Salina [key], city (1990 pop. 42,303), seat of Saline co., central Kans., on the Smoky Hill River; founded 1858 by settlers opposed to slavery, inc. 1870. It is the marketing and shipping center for an area that produces grain, livestock, oil, and natural gas, and a hub of the hard-winter-wheat belt. The city has grain elevators, flour mills, foundries, and factories that make aircraft, industrial gases, houseboats, electronic devices, soft drinks, plastic and aluminum products, machinery, office supplies, and frozen foods. Kansas Wesleyan Univ., a branch of Kansas State Univ., and a military school are there. Nearby are prehistoric Native American burial grounds.
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