堪萨斯(Kansas)
美国中部一州。为大平原的一部分，从东部的草原延伸到西部高原，海拔约915公尺。在欧洲人殖民前，坎萨人、奥萨格人、波尼人和威奇托人等印第安部族就已居住於此。第一个到堪萨斯探险的欧洲人是科罗纳多，他在1541年自墨西哥北来，寻找传说中的黄金城。1682年拉萨尔宣布这块领土为法国所有。1803年作为「路易斯安那购地」的一部分，堪萨斯遂归属美国。19世纪初，联邦政府重新安置了被放逐的东部印第安人到堪萨斯。1854年的「堪萨斯－内布拉斯加法」成立了堪萨斯准州，并对白人居民开放。这里是奴隶制问题冲突的所在地，包括一次由布朗引发的冲突（参阅Bleeding Kansas）。堪萨斯於1861年成为美国第三十四个州，铁路的到来促使运牛市镇的成长，德州牛仔把牛群赶到威奇托和阿比林以搭上铁路运往各地贩卖。农人在大平原上耕作，使农业变得很重要。第二次世界大战期间和之後，飞机制造业大为拓展，农产品也仍占优势地位。首府托皮卡。面积213,096平方公里。人口约2,688,418（2000）。
English version：
Kansas
State (pop., 1997 est.: 2,595,000), central U.S. It covers 82,277 sq mi (213,097 sq km); its capital is Topeka. It is part of the Great Plains, rising more than 3,000 ft (915 m) from its eastern prairies to the high plains of the west. The region was occupied by the Kansa, Osage, Pawnee, and Wichita Indians before European settlement. The first European explorer was Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, who came from Mexico in 1541 in search of gold. R.-R. La Salle claimed the region for France in 1682. Kansas was acquired by the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In the early 19th century the federal government relocated displaced eastern Indians to Kansas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created Kansas Territory and opened it to white settlement. It was the site of conflicts over slavery, including one spurred by John Brown (see Bleeding Kansas). It entered the Union as the 34th state in 1861. After the Civil War, the coming of the railroads promoted the growth of cow towns; Texas cattlemen drove herds to Wichita and Abilene to reach the railheads. Agriculture became important as farmers worked on the Great Plains. During and following World War II, airplane production expanded, and farm products remained strong.