Earth
From Star Trek Online Geekipedia
| |
| Earth | |
| Class: | M |
| Type: | Planet |
| Satellites: | 1, Luna |
| Location: | Alpha Quadrant, Sector 001 |
| Star System: | Sol |
| Species of Note: | Human Voth Clan Ru Cetaceans |
| Faction Affiliation: | United Federation Of Planets |
Often referred to by it's indigenous dominant species as "the big blue marble."
| |
Earth is the third planet from the star Sol, also known as the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density and is also referred to as The Earth, Planet Earth, the World, Sol III and Terra.
Earth is the homeworld of Humanity, and the location of the office of the President of the United Federation of Planets. Earth is the primary planet of United Earth and the Federation's de facto capital world. Also on Earth are located Starfleet Command and the main branch of Starfleet Academy.
Contents |
History
Early History
Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago within a nascent Sol system. Its biosphere began forming 3.5bn years back as amino acids appeared in the region, according to Q, which would eventually known as France. Since then, Earth's biosphere has significantly altered the atmosphere and other abiotic conditions on the planet, enabling the proliferation of aerobic organisms as well as the formation of the ozone layer which, together with Earth's magnetic field, blocks harmful radiation, permitting life on land.
Life on Earth evolved. For several million years dinosaurs were ascendant. Their era ended when a large asteroid, or comet, hit Earth during the galactic battle between the Q and the forces of the being 0. One dinosaur species survived and managed to leave the planet under their own power to become the Delta Quadrant species the Voth. The Preservers moved another promising reptilian species off Terra to ensure their development, and they became the Clan Ru.
As mammals reclaimed a mending planet, primates dominated the land while cetaceans ruled at sea. At one point a probe from an alien cetacean race made contact with native humpback whales. Several alien races contacted, and were worshiped by, early Terrans several of which helped the fledgling creatures to develop early cultures.
In the last half of the 20th century, there was a subculture that believed that the planet had been visited by extraterrestrials. While this was true, there were no official recognition of this fact when the planet was visited by Vulcan probe ships and other alien races which were subject to a rule of non-interference except for the Reticulans.
Humanity
Earth in the 24th century is a successful world whose peace was won at great cost. Unlike other races, humanity was split for much of its history into hundreds of religious, ethnic, cultural and national divisions. Early efforts to unite its peoples -- such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, and the New UN -- met with limited success.
Terra endured a catastrophic war ending in a nuclear exchange in 2053; the horrors of its aftermath were leavened a decade later by 2063's first contact with Vulcan. A watershed in Terran history spurred by Cochrane's first warp flight, the contact eradicated poverty, war and disease within fifty years. In early 2373 the Borg attempted to travel back in time to disrupt this flight, only to be foiled by the crew of the USS Enterprise-E who had followed them back. Events were changed however with Cmdr William T Riker and Lt Cmdr Geordi La Forge manning Cochrane's warp ship rather than the original crew, who had been injured during the Borg's initial attack.
By the early 22nd century, organizations such as the European Hegemony moved toward world government, and culminated in a United Earth that, by 2150, had absorbed a final nation state. The last state to join the coalition was Australia, whose independent and neutral position in world affairs, as well as their geographical location, allowed them to avoid any major conflicts upto this point.
In 2151, United Earth Starfleet launched its new warp-five NX-class starships, whose flagship, NX-01 Enterprise, first made contact with many races including the Klingons, Andorians, and Tellarites. These established United Earth as an interstellar power, and paved the way for the founding of the Federation.
Geography
As a standard M-class world Earth is often used as the benchmark for planetary classification. With several major landmasses and a wide variety of climatic and surface conditions, ranging from tundra to desert, Earth has developed a varied ecology and at least three known spacefaring races. By the 24th century, Humans had installed a weather modification network to alter the natural weather patterns of Earth, including dissipating destructive weather phenomena such as tornadoes.
Points of Interest
Starfleet Academy and Starfleet Command are both located in San Francisco. There are shipyards located in San Francisco, Oakland and Marin County in California, and Naples, Italy. The Federation's seat of government, the Palais de la Concorde, is located in the Federation capital city of Paris.
Cities such as London house state dinners, and the embassies of various foreign states and Federation Member States can be found throughout the globe, including the Gorn embassy in Berlin and the Vulcan consulate in New Orleans. The Federation News Service maintains offices in Tokyo, and Starfleet Command maintains secondary command facilities in Mexico City.
Moons and Satellites
Social and Political Structure
Earth has a democratic parliamentary government lead by a Prime Minister as the head of government and a President as head of state. Planetary citizens, as well as humans living on the pre-Federation colony worlds, are given the opportunity to vote for a representative to their local constituency who would then hold a seat in the parliament.
Since the action of Terra Prime in the 22nd century ministers are dissuaded from forming political parties and are instead expected to vote on any matter based solely on the best interests of their constituency, however it's not unknown for charismatic ministers to hold undue influence over their peers.
The government holds no military power on Earth, with Starfleet responsible for the planet's safety due to its importance to the Federation as a whole. Any action which would require local forces would first have to be ratified by the Federation Council so as to ensure such actions are for the best interest of the Federation as a whole. This situation has caused some ill-feeling among the local population, especially after the events of the Leyton Affair in 2372.
Acting as the de facto capital also means that many races, both members of the Federation, allies and political enemies will at one point or another establish some form of political presence on the planet, usually in the form of embassies and consulates. Due to security concerns such embassies are usually protected by foreign military forces, but their activities are under close scrutiny by Starfleet Intelligence to preserve Federation security.
Social Philosophy
Although the Humans living on Earth has a rocky start most are now welcoming of alien races and the myriad lifestyles and philosophies across the Federation. With the introduction of replicator technology almost every need is catered for leaving most inhabitants to concentrate on more noble ideals, including art, science and philosophy, this has led to what many believe to be an enlightened society.
However not all problems have been solved with religious and political tensions still existing. While the United Earth government and the Federation have attempted to minimise these tensions little can be done while individuals hold differing views, most of which cannot be resolved through debate.
