in Kansas, was President of the United
States from 1953 to 1961 and in 1955 the school board of the Kansas
capital, Topeka, appeared as a defendant in the Supreme Court. This
school segregation lawsuit was a class action but was filed under the
name of the Kansas plaintiff first named in the indictment as Brown et
al. vs. Board of Education of Topeka known. After the lawsuit went
through multiple courts, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in
public schools was unconstitutional.
At the turn of the 21st century, Kansas made headlines in the debate
surrounding the role of evolution in school education. After a
conservative majority was elected to the state school board, they
decided in 1999 to remove all references to evolution from the
curriculum. However, this rule was abolished again in 2000 by a new
majority on the School Board. Something similar happened a few years
later: in 2004 there was again a conservative majority on the school
board, which scheduled a public hearing on the subject for the next year
and introduced new guidelines for biology teaching in 2006, according to
which both the theory of evolution and other explanatory models should
be taught . However, the majority on the school board changed again and
the decision was reversed. While Kansas has received international
attention for this debate, similar debates are taking place in other
states.
Under Governor Sam Brownback, Kansas introduced austerity
policies in 2010. Corporate tax rates have been lowered to zero for
small businesses, and income taxes have been lowered than ever before.
The state administration was reduced and limited its services. In March
2017, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that spending on education was
unconstitutional for failing to complete mandatory schoolwork. In June
2017, a Republican majority in both houses of Parliament forced
Brownback to raise taxes by 1.2 billion over two years, against his
initial veto.
The current Kansas Constitution was adopted in 1859. Amendments to
the Constitution may be proposed by the Legislature. For an amendment
proposed by one of the chambers of the Legislative Branch to be
approved, it needs to receive at least three-quarters of the votes of
the Senate and the State House of Representatives, and two-thirds of the
votes of the electoral population, in a referendum. Amendments can also
be made through constitutional conventions, special political meetings,
which need to be approved by at least 51% of each Chamber of the
Legislative Branch and, subsequently, by at least 60% of the state's
electoral population, in a referendum. .
The main official of the
Executive Branch is the governor. He is elected jointly with the
lieutenant governor, on the same ballot, by the voters of the state for
a term of up to four years. A person can serve as governor as many times
as he can, but not consecutively.
The Legislative Branch is made
up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate has 40
members and the House of Representatives has 125. Kansas is divided into
40 senatorial and 125 representative districts. The voters of each
district elect a senator/representative, who will represent that
district in the National Senate or in the House of Representatives. The
term of office of senators is four years and that of representatives is
two. A person can serve as senator only twice, and as representative
four times.
The highest court of the Judiciary is the Supreme
Court, made up of seven judges, among whom the most experienced is
chosen to serve as chief justice. The second largest court in the state
is the Court of Appeals, made up of ten judges. The judges of the
Supreme Court are appointed by the governor of the state, from a list of
candidates made by a commission of the Supreme Court.
It is
divided into 105 counties, with a total of 628 cities. Counties are
administered by boards of commissioners composed of three or five
members elected by the county population for terms of up to four years,
while cities can choose their own management format. Most cities in the
state are governed by a mayor and a municipal council. Other cities,
mainly the largest ones, are governed by commissioners.
About
half of local government budget revenue is generated by state taxes. The
rest comes from budgets received from the federal government and from
loans. In 2002, the state government spent 10,592 million dollars,
having generated 9,694 million dollars. The public debt is 2,298 million
dollars. The debt per capita is $844, the value of state taxes per
capita is $1,773, and the value of government expenditures per capita is
$3,905. It has the third smallest debt per capita of any American state,
ahead only of Tennessee and Arizona.
The Republican Party
dominated politically from the state's creation until the 1950s, and has
a strong presence in the state to this day. Until the 1950s, the vast
majority of governors and members of the state Legislature were
Republicans. Since the 1930s, however, the Democratic Party has grown
stronger in the state, and in recent decades, the electorate has
alternated between Republican and Democratic governors in equal measure,
as well as for members of the Legislature. In terms of elections at the
national level, the majority of representatives in the United States
Congress have been, and continue to be, Republican candidates. In
American presidential elections, the majority of state votes in the
American electoral college generally favor Republican candidates.
