The state of Kansas, known as Sunflower State, extends over an area of 213,000 km². The capital is the city of Topeka with 125,000 residents.
Sunflower State – this is the nickname of the US state of Kansas, whose landscape is largely shaped by the Great Plains. According to Acronymmonster, the state has 2.9 million residents and extends over 213,000 km² in the center of the USA. Kansas is surrounded by the neighboring states of Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma. Nebraska has a continental climate, and the region is also located in the so-called Tornado Alley, through which tornadoes regularly pass. The capital of Kansas is Topeka: about 125,000 people live here. Kansas owes the nickname Sunflower State to the dominant local agriculture, which includes cattle breeding and the cultivation of corn and wheat. This is another reason why Kansas with its Great Plains is often referred to as the “bread basket of the USA”.
Kansas – The History of the Sunflower State
As early as 7000 BC Kansas was settled by the Paleo natives, later descendants are the Wichita, the Kansa, the Pawnee and the Osage Nation. The first Spanish explorers reached the region around 1541 under Francisco de Coronado. In 1803 Kansas passed to the USA like many other lands in the Midwest through the so-called “Louisiana Purchase”. Fort Leavenworth, founded in 1827, was one of the first local settlements. Kansas became official territory through the so-called Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. In 1954, the civil rights movement sued in the Brown et al. vs. Board of Education of Topeca against the prevailing racial segregation in Kansas, which was declared unconstitutional in a landmark judgment. A famous Kansas President is Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Kansas – the largest settlements in the Great Plains State
The largest city of Kansas is Wichita, where about 390,000 people live today. This is followed by Overland Park (191,000 residents), Kansas City (152,000 residents), Olathe (135,000 residents) and the capital Topeka. Major rivers in Kansas are the Missouri River and the Arkansas River, including all of their tributaries.
Largest Counties in Kansas by Area
According to Countryaah, the biggest counties in Kansas are listed as below:
| Ranking | County | Area |
| 1 | Butler County | 3,699 km2 |
| 2 | Finney County | 3,367 km2 |
| 3 | Reno County | 3,248 km2 |
| 4 | Sumner County | 3,061 km2 |
| 5 | Greenwood County | 2,953 km2 |
| 6 | Barber County | 2,937 km2 |
| 7 | Cowley County | 2,916 km2 |
| 8 | Ford County | 2,846 km2 |
| 9 | Ness County | 2,784 km2 |
| 10 | Thomas County | 2,784 km2 |
| 11 | Logan County | 2,779 km2 |
| 12 | Gove County | 2,776 km2 |
| 13 | Rawlins County | 2,771 km2 |
| 14 | Sherman County | 2,735 km2 |
| 15 | Cheyenne County | 2,642 km2 |
| 16 | Sedgwick County | 2,590 km2 |
| 17 | Hamilton County | 2,580 km2 |
| 18 | Meade County | 2,533 km2 |
| 19 | Clark County | 2,525 km2 |
| 20 | Marion County | 2,442 km2 |
| 21 | Wallace County | 2,367 km2 |
| 22 | Jewell County | 2,354 km2 |
| 23 | Marshall County | 2,339 km2 |
| 24 | Ellis County | 2,331 km2 |
| 25 | McPherson County | 2,331 km2 |
| 26 | Graham County | 2,326 km2 |
| 27 | Washington County | 2,326 km2 |
| 28 | Sheridan County | 2,321 km2 |
| 29 | Smith County | 2,321 km2 |
| 30 | Barton County | 2,315 km2 |
| 31 | Decatur County | 2,315 km2 |
| 32 | Osborne County | 2,313 km2 |
| 33 | Rooks County | 2,300 km2 |
| 34 | Trego County | 2,300 km2 |
| 35 | Phillips County | 2,295 km2 |
| 36 | Russell County | 2,292 km2 |
| 37 | Norton County | 2,274 km2 |
| 38 | Kearny County | 2,253 km2 |
| 39 | Gray County | 2,251 km2 |
| 40 | Kingman County | 2,238 km2 |
| 41 | Hodgeman County | 2,227 km2 |
| 42 | Lyon County | 2,204 km2 |
| 43 | Dickinson County | 2,196 km2 |
| 44 | Pottawatomie County | 2,186 km2 |
| 45 | Harper County | 2,077 km2 |
| 46 | Wabaunsee County | 2,067 km2 |
| 47 | Stafford County | 2,051 km2 |
| 48 | Comanche County | 2,041 km2 |
| 49 | Greeley County | 2,015 km2 |
| 50 | Chase County | 2,010 km2 |
| 51 | Pawnee County | 1,953 km2 |
| 52 | Pratt County | 1,904 km2 |
| 53 | Morton County | 1,891 km2 |
| 54 | Stevens County | 1,886 km2 |
| 55 | Rice County | 1,883 km2 |
| 56 | Kiowa County | 1,870 km2 |
| 57 | Ottawa County | 1,867 km2 |
| 58 | Saline County | 1,865 km2 |
| 59 | Lincoln County | 1,862 km2 |
| 60 | Nemaha County | 1,862 km2 |
| 61 | Wichita County | 1,862 km2 |
| 62 | Rush County | 1,860 km2 |
| 63 | Scott County | 1,860 km2 |
| 64 | Lane County | 1,857 km2 |
| 65 | Cloud County | 1,854 km2 |
| 66 | Ellsworth County | 1,854 km2 |
| 67 | Republic County | 1,854 km2 |
| 68 | Osage County | 1,823 km2 |
| 69 | Mitchell County | 1,813 km2 |
| 70 | Morris County | 1,805 km2 |
| 71 | Stanton County | 1,761 km2 |
| 72 | Jackson County | 1,702 km2 |
| 73 | Labette County | 1,681 km2 |
| 74 | Elk County | 1,678 km2 |
| 75 | Montgomery County | 1,671 km2 |
| 76 | Clay County | 1,668 km2 |
| 77 | Chautauqua County | 1,663 km2 |
| 78 | Seward County | 1,658 km2 |
| 79 | Bourbon County | 1,650 km2 |
| 80 | Coffey County | 1,632 km2 |
| 81 | Edwards County | 1,611 km2 |
| 82 | Riley County | 1,580 km2 |
| 83 | Linn County | 1,551 km2 |
| 84 | Crawford County | 1,536 km2 |
| 85 | Cherokee County | 1,520 km2 |
| 86 | Anderson County | 1,510 km2 |
| 87 | Haskell County | 1,494 km2 |
| 88 | Miami County | 1,494 km2 |
| 89 | Grant County | 1,489 km2 |
| 90 | Franklin County | 1,487 km2 |
| 91 | Wilson County | 1,487 km2 |
| 92 | Neosho County | 1,481 km2 |
| 93 | Brown County | 1,479 km2 |
| 94 | Shawnee County | 1,424 km2 |
| 95 | Harvey County | 1,396 km2 |
| 96 | Jefferson County | 1,388 km2 |
| 97 | Allen County | 1,303 km2 |
| 98 | Woodson County | 1,298 km2 |
| 99 | Johnson County | 1,235 km2 |
| 100 | Leavenworth County | 1,199 km2 |
| 101 | Douglas County | 1,184 km2 |
| 102 | Atchison County | 1,119 km2 |
| 103 | Doniphan County | 1,015 km2 |
| 104 | Geary County | 995 km2 |
| 105 | Wyandotte County | 391 km2 |