Earth
Earth is the third planet of the Sol System, the homeworld of humanity, and capital world of the United Federation of Planets.
Astronomical Data
Location
- Sol Sector (Sector 001)
Name(s)
- Sol III
- Earth
- Terra (Earth is sometimes referred to as Terra)
Moon(s)
- Luna (The Moon, Sol IIIa)
Further Information
Historical
The planet Earth was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, during the formation of the Sol system.
The Distant Origin theory postulated by Voth scientist Forra Gegen suggests that his species may also have originated on Earth, long before the evolution of the human race. Apart from this, Earth has received many visits from extraterrestrials, millenia before the Vulcans made First Contact, like the Sahndarans, the Sky Spirits, the Skagarans, the Preservers, the Briori, and others like the Redjac entity. Several of these extraterrestrials were considered gods by ancient humans.
Earth has fought three major World Wars and numerous smaller wars over its history, the most devastating being its Third World War, which ended in 2053, where more than 600 million died and many of the planet's major cities were damaged or destroyed. It was during the rebuilding in 2063 that Zefram Cochrane built Earth's first warp ship, the Phoenix, and broke the warp barrier. It was 88 years later, that Earth's first true starship, the NX class Enterprise, was launched. Earth, in that time, also fought a series of interstellar battles against the Kzinti that would eventually be resolved with the Treaty of Sirius.
Although the different cultural identities among Humans remained, a United Earth Government unified all of Earth's population in the 22nd century.
In 2153, Earth was pre-emptively attacked by the Xindi, using a prototype of the Xindi superweapon, resulting in a total death toll of 7 million people, and the destruction of a large area between Florida and Venezuela. The Xindi were acting on false information given to them by the Sphere Builders that humans would destroy their new homeworld in the future. Enterprise was dispatched to the Delphic Expanse to identify and eliminate the threat. A much larger version of the weapon was destroyed by Jonathan Archer whilst approaching Earth.
Having survived the Xindi threat, Earth became a more dangerous place for aliens to visit. An Andorian and a Rigelian were attacked by Humans blaming all aliens for the massive loss of life caused by the Xindi attack. Some even blamed Starfleet for not considering Earth's security as they explore the galaxy. The isolationist group Terra Prime temporarily flourished on the resulting xenophobia following the attack.
Earth was one of the founding members of the Federation in 2161 after it was victorious in the Romulan War. Earth became one of the Federation's most important worlds, so much so that some Klingons claim that the Federation is known throughout the galaxy as a "Homo Sapiens-only club".
Earth has been attacked a number of times since joining the Federation. In 2273 a massive machine life-form called V'Ger tried to establish contact with its creator. It threatened to destroy all life if its demands weren't met. The attack was averted by the USS Enterprise.
In 2286, an alien probe of unknown origin wreaked ecological havoc whilst trying to contact an extinct species of Humpback whale by transmiting massive amounts of energy into Earth's oceans.
In 2367 a Borg cube entered orbit, but was stopped by the USS Enterprise-D moments before it began to attack the planet. A second attack in 2373 was barely held off by Starfleet, once again in near-Earth space.
Political
In 2150 United Earth Government was established, uniting all nations of Earth, thereby eradicating any causes of possible war between the nations.
Despite the United Earth Government, there are still existing continental organizations like the European Alliance and the African Confederation. However, it is not clear what competences these institutions carry.
In 2161, Earth became a founding member of the United Federation of Planets and evolved to the de facto centre of the organization, as it is the location of Starfleet Command, the Federation Council, and the office of the Federation President.
Important political structures on Earth include:
- Federation Council President's office, Paris
- Federation Council, Starfleet Headquarters and Starfleet Academy, San Francisco
- Division of Planetary Operations, Lisbon
- Federation Penal Settlement, New Zealand
- Nations
Geographical
Earth is classified as a Class M world, although Earth's classification borders on Pelagic (Class O), as two-thirds of the planet's surface is liquid water. There are several major landmasses and a wide variety of climatic and surface conditions, ranging from tundra to desert. The vast majority of the land surface is temperate or semi-temperate.
Land features and formations
- El Capitan
- Yosemite National Park
- Pacific Ocean
- Mount Cook
- Mount Everest
- Tibetan plateau
- Mount McKinley
- Ural Mountains
- North Pole
Points of Interest
See also
People
Economy
Money in the 20th Century sense is not used on 24th Century Earth.
