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{{Era|Forerunner|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post|FA}}
{{Status|Canon}}
{{SeeWikipedia}}
{{Wikipedia}}
{{Planet
{{Planet infobox
|image=[[File:Earth.JPG|300px|]]
|name=Earth
|name= Earth
|image=[[File:HTV-HalseyComputer-Earth.png|300px]]
|star, position= [[Sol system|Sol System]], Sol/Sun, III
|system=[[Sol system]]
|moon(s)= [[Luna]]
|body=[[Sol]]{{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
|satellite(s)= Many
|position=Third planet{{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
|gravity= 1.0 G (9.8 m/s<sup>2</sup>)
|moon(s)=One; [[Luna]]{{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
|diameter= 12,742 km
|diameter={{Convert|12756|km|mi|sp=us}}{{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
|daylength= 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds
|gravity=1.0 G{{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
|yearlength= 365.2425 days
|daylength=24 hours<ref name="HWULE">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/earth ''Halo Waypoint'': Universe - Location - Earth]</ref>
|atmosphere= .9 atm (N<sub>2</sub>, O<sub>2</sub>)
|yearlength=365.2 days{{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
|surface temperature= -18&deg; C to 38&deg; C
|atmosphere=1.0 ([[Wikipedia:Nitrogen|N<sub>2</sub>]], [[Oxygen|O<sub>2</sub>]], Ar){{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
|population=  
|temperature=-20°C to 40°C (-4°F to 104°F){{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
*In the billions<ref name="ENC">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 282''</ref> (pre-war)
|demonym=Earther{{Ref/Anthology|Fra|Breaking Strain}}
*200 million (Post war)<ref name="VIS">'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 54''</ref> (sudden change)<ref ="BEST">'''[[Bestiarum|Halo 3 Bestiarum]]'''</ref>
|species=*[[Human]] {{C|Homeworld}}{{Ref/Reuse|HWULE}}
|societal approximation= Mixed/[[Democracy|Democratic]]/[[Religion|Religious]]
|population=*Approx. 10 billion {{C|pre-Battle of Earth}}<ref name="ENC">''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]'', p. 282</ref><ref name="populateTwit">[https://twitter.com/Mr_Admirals/status/429062324737953792 ''Twitter'': @HaloWaypoint Hey, what was the population of Earth prior to November 2552?]</ref>
|government= [[Emergency military]] (UNSC/UEG)
*Approx. 200 million {{C|Post-Battle of Earth, as of [[2552#November|Nov. 17, 2552]]}}{{Ref/Book|Id=VIS|[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]|Page=54}}<ref name="BEST">''[[Bestiarum|Halo 3 Bestiarum]]''</ref>
|technology tier= Tier 3
*7.9 billion {{C|modern}}{{Ref/Book|[[Halo: Warfleet]]|Page=22}}
|current threat to array= Significant to serious
|colonized=
|government=
*[[Ancestors]] {{c|Pre-[[Human-Forerunner wars]]}}
*[[Erde-Tyrene civilization]] {{C|Pre-[[Great Purification]]}}
*[[Unified Earth Government]]
**[[United Nations]]<ref name="CatalogUN">[https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2969315_Catalog-Interaction.aspx#post2969315 ''Halo Waypoint'': Query Answer: Human records indicate that the assembly (ref: United Nations) is a vestigial organization responsible for adjudication of administrative tasks between territorial sectors on Erde-Tyrene.]</ref>
*[[Created]]
|significance=Critical {{C|2558}}{{Ref/Book|Id=osfm91|OSFM|Page=91}}
|threat=Alpha {{C|2558}}{{Ref/Reuse|osfm91}}}}
{{Quote|Beautiful, isn't she?|[[Thomas Lasky]] discussing Earth, with [[John-117]].{{Ref/Level|H4|[[Epilogue (Halo 4 level)|Epilogue]]}}}}
 
'''Earth''' is the third [[planet]] and one of four terrestrial worlds of the [[Sol system]]. It is the presumptive homeworld of the [[human]] species, though this was disputed by some [[Ancient humanity|ancient humans]], due to the loss of records to technological dark ages and the presence of human ruins on other worlds.<ref name="pri238">''Halo: Primordium'', p. 238</ref> It is the current capital world of the [[Unified Earth Government]], and home to [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6|the headquarters]] of the [[United Nations Space Command]].
 
