The U.S. state of Kansas is bordered byNebraska to the north;Missouri to the east;Oklahoma to the south; andColorado to the west. The state is divided into105 counties with628 cities, with its largest county by area beingButler County.^[1] Kansas is locatedequidistant from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Thegeographic center of the 48 contiguous states is inSmith County nearLebanon. Until 1989, theMeades Ranch Triangulation Station inOsborne County was the geodetic center of North America: the central reference point for all maps of North America. According to the Kansas Geological Survey, the geographic center of Kansas is near Bushton in northwest Rice County.

Kansas is underlain by a sequence of horizontal to gently westwarddippingsedimentary rocks. A sequence ofMississippian,Pennsylvanian andPermian rocks outcrop in the eastern and southern part of the state. The state's western half has exposures ofCretaceous through Tertiary sediments, the latter derived from theerosion of theupliftedRocky Mountains to the west. These are underlain by older Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments which correlate well with the outcrops to the east. The state's northeastern corner was subjected toglaciation in thePleistocene and is covered byglacial drift andloess.

Kansas has been divided into eleven differentphysiographic regions.^[3]

The western two-thirds of the state, lying in thegreat central plain of the United States, has a generally flat or undulating surface, while the eastern third has many hills and forests. The land gradually rises from east to west; its altitude ranges from 684 ft (208 m) along theVerdigris River atCoffeyville inMontgomery County, to 4,039 ft (1,231 m) atMount Sunflower, 0.5 miles (0.80 kilometers) from the Colorado border, inWallace County. It is a common misconception that Kansas is the flattest state in the nation—in 2003, a tongue-in-cheek study famously declared the state "flatter than a pancake".^[4] In fact, Kansas has a maximum topographic relief of 3,360 ft (1,020 m),^[5] making it the 23rd flattest U.S. state measured by maximum relief.^[6]

Nearly 75 mi (121 km) of the state's northeastern boundary is defined by theMissouri River. TheKansas River (locally known as the Kaw), formed by the junction of theSmoky Hill andRepublican rivers at appropriately-namedJunction City, joins the Missouri River atKansas City, after a course of 170 mi (270 km) across the northeastern part of the state.

TheArkansas River (pronunciation varies), rising inColorado, flows with a bending course for nearly 500 mi (800 km) across the western and southern parts of the state. With its tributaries, (theLittle Arkansas,Ninnescah, Walnut,Cow Creek,Cimarron, Verdigris, and theNeosho), it forms the southern drainage system of the state.

Kansas's other rivers are theSaline and Solomon Rivers, tributaries of the Smoky Hill River; theBig Blue,Delaware, andWakarusa, which flow into the Kansas River; and theMarais des Cygnes, a tributary of the Missouri River. Spring River is located betweenRiverton andBaxter Springs.

Areas under the protection of theNational Park Service include:^[7]

• Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka
• California National Historic Trail
• Fort Larned National Historic Site inLarned
• Fort Scott National Historic Site
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• Nicodemus National Historic Site atNicodemus
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Pony Express National Historic Trail
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve nearStrong City

In Kansas, there are currently 238 species of rare animals and 400 rare plants.^[8] Among those include:smooth rockcress,Virginia rail,Cleft Ledge,royal fern,turkey-tangle,bobolink,cave salamander,peregrine falcon, andblack-footed ferrets.^[9][10] Common animal species and grasses include:crows,deer,lesser prairie-chickens,mice,moles,opossum,prairie dogs,raccoon,eastern gamagrass,prairie dropseed,Indiangrass,little bluestem,switchgrass,northern wood-oats,upright sedge,sideoats grama, andbig bluestem.^[11][12]

According to theKöppen climate classification, Kansas's climate can be characterized in terms of three types: it has humid continental, semi-arid steppe, and humid subtropical. The eastern two-thirds of the state (especially the northeastern portion) has ahumid continental climate, with cool to cold winters and hot, often humid summers. Most of the precipitation falls during both the summer and the spring.

The western third of the state—from roughly theU.S. Route 83 corridor westward—has asemi-aridsteppe climate. Summers are hot, often very hot, and generally less humid. Winters are highly changeable between warm and very cold. The western region receives an average of about 16 inches (410 millimeters) of precipitation per year.Chinook winds in the winter can warm western Kansas all the way into the 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) range.

The south-central and southeastern portions of the state, including theWichita area, have ahumid subtropical climate with hot and humid summers, milder winters, and more precipitation than elsewhere in Kansas. Some features of all three climates can be found in most of the state, with droughts and changeable weather between dry and humid not uncommon, and both warm and cold spells in the winter.

Temperatures in areas between U.S. Routes 83 and81, as well as the southwestern portion of the state along and south ofU.S. 50, reach 90 °F (32 °C) or above on most days of June, July, and August. High humidity added to the high temperatures sends theheat index into life-threatening territory, especially in Wichita,Hutchinson,Salina,Russell,Hays, andGreat Bend. Temperatures are often higher inDodge City,Garden City, andLiberal, but the heat index in those three cities is usually lower than the actual air temperature.

Although temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C) or higher are not as common in areas east of U.S. 81, higher humidity and theurban heat island effect lead most summer days to heat indices between 107 °F (42 °C) and 114 °F (46 °C) inTopeka,Lawrence, and theKansas City metropolitan area. Also, combined with humidity between 85 and 95 percent, dangerous heat indices can be experienced at every hour of the day.

Precipitation ranges from about 47 inches (1,200 mm) annually in the state's southeast corner to about 16 inches (410 mm) in the southwest. Snowfall ranges from around 5 inches (130 mm) in the fringes of the south, to 35 inches (890 mm) in the far northwest. Frost-free days range from more than 200 days in the south, to 130 days in the northwest. Thus, Kansas is the country's ninth or tenth sunniest state, depending on the source. Western Kansas is as sunny as parts ofCalifornia andArizona.

Kansas is prone to severe weather, especially in the spring and the early-summer. Despite the frequent sunshine throughout much of the state, due to its location at a climatic boundary prone to intrusions of multiple air masses, the state is vulnerable to strong and severe thunderstorms. Some of these storms becomesupercell thunderstorms; these can produce sometornadoes, occasionally those ofEF3 strength or higher. Kansas averages more than 50 tornadoes annually.^[13] Severe thunderstorms sometimes drop some very largehail over Kansas as well. Furthermore, these storms can even bring in flash flooding and damaging straight line winds.

According to NOAA, the all-time highest temperature recorded in Kansas is (121 °F or 49.4 °C) on July 24, 1936, nearAlton inOsborne County, and the all-time low is −40 °F (−40 °C) on February 13, 1905, nearLebanon inSmith County. Alton and Lebanon are approximately 50 miles (80 km) apart.^[14]

Kansas's record high of 121 °F (49.4 °C) ties withNorth Dakota for the fifth-highest record high in an American state, behind California (134 °F or 56.7 °C),Arizona (128 °F or 53.3 °C),Nevada (125 °F or 51.7 °C), andNew Mexico (122 °F or 50 °C).^[15][16]

• Geography of Nebraska
• Tallgrass prairie
• Tornado Alley
• Geography of Oklahoma
• Geography of Colorado

• Geography of Kansas

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