Editing Human colonies

{{Era|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}}
[[File:Halo Star Map V2.png|250px|thumb|A near-accurate star map of several human-colonized systems.]]
Under the administration of the [[Unified Earth Government]], [[human]]ity has surveyed and colonized several hundred worlds across a portion of the [[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way]] galaxy over 200 years of [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine|superluminal travel]] via [[slipstream space]], following nearly three centuries of expansion across the [[Sol system]]. The planets under the jurisdiction of the UEG, together with [[Earth|humanity's homeworld]], are collectively referred to as '''"Earth and Her Colonies"'''.<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''' level, ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)#Eulogy|Halo (Eulogy)]]''</ref>

== History ==
===Prehistory===
{{Main|Prehistoric human civilization}}
Over 110,000 years ago, humanity was an advanced, spacefaring race, and had colonized thousands of worlds across the [[Orion Arm]] of the galaxy. However, after [[Human-Flood war|being exhausted]] by the parasitic [[Flood]] and eventually suffering a disastrous defeat against the [[Forerunner]]s in the [[human-Forerunner wars]], the Forerunners forcibly regressed humanity to a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] [[Erde-Tyrene civilization|species]] and all traces of this advanced civilization were erased.

=== Interplanetary age ===
{{Main|United Nations Space Command#Interplanetary colonization|l1=Early history of the UNSC}}
The concept of space colonization was born out of the need to expand human habitation outside of Earth to prevent overpopulation, to alleviate the consumption of Earth's resources by conducting planetary mining on other worlds, and to better understand the universe as human civilization expanded. Various approaches were suggested to achieve this, such as colonization efforts of the [[Luna|Moon]] and [[Mars]], building facilities on orbiting [[asteroid]]s and creating [[space station|artificial platforms]].

The first recorded success of human colonization in the modern age was made in the later half of the 21st century, more specifically in [[2080]]. The Moon and Mars saw humanity's first expansion, followed by a number of [[asteroid]]s and the [[Jovian Moons|natural satellites orbiting]] [[Jupiter]]. The rapid pace of interplanetary colonization was driven by commercial interests more than the efforts on the part of [[national government]]s: Earth bio- and [[nanotechnology]] corporations sought to conduct scientific research unhindered by Earth's international law as well as its gravity. Mars, in particular, quickly became an important hub of leading-edge science and industry, and would continue to be so for hundreds of years, particularly in the area of spaceship manufacturing. Advancements in [[terraforming]] technologies transformed many of the formerly inhospitable planets and moons of the Solar System into worlds capable of sustaining life.<ref name="enc42">'''Halo Encyclopedia''', ''page 42'' (2011)</ref>

Despite these successes, the efforts did not solve Earth's overpopulation issue. It eventually led to political unrest, contributing to the formation of political movements promising independence from the national governments on Earth and the perceived oppression by the [[United Nations]].<ref name="xboxhalo"/> Operating across the colonized worlds and orbital platforms of the Sol system, the [[Frieden]] movement and the [[Koslovics]] were the most prominent of these rebel factions. Beginning with a Frieden attack on the [[United Nations Colonial Advisors]] in the Jovian Moons and the [[Jovian Moons Campaign|subsequent UN response]], battles were fought over the colony worlds—as well as [[Rain Forest Wars|Earth itself]]—from 2160 to [[2170]], culminating in a UN victory in the [[Interplanetary War]]. The outcome of the space wars led to the establishment of the [[Unified Earth Government]] as a centralized governing body tasked to ensure Earth's influence over the colony worlds and a powerful, united military force known as the [[United Nations Space Command]].<ref name="xboxhalo"/>

=== Expansion beyond Sol system ===
{{Main|Domus Diaspora}} 
[[File:Shaw-Fujikawa Noble Prize.jpg|thumb|250px|Dr. [[Wallace Fujikawa]] (left), and Dr. [[Tobias Fleming Shaw]] (right) are co-creators of the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]].]]
The technological innovation of the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]] in [[2291]] sprung the human civilization into the [[Technological Achievement Tiers#Tier 3: Space-Faring|space-faring age]], allowing them to travel beyond [[Sol system]]. Half a century later, the UEG constructed its first line of [[colony ship]]s - led by ''[[Odyssey]]'' - to initiate the expansion of human habitation, relieving the growing pressure of overpopulation on Earth and the off-world colonies across the Sol system.<ref name="xboxhalo"/> To manage governance in the extrasolar colonies as well as to ensure their security from [[piracy|pirates]] and other threats, the UEG established the [[Colonial Administration Authority]] and the [[Colonial Military Administration]] in [[2310]].<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 228''</ref> Two centuries later, both bodies would be marginalized—the latter due to widespread insurgent sympathies in its ranks—and eventually absorbed into the UNSC's emergency military government in [[2525]].<ref>[http://halostory.bungie.org/oconnor_mclees_080508.html '''Halo Story Page''': ''Frank O'Connor/Robt McLees Interview - August 2008'']</ref>

