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Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska

Kansas’s population at 2,853,116. That comes out to an average of 34.9 people per square mile. By contrast, the average for the nation as a whole is 87.4 people per square mile. Compared to the nation as a whole, Kansas is also less ethnically and racially diverse. The Census found that 87.1 percent of Kansans are white. The national average is just under 78 percent. African Americans are 13.2 percent of the overall U.S. population, but only 6.2 percent of Kansas’s population. Just over 17 per- cent of Americans are of Hispanic or Latino heritage. In Kansas, the per- centage is only 11.2 percent.

crude oil in 2013. That puts the state at tenth place in the nation for oil pro- duction. In 1887, oil-seekers discovered salt deposits in central Kansas. The state continues to be a major salt producer, and the Independent Salt Company in Kanopolis, Kansas, is America’s oldest continuously operating salt mine. The People Travel books and sites often describe Kansas as a land of open spaces. That is fitting. Although Kansas is the 15th largest state in terms of land area, it ranks only 33rd in terms of popula- tion. The 2010 U.S. Census puts

Fort Leavenworth is the oldest U.S. Army fort in the western United States still in existence. Today, it is best known for hous- ing the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where high-ranking officers are trained, as well as a military prison. There are two other major U.S. military installations in the state, McConnell Air Force Base and Fort Riley.