Kansas is named after the Kansas River , in turn named after the Kansa people. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Indigenous tribes. The first settlement of non-indigenous people in Kansas occurred in at Fort Leavenworth. The pace of settlement accelerated in the s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery debate.
When it was officially opened to settlement by the U. On January 29, , [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Kansas entered the Union as a free state, hence the unofficial nickname "The Free State". Passage of the Homestead Acts in brought a further influx of settlers, and the booming cattle trade of the s attracted some of the Wild West's most iconic figures to western Kansas.
As of , Kansas was among the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, corn, sorghum , and soybeans. Kansas, which has an area of 82, square miles , square kilometers is the 15th-largest state by area , the 36th most-populous of the 50 states, with a population of 2,, [ 22 ] according to the census, and the 10th least densely populated.
Residents of Kansas are called Kansans. Mount Sunflower is Kansas's highest point at 4, feet 1, meters. The name Kansas derives from the Algonquian term, Akansa , for the Quapaw people. These were a Dhegiha Siouan -speaking people who settled in Arkansas around the 13th century. The stem - kansa is named after the Kaw people , also known as the Kansa , a federally recognized Native American tribe. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys.
Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. Between and , the territory of Kansas was integrated into Spanish Louisiana. During that period, Governor Luis de Unzaga 'le Conciliateur' promoted expeditions and good relations with the Amerindians.