===Golden Age===
{{Main|Inner Colonies|Outer Colonies}}
As faster-than-light travel was still new and highly expensive, potential colonists were subjected to rigorous physical and mental testing to determine their suitability for the extrasolar colonization programs. As such, the colonists who formed the basis for the 210 first-wave colonies settled before [[2390]] formed humanity's elite; these worlds would later be known as the Inner Colonies. Earth and the Inner Colonies soon became the political and economic basis of the UNSC as humanity began expanding to the Outer Colonies.<ref name="xboxhalo"/> For humanity at large, this was a time of unparalleled prosperity and optimism which has later come to be referred to as the "Golden Age" of human colonization,<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''pages 415-416''</ref> a period which would eventually come to a violent end in the later years of the 25th century.<ref name="cole"/>

By the time the settlement of the Outer Colonies began, many of the initial difficulties of interstellar travel had been alleviated; by extension, the selection criteria for the colonists became far more lax, resulting in the populace of the Outer Colonies being far more varied than that of the prestigious Inner Colonies.<ref name="cole">'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''page 428-429''</ref>

Colonial expansion continued and by [[2490]], UEG colonial space encompassed over 800 worlds in the [[Orion Arm]]. The success of colonization of the Outer Colonies made the Inner Colonies the primary stronghold, both military and economic, though they relied heavily on raw materials supplied by the Outer Colonies. During this period, the planet [[Reach]] (orbiting [[Epsilon Eridani]], right on Earth's metaphorical doorstep) became the UNSC's primary naval yard and training academy. Reach was a major producer of warships and [[colony ship|colony vessels]], as well as a training ground for covert operatives and [[UNSC Special Forces|Special Forces]].

===Insurrection===
{{Main|Insurrection}}
The Inner Colonies' reliance on the Outer Colonies prompted the Unified Earth Government to maintain its hold over the Outer Colonies, but it inevitably began to lose its ability to do so as the Outer Colonies eventually surrounded the core worlds and far surpassed them in number. The overbearing influence of the Earth government, enforced by the UNSC and, initially, the [[Colonial Military Administration]], led to a growing secessionist sentiment among Outer Colony citizens. The more radical elements of this movement took up arms against the UNSC, sparking a series of brushfire wars—collectively known as the Insurrection—in the late 2490s.<ref name="cole"/>

===The Covenant War===
{{Main|Human-Covenant War}}
On April 20, [[2525]], contact with the Outer Colony, [[Harvest]], was lost. After failing to re-establish contact with Harvest, the [[Colonial Military Administration]] sent a scout ship, the ''[[CMA Argo|Argo]]'', to investigate. Contact with the Argo was subsequently lost after the ship arrived in the Harvest system, plunging humanity into a deadly war with an alien hegemony known as the [[Covenant]]. Harvest was [[orbital bombardment|bombarded from orbit]] in a process which would come to be known as [[glassing]], marking the beginning of a 28-year war with the Covenant. During the war, hundreds of human colonies were destroyed and billions of human civilians and military personnel were killed by the Covenant. The conflict would see the near-annihilation of the Outer Colonies by the mid-2530s, with the Covenant flooding into the Inner Colonies until they destroyed humanity's military stronghold of [[Reach]] in 2552. The Inner Colonies narrowly avoided annihilation before the UNSC finally achieved victory against the Covenant in the same year, but communication and unity among Earth's surviving colonies had been utterly compromised amidst the galaxy-wide devastation.

