Manhattan is a city in northeastern Kansas in the United States at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County, although it extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281.The city was founded by settlers from the New England Emigrant Aid Company as a Free-State town in the 1850s, during the Bleeding Kansas era. Nicknamed "The Little Apple" as a play on New York City's "Big Apple", Manhattan is best known as the home of Kansas State University and has a distinct college town atmosphere.Manhattan Regional Airport is the second busiest commercial airport in Kansas. Eight miles west of the city is Fort Riley, a United States Army post.Before settlement by European-Americans in the 1850s, the land where Manhattan sits was home to Native American tribes. Most recently, from 1780 to 1830 it was home to the Kaw people. The Kaw settlement was called Blue Earth Village.