Kansas Atlas

Online Atlas > Kansas > Museums • Photographs

Kansas facts and history plus travel and tourism information.

Capital: Topeka
Abbreviations: KS (postal), Kans.
Area: 82,282 square miles
State Bird: Western Meadowlark
State Tree: Cottonwood
State Flower: Sunflower
State Motto: Ad Astra Per Aspera - To the stars through difficulties
Nicknames: The Sunflower State, The Jayhawk State, The Breadbasket of America

Wheat stalks in a Kansas field

In the center of the US lies a land rich in history, wheat, and sunflowers. Kansas because the 34th state on January 29, 1861, just years after "Bleeding Kansas" endured violent battles over slavery from 1854 to 1856. Museums and history books now depict much of the drama that occurred in Kansas' history, including the Wild West, the Plains Indian Wars, and the 1930s' drought. Once vital roads for western expansion, the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail pass through Kansas.

Kansas is hilly with fertile land, lakes and streams in the northeast and rugged grasslands in the northwest. Most of the state is rural farmland, but Kansas' state parks offer plenty of recreational facilities for residents and visitors alike. The Kansas climate is defined by broad ranges of temperatures between winter and summer and also by drastic tornadoes, thunderstorms, and blizzards. These extreme weather conditions have been dramatically portrayed in stories like Little House on the Prairie.

Kansas Map

More Kansas Information

Kansas Government - official Kansas state website.
Kansas Travel and Tourism Division - Kansas travel and tourism.
National Parks in Kansas
Kansas QuickFacts - from the US Census Bureau.
50States.com - Kansas

Kansas Resources