===Post-war===
Following the conclusion of the war, an extensive reconstruction process began in order to rebuild humanity's shattered colonial empire. By 2589, glassed colonies like Reach had been re-terraformed to some degree and open for re-settlement.<ref>'''Halo: Reach''', campaign level ''[[Lone Wolf]]''</ref> However, the absence of the Covenant threat also marked a resurgence in rebel activity, with worlds including [[Venezia]] rejecting Earth's offers of cooperation, accusing the UNSC of abandoning them during the war.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 70''</ref> The UEG and [[Swords of Sanghelios|Sangheili]] both administrated [[Joint Occupation Zone]]s where the ''[[Shadow of Intent]]'' participated in combined anti-piracy operations with UNSC forces between May 6th and June 1st.<ref name="Catalog">[https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2969315_Catalog-Interaction.aspx#post2969315 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Catalog Interaction - Page 14'']</ref> In early 2558, the region experienced in upsurge in Jiralhanae raids due to the Jiralhanae's dwindling resources.<ref>'''Halo: Escalation''', ''Issue #1''</ref>

==Government and politics==
While the Unified Earth Government is technically a confederation of equal, independently-governed worlds, this is not true in practice;<ref name="enc43"/> the interests of Earth and the Inner Colonies weigh more heavily in the government's decision-making than those of the Outer Colonies. This has led to tensions and even [[Insurrection|civil war]] between the UNSC and the outer settlements,<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rPeMxbvCjYo '''YouTube''': ''Halo: From A to Z with Frank O'Connor'']</ref> which many of the Inner Colonies relied on for their foodstuffs and resources.<ref name="xboxhalo"/>

Various organizations exist to provide military defense for the colonies. The [[Colonial Military Administration]] was created to act as a unified security force for the colonies but was eventually sidelined due to widespread corruption. The CMA's role was taken over by the United Nations Space Command, which many colonists resent due to its perceived draconian influence. At least some colonies maintain their own territorial defense forces, including [[Sedra]]'s [[Sedran Colonial Guard|Colonial Guard]]. Anti-UNSC sentiments are not uncommon among these organizations, some of which—such as the [[Venezian militia]]—are openly secessionist. The UNSC also operated its own [[Colonial Militia]] program to train colonial citizens to deal with emergencies as well as local rebellion.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 66''</ref>

Many colonies are named after locations on Earth, while others receive more descriptive or abstract names. Some worlds are only known by their astronomical designation, with the name of the star the world orbits followed by a numeric designation most often rendered in Roman numerals. On some colony worlds such as [[New Jerusalem]], [[New Jerusalem (city)|the capital city]] shares its name with the planet, as it is common for a colony's initial population center to be considered synonymous with the colony itself.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/canon-fodder-that-escalated-quickly '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - That Escalated Quickly'']</ref>

==Scale==
As of [[2490]], a total of 800 colonies had been established, many of them firmly under the influence of the UEG with some seeking to secede from humanity's empire.<ref name="xboxhalo">[[Xbox.com/Halo]] - Timeline</ref> The worlds are generally divided among the stable [[Inner Colonies]] and the more numerous and restless [[Outer Colonies]], and are highly diverse in terms of [[Human culture|culture]]; some worlds have their foundations in the cultural heritage of a single [[National government|Earth nation]], while others have more varied population bases.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 61-62''</ref> After the [[Human-Covenant War]], some worlds became even more heterogeneous with the emigration of former [[Covenant]] client species to the human sphere.<ref>'''Halo: Nightfall''' - ''Chapter One''</ref>

At its peak, human-controlled space encompassed hundreds of star systems and planets, moons and planetoids settled by colonists, some [[terraforming|terraformed]] to greater degrees than others depending on the local conditions and presence of indigenous life. The colonies ranged from heavily-populated and economically, politically and strategically significant worlds to struggling pioneer outposts which could barely sustain 10,000 colonists.<ref name="enc43">'''Halo Encyclopedia''', ''page 43'' (2011)</ref> The Inner Colonies encompassed a region of space in at least a 10.5 light-year three-dimensional radius from Earth. Beyond that were the Outer Colonies. Other colonies were established even further - [[Coral]], at 42 light-years;<ref>'''[[I Love Bees]]'''</ref> and [[Madrigal]], which lay in the [[23 Librae]] system, 83.7 light-years from Earth.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]'''</ref> Despite its relatively short distance from Earth, at approximately 12 lightyears, Harvest was considered the furthest Outer Colony in 2525, at six weeks of Slipspace travel away from Madrigal and two months from Reach.<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'''</ref>

Despite its relative scale, humanity's empire takes up only a minuscule portion of the [[Milky Way]] galaxy itself, with most human-colonized systems existing within a bubble of several dozens of light-years around [[Sol]] in contrast to the overall scale of the galaxy which is 100,000 light-years in diameter.<ref group="note">All identified real-world stars housing human colonies are within dozens of light-years of Sol. The original edition of ''Halo: The Fall of Reach'' suggested that humanity had colonized the [[Beta Centauri]] system, which is 350 light-years away. The 2010 reprint removed the reference to Beta Centauri, evidently because of the distance being deemed too long for the system to be feasible as a human colony. Therefore it can be assumed that all human-colonized systems are closer to Sol than Beta Centauri's 350 light-years.</ref> However, humans often use the word "galaxy" in colloquial speech when describing humanity's sphere of influence.<ref>'''[[Hunt the Truth]]'''</ref>