The 2000 national census, from the United States Census Bureau, set
the population at 2,688,418 inhabitants, a growth of 8.1% in relation to
the state's population in 1990, of 2,485,600 inhabitants.6 An estimate
made in 2005 estimated the state's population at 2,744,687 inhabitants,
a growth of 10.4% in relation to the state's population in 1990, 2.1% in
relation to the population in 2000, and 0.4% in relation to the state's
population in 2004.
The natural growth of the population between
2000 and 2005 was 76,138 inhabitants (204,663 births minus 128,525
deaths) the population growth caused by immigration was 38,222
inhabitants, while interstate migration resulted in a decrease of 57 763
inhabitants. Between 2000 and 2005, the population grew by 55,863
inhabitants, and between 2004 and 2005, by 10,990 inhabitants.
About 149.8 thousand inhabitants (5.5% of the state's population) were
born outside the United States. It is estimated that it has about 47
thousand illegal immigrants (1.7% of the state's population).
Racial composition of the population:
83.1% White
5.5% African
Americans
7% Hispanic
1.7% Asians
0.9% Native Americans
1.8%
Two or more races
The seven largest groups by ancestry are:
Germans (making up 25.9% of the state's population), Irish (11.5%),
Americans (10.8%; most of English or Scottish descent), African
Americans (5.5%), Mexicans (5.5%), French (3.1%) and Swedes (2.4%).
It has 627 incorporated cities. By Kansas statute, cities are divided into three classes that are determined by the population obtained "by any census enumeration." A third-class city has a population of less than 5,000 inhabitants, although cities that reach a population of more than 2,000 inhabitants can be certified as a second-class city. The second class is limited to cities with a population of less than 25,000, and a population of more than 15,000 can be certified as a first-class city. First and second class cities are independent of any municipality and are not included within the territory of the municipality.
The Gross Domestic Product, in 2003, was 93 billion dollars, a growth
of 4.3% in relation to the state's GDP in 2002. The per capita income of
the state, for its part, was 29,438 dollars. The unemployment rate was
5.5%.
The primary sector contributes 1% of GDP. Agriculture and
livestock together account for a total of 3% of the state's GDP,
employing about 101 thousand people. It has about 60,000 farms, covering
more than 90% of the state. The main products produced by the
agricultural industry are wheat (of which the state is the largest
national producer) and bovine meat and milk (it has one of the largest
herds of cattle in the country).
The secondary sector accounts
for 23% of GDP. The total value of products manufactured in the state is
20 billion dollars. It has about 3,300 factories. The main
industrialized products manufactured in the state are transportation
equipment, food processing, and machinery. The manufacturing industry
contributes 18% of the state's GDP, employing approximately 220 thousand
people. The construction industry accounts for 4% of the state's GDP,
and employs approximately 91 thousand people. Mining contributes 1% of
the GDP, employing around 21 thousand people. The main natural resources
explored in the state are oil and natural gas.
The tertiary
sector contributes 74% of GDP. Wholesale and retail trade accounts for
1% of the state's GDP, and employs approximately 740 thousand people.
Community and personal services are responsible for 18% of the state's
GDP, employing about 467 thousand people. Government services account
for 13% of GDP, employing approximately 271 thousand people. Financial
and real estate services contribute about 13% of the state's GDP,
employing approximately 107 thousand people. Transportation,
telecommunications and public services employ around 85 thousand people,
which represents 11% of the GDP. About 65% of the electricity generated
is produced in coal-fired thermoelectric plants, 25% in nuclear plants,
and most of the rest in oil- or natural gas-fired thermoelectric plants.
The first schools were founded during the 1830s by missionaries, and
created primarily for the education of Native American children. In
1855, he passed a law establishing a public school system for the
education of white children, a law that was amended in 1859 to include
any child, regardless of race.
Currently, all educational
institutions need to follow the regulations and instructions issued by
the State Council of Education. This controls the public school system,
divided into school districts. It is made up of eight members chosen by
the governor for terms of up to four years. They appoint a ninth member,
who will act as commissioner of education, and president of the council.
Each major city (city), various secondary cities (towns), and each
county is served by a school district. In cities, responsibility for the
administration of the public school system lies with municipal
districts, while in less densely populated regions, this responsibility
lies with school districts, which operate on a county-wide basis. Allows
the operation of "charter schools" (independent public schools, which
are not managed by school districts, but depend on public budgets to
operate). School attendance is mandatory for all children and
adolescents over seven years of age, until the completion of secondary
education or until the age of fifteen.
