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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
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.
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Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska
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.