Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889.In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1858, settlers from Lawrence founded the Salina Town Company with a wagon circle, under constant threat of High Plains tribal attacks from the west. It was named for the salty Saline River.