Topeka is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat and most populous city of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was 122,377 at the 2000 census, and it was estimated to be in the year . The Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Shawnee, Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, and Wabaunsee counties, had an estimated population of 226,268 in the year 2003. Three ships of the US Navy have been named USS Topeka in honor of the city.
The name "Topeka" comes from a Kansas tribal name meaning "a good place to grow potatoes". (The name "potato" in this case refers to the prairie potato, a perennial herb which was an important food for many Native Americans. )
Topeka, laid out in 1854, was one of the Free-State towns founded by Eastern antislavery men immediately after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. In 1857, Topeka was chartered as a city.
