Fun Fact 2: The Kansas state flag is a field of blue, showing the state seal which is centrally placed. The seal depicts the Kansas scenery, including, mountains, farm land, a farmer ploughing with horses (representing farming and agriculture), the river and steam boat (trade and business); in the background there are bison and native Indians (symbolizing historical past). The sun is rising in the distance, and the sky is has 3 arcs containing 34 stars, above them an orange banner with the Latin words of the state motto written in white lettering, "Ad Astra Per Aspera" which means "To the stars through difficulty". Above the seal is the state flower symbol; the sunflower, below the seal, written in orange capital letters, is the word Kansas
Fun Fact 3: The Capital city of Kansas is Topeka. Topeka translates from native Indian to mean "to dig good potatoes" - the "potato" is actually a prairie turnip; an important crop for the plains Indians
Fun Fact 4: The area of the State covers 211,752 square kilometers or 81,758 square miles
Fun Fact 5: There are four states that border Kansas they are; Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma and Colorado
Fun Fact 6: State nicknames include; The Sunflower State - due to the numbers of sunflowers that grow on the plains, The Wheat State - It is the biggest wheat producing state in the US, and The Central State - it is the most centrally located state in North America, the town of Lebanon, is the geographical center, there is a stone monument and plaque that marks the area that is the Geographic Center of the Contiguous United States
Fun Fact 7: The state insect emblem is - The Honeybee
Fun Fact 8: The official State Song of Kansas is "Home on the Range" the words of the song were written by Brewster M. Higley in the early 1870's
Fun Fact 9: The three largest cities in Kansas are Wichita, Overland Park and Kansas City
Fun Fact 10: The State Motto is "Ad Astra Per Aspera" the words are Latin and mean "To the stars through difficulty"
Fun Fact 11: A brief history of Kansas - The first documented European exploration of the area was in the early 1540s. In 1803 the majority of the region was secured as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established in 1854. Kansas became the 34th state to enter the Union on January 29, 1861
Fun Fact 12: The abbreviation letters for the state of Kansas is - Kans. The Postal Code abbreviation is - KS
Fun Fact 13: Best historical places to visit include; Council Grove Historical District, Fort Larned National Historic Site, Fort Scott Historical area, Nicodemus National Historic District and the Whiteford Historical Site
Fun Fact 14: Famous People; US singer and television actor, Kendall Schmidt was born in Kansas November 2, 1990. Barack Obama's mother Ann Dunham was born in Wichita in 1942. The 34th President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower was raised in Abilene, Kansas. The character Dorothy (Judy Garland) in the 1939 classic movie The Wizard of Oz was from Kansas!
Fun Fact 15: The US Department of Commerce Census Bureau states that the Population of Kansas in 2012 was an estimated 2,885,905. This compares to a population of 1,769,257 in the 1920 census |
