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• Nicknamed the "Sunflower State," Kansas is located in the Midwestern United States. It is bordered to the north by Nebraska, to the east by Missouri, to the south by Oklahoma and to the west by Colorado.

  On February 16, 2009, state officials announced that the state's income tax refunds would be suspended and that employee paychecks could be delayed as well. Governor Kathleen Sebelius has contacted the state legislature and is seeking to move $225 million from other accounts in order to pay for the refunds and the state payroll.KTKA (Topeka): Kansas suspends income tax refunds (February 16, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Capital: Topeka
  2. Governor: Kathleen Sebelius
  3. Population: 2,764,075 (2006)U.S Census Bureau: Kansas
  4. Founded: January 29, 1861Office of the Governor: Kansas
  5. Currency: U.S. Dollar
  6. Time zones: CST (UTC-6/-5), MST (UTC-7/-6)
  7. Major cities: Wichita, Overland Park, Kansas City, Topeka
  8. Official State Items: Buffalo (animal), Channel catfish, (fish), Western Meadowlark (bird), Sunflower (flower), Cottonwood (tree), European honey bee (insect), "Home On The Range" (song)
  9. State motto: "Ad Astra Per Aspera" Latin for "To the stars through difficulty"Office of the Governor: Kansas
  10. Nickname: The Sunflower State , (unofficial nicknames: Wheat State, JayHawker State)Office of the Governor: Kansas

• History

  Named after the Kansas River and the Kansa tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the area, Kansas was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854. At the time, pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri and Free-Staters from New England rushed the state in the hopes of establishing the laws regarding slavery in their favor. The abolitionists finally prevailed, and on January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, immigrants flooded the prairie state to make use of its farmland. Kansas, today, remains one of the most productive agricultural states in the U.S. with wheat and sunflower as its primary exports.

• National Parks and Historic Sites

  • Brown v. Board Of Education National Historic Site
  • California National Historic Trail
  • Fort Larned National Historic Site
  • Fort Scott National Historic Site
  • Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
  • Nicodemus National Historic Site
  • Oregon National Historic Trail

• Related Mahalo Pages

  United States | Kansas City | Kansas City Vacation | Kansas City Hotels | Topeka | Kansas State University | Missouri | Nebraska | Oklahoma | The Wizard of Oz | 2008 Kansas Caucus | Amelia Earhart

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