Kansas Fun Facts
Information About Kansas, Kansas Geography, and Kansas Schools

Residents of Kansas are known as “Kansans.” The abbreviation is for Kansas is KS. The capital of Kansas is Topeka and the largest City is Wichita. Kansas’s state song is “Home on the Range.” The name Kansas comes from the Sioux Indian word for "south wind people."

Kansas is unofficially known as the “ Sunflower State” because it is well known for its sunflowers. In fact, the Sunflower is Kansas’ state flower. These wild flowers are common all over Kansas. Kansas’ state bird is the Western Meadowlark and the state tree is the Cottonwood.

Kansas is ranked 32nd by population and received its statehood on January 29, 1861.

Kansas is bordered by Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. The Kansas River is the only major body of water associated with the state.

One of Kansas’ main industries is agriculture such as wheat and grain. Aircraft and automobile manufacturing are also major industry providers for the state.

There were 466,293 K12 students in the Kansas public schools in 1996. Out of those students 36,285 were first grade students. There were also 30,875 K12 public school teachers in the Kansas public schools system. There were a total of 1,464 Kansas public schools in 1996. (Source: IES National Center for Education Statistics)