== List of known colonies ==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=== Inner Colonies ===
*[[Sol system]]
**[[Earth]] - Under UEG control
***[[Luna]] - Under UEG control
**[[Mars]] - Under UEG control
**[[Jovian Moons]] - Under UEG control
***[[Callisto]]
***[[Ganymede]]
***[[Europa]]
***[[Io]]
**[[Pluto]] - Under UEG control
*[[Epsilon Eridani system]]
**[[Reach]] - [[Glassing|Glassed]] in [[2552]], reterraforming underway by [[2589]]
**[[Circumstance]] - Attacked in 2552, likely glassed
**[[Tribute]] - Attacked in 2552, partially glassed, under UEG control by [[2558]]
**[[Beta Gabriel]] - Attacked in 2552, under UEG control by 2558
**[[Tantalus]] - Unknown status, likely glassed
*[[Ectanus 45|Ectanus 45 system]]
**[[Chi Rho]] - Unknown status
*[[Groombridge 34 system]]
**[[Station Delphi]] - Unknown status
*[[Hellespont system]]
**[[Troy]] - Glassed in 2552
**[[Harmony]] - Glassed in 2552
*[[Actium]] - Glassed in [[2545|May 2545]]
*[[Ballast]] - Unsuccessfully attacked by the Covenant, under UEG control
*[[Gannick 22]] - Under UEG control
*[[Imber]] - Attacked, unknown status
*[[Minister (planet)|Minister]] - Under UEG control<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 299''</ref>
*[[New Carthage]] - Under UEG control<ref group="note">The presence of [[orbital defense platform]]s around New Carthage implies that it is an Inner Colony, though this has not been confirmed.</ref>
*[[Skopje]] - Glassed in [[2547]]

=== Outer Colonies ===
*[[ Alpha Aurigae system]]
**[[Capella]] - Unsuccessfully attacked by the Covenant in [[2526]], unknown status
*[[23 Librae system]]
**[[Madrigal]] - Glassed in [[2528]]
*[[26 Draconis system]]
**[[Levosia]] - Unknown status
*[[CE-2-1239]]
**[[Coral]] - Attacked in [[2552]], most likely glassed
*[[Charybdis system]]
**[[Charybdis IX]] - Glassed
*[[Chi Ceti system]]
**[[Chi Ceti IV]] - Attacked by the Covenant in [[2525]]; still held by UEG/UNSC
*[[Cordoba system]]
**[[Gao]] - Under loose UEG control
*[[Cygnus system]]
**[[Cygnus]] - Under UEG control
**[[New Jerusalem]] - Glassed in [[2552]]
*[[Elduros system]]
**[[Aleria]] - Still held, abandoned by the UEG in 2525
*[[Eridanus system]]
**[[Eridanus II]] - Glassed in [[2530]], resettled by [[2557]]
*[[Epsilon Indi system]]
**[[Harvest]] - Glassed in [[2525]], recaptured by UNSC in [[2531]]
*[[Escala system]]
**[[Escala III]] - Under UEG control
*[[Groombridge 1830 system]]
**[[Groombridge-1830]] - Unsuccessfully attacked by the Covenant
*[[Hestia system]]
**[[Meridian]] - Glassed in [[2551]]; resettled by the [[Liang-Dortmund Corporation]] by [[2558]]
*[[Lambda Aurigae system]]
**[[Roost]] - Unknown status
*[[Orrichon system]]
**[[Sedra]] - Still held 
*[[Procyon system]]
**[[Arcadia]] - Glassed in [[2549]]
*[[Qab system]]
**[[Venezia]] - Insurrectionist-controlled as of [[2553]]
*[[Sverdlovsk system]]
**[[Talitsa]] - Insurrectionist-controlled as of [[2558]]
*[[Biko]] - Glassed in [[2525]], resettled by 2558
*[[Cleyell]] - Glassed in [[2556]]
*[[Desdoron V]] - Under UEG control
*[[Dwarka]] - Glassed
*[[Green Hills]] - Glassed in [[2525]]
*[[Hat Yai]] - Glassed in [[2528]] or [[2529]]
*[[Minab]] - Glassed in [[2550]] 
*[[Sansar]] - Glassed
*[[Second Base]] - Glassed in 2525
*[[Verent]] - Glassed
{{col-2}}

