The Solar Union lies at the very core of the Terran Sphere, controlling humanitys birthworld and some of its oldest colonies. For almost two millenia, the Union was a defining factor of the Terran Sphere, holding, by itself, the bulk of its industrial, economic and population base, as well as far outstripping the rest of the sphere in terms of technological development. From holding Sol while the rest of the sphere consisted of small colony worlds to holding the majority of the Core in the 3700's when it was finally forced to stop expanding. Even then the Union remained the biggest and most important nation of the sphere until a population boom and rising colonial dissatisfaction finally caused the nigh-ungovernably vast system to collapse in on itself, resulting in two centuries of revolts, civil war amongst the remaining loyalists and ex-colonies forming new nations or joining existing ones. From 4800 onwards the Union continues to exist as a minor but historically significant Core nation holding few but enormously prosperous worlds.
Factfile
Holdings
At peak:
913 systems under direct government
- 853 inhabited planets
- 612 inhabited moons
- 2 thousand large space habitats
Currently:
4 systems
- 6 inhabited planets
- 9 inhabited moons
- 30 large space habitats
Government
Capital: Tranquility city, Luna, Sol system.
Type: De Jure democratic federation, De Facto plutocracy/oligarchy.
Chief Governing Body: Council of Stars
Head of State: High Governor
Notable Government Agencies:
- Directorate of Emigration (Historical)
- Directorate of Integration (Historical)
Civilian Information
Population: At peak: 560 billion under direct governance.
Currently: 121 Billion
Species: Primarily human and human-derived.
Religion: Varies greatly, in many regions religion plays only a very small role. Planetary Relief was widely practiced during The Consolidation, but is fading away. New Millennialism is becoming more common.
Lifespan: Generally between 250 and 450
Languages: Solar Anglic is enforced as the official language of trade and government, enclaves of various Jovian languages remain.
Economy
Type: Primarily market economy, but some elements are government-planned.
Currency: Solar Credit
General Imports: Rare resources, artifacts
General Exports: Colonists, technology
Background
The predecessor of the Solar Union was formed in the chaos of the post-enlightenment technology crash, when the majority of the government structures still intact effectivley merged together. Over time, the Union became more and more monolithic, and once ftl travel was discovered more and more factions that disagreed with the Union were offered cheap travel to the new colony worlds, effectively giving it uncontested control over Sol, with its massive population, economy and industrial base, while the rest of the Sphere consisted of small, scattered and divided colonies. When the colonies became big enough to become significant, the Union began expanding to re-unite humanity again, annexing any and all colonies it could find, one by one. It wasn't until the late 4th millenium that the Union was forced to stop expanding by the Frontier Revolution and the more developed nations that now lined its border. The Union, by this point, was built on expansion, and although it managed to hang on for a long time still by sheer weight of history and force of arms, it finally began collapsing under the weight of its unpatrollably vast territory and its equally uncontrallably vast population in 4580. Leaving behind a small but wealthy nation of Sol and a few surrounding systems in 4800, which has lasted to this day.
Timeline
2421: Solar Union founded
2432: First extrasolar He-3 mining operation, beginning of first colonies
2450-2475: Jovian War
2500-2650: Re-absorbtion of the colonies directly surrounding Sol.
2578: First permanent jump gate link to Tau Ceti
3000: The Millenium Policy Referendum results in a large-scale shift towards expansionism, economical and, increasingly, military pressure is excerted on neighboring worlds to formally join the Solar Union.
3580-3560: War Of Sigman Independence
3739-3755: Frontier Revolution
3755-4000: The Consolidation
4580-4800: The De-unification