Kansas is the 34th state of the United States of America, admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861.

Kansas is usually designated as a MidWestern state. However, it is commonly referred to as a plains state, and sections are often considered part of the SouthWest or West.

Such variations in terminology reflect the fact that Kansas does not belong wholly to one region and is an area of diversified relief, climate, economy, and patterns of settlement.

The landscape of the East, with its hills, woodlands, grain-and-livestock farms, and comparatively large cities, contrasts sharply with the dry treeless plains and vast wheat farms of the sparsely populated West.

In addition, the High Plains of the West include areas of canyon country and sand dunes reminiscent of New Mexico and other parts of the SouthWest, while the rolling grasslands of the Flint and Smoky hills, in central Kansas, resemble the rangelands of the West.

Kansas, which has been called the Wheat State and the Breadbasket of the Nation, leads all other states in production of wheat. However, wheat dominates neither the landscape nor the economy of Kansas.

The sale of livestock, especially beef cattle, provides a larger percentage of annual farm income than the sale of wheat. Moreover, manufacturing and service industries are far more valuable to the state’s economy than agriculture.

The state is named for the Kansas River, which, in turn, was named for the Kansa people, who once inhabited NorthEastern Kansas. The word Kansas means "people of the South wind".

The nickname preferred by most Kansans is the Sunflower State. The helianthus, or native wild sunflower, grows profusely throughout Kansas and is the official state flower.

Kansas is also referred to as the Jayhawk or Jayhawker state. The origin and meaning of the term Jayhawker are disputed. In Kansas, it was used at the beginning of the American Civil War (1861-1865) to refer to the bands of guerrillas and irregular troops that were active along the Kansas-Missouri border. The name was taken up by some regular troops in Kansas. Eventually it became a nickname for all Kansans.

The major cities are located in central or Eastern Kansas.

• Wichita, the seat of Sedgwick County, is one of the two leading manufacturing cities in Kansas and a major trade center. It is noted as one of the chief centers of the aircraft-manufacturing industry.
• Kansas City, the seat of Wyandotte County, is the major center for health services in the state and maintains a long-standing reputation as a manufacturing city. And, together with Kansas City, Missouri, forms the hub of the metropolitan area known as Greater Kansas City.
• Overland Park, in Johnson County, lies in NorthEastern Kansas and is a residential suburb of Kansas City.
• Topeka, the seat of Shawnee County, serves as the state capital. In addition, it is a center for flour milling, meatpacking, printing and publishing, and the repairing of railroad equipment. In Topeka is the famous Menninger Foundation, an organization engaged in psychiatric research and treatment.
• Also in the Kansas City metropolitan area is Olathe, the seat of Johnson County.
• Lawrence, the seat of Douglas County, is a trade center and the site of the University of Kansas and the Haskell Indian Nations University (1884).
• Salina, the seat of Saline County, is a leading trade center for the central and Western parts of Kansas and is one of the state’s chief grain-storage and flour-milling centers.

Other major cities in Kansas include

• Hutchinson, the seat of Reno County, noted for its grain-storing and grain-shipping facilities;
• Leavenworth, the seat of Leavenworth County, a commercial center and the site of a large federal penitentiary and a major military post;
• Garden City, the seat of Finney County;
• Emporia, the seat of Lyon County, the site of Emporia State University and the home of the famous journalist and author William Allen White;
• Dodge City, the seat of Ford County, which was one of the most famous towns of the old West;
• Hays, the seat of Ellis County in West central Kansas, home to Fort Hays State University;
• Liberal, the seat of Seward County;
• Pittsburg, in Crawford County, a manufacturing and coal-shipping city and home to Pittsburg State University;
• Atchison, the seat of Atchison County, an early river port and outfitting center, now a manufacturing center;
• Abilene, the seat of Dickinson County, once a famous cow town of the cattle trail days and the boyhood home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower;
• Manhattan, the seat of Riley County and the home of Kansas State University.