=== Other/unspecified ===
*[[111 Tauri system]]
**[[Victoria]] - Unknown status
*[[18 Scorpii system]]
**[[Falaknuma]] - Still held
*Algol system
**[[Algolis]] - Attacked, unknown status
*[[Beta Hydri system]]
**[[Beta Hydri VI]] - Unknown status
*[[Bhaakto system]]
**[[Alluvion]] - Glassed in [[2542]]; resettled in [[2554]]
*[[Brunel system]]
**[[New Llanelli]] - Glassed in [[2546]]
*[[Circinius system]]
**[[Circinius IV]] - Glassed in [[2526]]
*[[Draetheus system]]
**[[Draetheus V]] - Destroyed in [[2554]]
*[[Erebus system]]
**[[Erebus VII]] - Unknown status
*[[Hydra system]] - Unknown status
*[[Lambda Serpentis system]]
**[[Jericho VII]] - Glassed in [[2535]]
*[[Leonis Minoris system]] - Three colonies, two glassed in [[2537]]
*[[Luyten 726-8 system]]
**[[Luyten]] - Unknown status
*[[Paris system]]
**[[Paris IV]] - Glassed
*Persia system
**[[Persia IX]] - Unknown status
*[[Sigma Octanus system]]
**[[Sigma Octanus IV]] - Unsuccessfully attacked by the Covenant in 2552
*[[Zeta Doradus system]]
**[[Onyx]] - Disintegrated, [[Sharpened Shield|slipspace-based core]] still intact
*[[Andesia]] - Under UEG control
*[[Ariel]] - Unknown status
*[[Asmara]] - Glassed sometime between 2525 and 2529
*[[Asphodel]] - Unknown status
*[[Atlas Moons]] - Unknown status
*[[Barrier]] - Still held 
*[[Bliss]] - Glassed in [[2526]]
*[[Bounty]] - Glassed
*[[Boundary]] - Unknown status
*[[Bhuj]] - Unknown status
*[[Camber]] - Glassed
*[[Cascade]] - Under UEG control
*[[Concord]] - Under UEG control
*[[Conrad's Point]] - Attacked by a [[Guardian]] in [[2558]].
*[[Cote d'Azure]] - Glassed
*[[Criterion]] - Attacked, unknown status
*[[Crystal]] - Unknown status
*[[Cyrus VII]] - Under UEG control
*[[Draco III]] - Attacked in 2545; resettled by 2554.  
*[[Emerald Cove]] - Abandoned in [[2542]]
*[[Eirene]] - Glassed
*[[Endymion]] - Glassed
*[[Estuary]] - Glassed
*[[Eudemon]] - Under UEG control 
*[[Far Isle]] - Unknown status
*[[Forseti]] - Still held
*[[Fumirole]] - Attacked, unknown status
*[[Gilgamesh]] - Unknown status
*[[Greydowns]] - Glassed
*[[Hardscrabble]] - Unknown status
*[[Hellas]] - Unknown status
*[[Herschel]] - Unknown status
*[[Juneou]] - Unknown status
*[[Kholo]] - Glassed
*[[Kroedis II]] - Glassed
*[[Laika III]] - Attacked by a Guardian in 2558
*[[Lenapi]] - Under UEG control 
*[[Lodestone]] - Unknown status
*[[Lostwithiel]] - Glassed
*[[Mamore]] - Under UEG/UNSC control
*[[Mesa]] - Glassed
*[[Miridem]] - Attacked, most likely glassed
*[[New Caracas]] - Still held
*[[New Constantinople]] - Unknown status
*[[New Harmony]] - Unsuccessfully attacked by the Covenant
*[[Newsaka]] - Unknown status
*[[Oasis VI]] - Unknown status
*[[Oban]] - Under UEG control
*[[Paradise Falls]] - Unknown status
*[[Partition]] - Still held
*[[Passage]] - Unknown status
*[[Reynes]] - Glassed
*[[Ruthersburg]] - Unknown status
*[[Sargasso]] - Attacked in 2546, unknown status
*[[Sundown]] - Under UEG control
*[[Terceira]] - Under UEG control
*[[Terra Nova]] - Unknown status
*[[Ursa IV]] - Attacked by a Guardian in 2558
*[[Verge]] - Attacked, strip-mined by the Covenant for [[Helium|helium-3]]
*[[Vodin]] - Attacked in 2532; still habitable
{{col-end}}

== Notes ==
<references group="note"/>

== Sources ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[[Wikipedia:Space colonization|Space colonization]] on Wikipedia

[[Category:Human colonies| ]]