In 1999, public schools
served about 472,200 students, employing about 33,000 teachers. Private
schools served about 43,100 students, employing about 3,200 teachers.
The state's public school system invested about $2.84 billion, and
public school spending was approximately $6,700 per student. About 88.6%
of the state's residents over 25 years of age have a high school
diploma.
The first public library was founded in 1859, in
Vinland. Currently, there are 321 public library systems, which move
about 9.6 books per inhabitant annually.
The first institution of
higher learning, Baker University in Baldwin City, was founded in 1858.
Currently, there are 60 institutions of higher education, of which 35
are public and 25 are private. The University of Kansas, founded in 1859
in Lawrence, is the largest educational institution in the state, and
the oldest public institution of higher education in Kansas.
In 2002 it had 8,138 kilometers of railway tracks. In 2003, it owned 217,281 kilometers of public roads, of which 1,407 kilometers were interstate highways, part of the United States federal highway system. The mileage of the public road system is the fourth highest in the United States, surpassed only by California, Texas and Illinois. Wichita International Airport is the busiest in the state.
The first newspaper, the Shawnee Sun, was published in 1835. Created
by Jotham Meeker (Baptist missionary, defender of the Shawnee, Ottawa
and Delaware peoples), it appeared in Shawnee and was aimed at the
Shawnee natives. The first English-language newspaper was the Kansas
Weekly Herald, in 1854, in Leavenworth. Currently, there are 260
newspapers, of which 43 are daily newspapers.
The first radio
station was founded in 1922, in Wichita. The first television station
was founded in 1932, in Manhattan. This radio station, one of the first
in the country, was created on an experimental basis, and the first
commercial television station in the state was founded in 1953, in
Hutchinson. Currently, it has 132 radio stations, of which 49 are AM and
83 are FM. It has 20 television stations.
The music group Kansas (original members residing in Topeka) with
critical and public success whose emblematic song is "Dust in The Wind"
(1977).
Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood recreates a murder
that occurred in 1959. The story was made into a film in 1967, as was
Capote's investigation in 2005.
In the Superman comic book and
film series, the protagonist is raised in the town of Smallville. As of
the 1978 film, the town is usually located in Kansas. The television
series Supernatural is also set in the state.
It is also the
setting for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), a children's literature
book written by Lyman Frank Baum.
Setting of the movie Picnic
(1955), in the town of the USA. The protagonist's friend is a wheat
businessman.
In Western genre films he appears in several only in
the city of Dodge City:
Dodge City (1939), directed by Michael
Curtiz.
Dodge City Watchers (1944), directed by Wallance Grisell.
Duel of the Titans (1956), directed by John Sturges.
The Gunfight at
Dodge City (1959), directed by Joseph N. Newman.
There have been numerous major league sports teams in Kansas City,
but based on the Missouri side. This is the case of the Kansas City
Royals of Major League Baseball and the Kansas City Chiefs of the
National Football League. The only exception has been Sporting Kansas
City of Major League Soccer, which has played at home in the state of
Kansas since 2008.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association
was based in Kansas from 1973 to 1999. The two major collegiate teams
are the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats, rivals in the Big
12 Conference. The Jayhawks won one Orange Bowl in football and three
national championships in men's basketball. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have
won a Cotton Bowl in American football and played in four semifinals in
men's basketball.
Heartland Park Topeka is a road course that has
hosted National Hot Rod Association races; The headquarters of the
Sports Car Club of America is located there. Meanwhile, the NASCAR Cup
Series and the IndyCar Series have raced on the Kansas Speedway oval.
Golf tournaments such as the 2002 US Women's Open and the 2006 US
Veterans Open have been held at Prairie Dunes.
Amphibian: Barred tiger salamander (Ambystoma mavortium)
Mammal:
Bison (Bison bison)
Bird: Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
Flower: Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Insect: European bee (Apis
mellifera)
Reptile: Box turtle (Terrapene ornata)
Tree: Virginia
poplar (Populus sect. Aegiros)
Nicknames:
Sunflower State
Bleeding Kansas (unofficial)
Cyclone State (unofficial)
Jayhawk
State (unofficial)
Wheat State (unofficial)
Motto: Ad astra per
aspera (Latin: Towards the stars among difficulties)
Music: Home on
the Range
Tagline: Simply Wonderful; previously also Kansas, as big
as you think