With a population of around ten billion, Earth was the most populated planet in UEG territory prior to the Covenant invasion. Despite being dramatically reduced during the [[Battle for Earth|Covenant invasion]] in 2552 due to both casualties inflicted by the Covenant and a major evacuation effort, the population had again risen to several billion by the end of [[2553]].{{Ref/Reuse|populateTwit}}
 
==Overview==
===Nomenclature===
Earth is also known by the designation of '''Sol III'''.{{Ref/Reuse|VIS}}<ref name="Halo Channel">''[[Halo Channel]]'', Encyclopedia</ref> During the [[Forerunner]] era it was called '''Erde-Tyrene'''<ref name="Cryptum">''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''</ref> (pronounced ''"Er-da-ty-reen"'')<ref>''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGR1V7IRLXs Rebirth]''</ref> which was abreviated to "'''Erda'''".<ref name="Primordium">''[[Halo: Primordium]]'', page 238</ref>{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22pg18}} The name Erde-Tyrene would be known to the [[Prophet of Regret]] and [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration|his forces]] after the planet's discovery at a [[Meridian]] Forerunner artifact.{{Ref/Game|H2A|[[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminal 14 - Beholden]]}}
 
===Astronomical features===
Earth experiences the [[Wikipedia:Aurora borealis|aurora borealis]].{{Ref/Site|Id=|URL=http://halo.bungie.net/projects/halo3/content.aspx?link=H3LegendaryMapPack|Site=bungie.net|Page=Legendary Map Pack|Detail=|D=8|M=2|Y=2021}}
====Orbital locations====
*{{Class|Moncton|orbital weapon platform}}
**''[[Athens Station]]''
**''[[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo Station]]''
**''[[Malta Station]]''
**''[[Nassau Station]]''
**''[[Oaxaca Station]]''
*[[Station Wayward Rest]]
*[[Quito Terminus]]
*[[Munera Platform A7]]
 
===Environmental features===
[[File:H3 Mount Kilimanjaro.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Mount Kilimanjaro]] as viewed from a [[Kenya]]n river in 2552.]]
Planetside, Earth has seven continents. Three continents are [[Africa]], [[Asia]] and [[Antarctica]]. Asia and Africa are the first and second largest continents respectively.<ref name="encyc296">''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]'', Earth, p. 284-285, (2009); p. 296 (2011)</ref>
 
There are several oceans on the planet's surface as well, such as the [[Indian Ocean]], the [[Pacific Ocean]],{{Ref/Reuse|encyc296}} and the [[Caribbean Ocean]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=goochapt23|Novel=Halo: Ghosts of Onyx|Chapter=23}}
====Locations====
{{Scrollbox|
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-3}}
=====Pre-Great Purification=====
*[[Djamonkin Crater]]
*[[Marontik]]
**[[Sahti]]
**[[Old City]]
**[[Moon City]]
*[[Eden (place)|Eden]]
{{Col-3}}
=====Post-Great Purification=====
*[[United States of America]]
*[[Texas]]
*[[France]]
*[[Unified German Republic]]
*[[Rome]]
{{Col-3}}
=====26th-century=====
*[[Sector 331]]
*[[Scandinavia]]
*[[Russia]]
*[[Switzerland]]
*[[Indian Ocean]]
**[[Diego Garcia]]
*[[Africa]]
**[[Burundi]]
**[[Ethiopia]]
**[[Egypt]]
***[[Cairo]]
**[[East African Protectorate]]
***[[Kenya]]
****[[Mombasa]] ([[Template:MombasaLocales|Locations]])
****[[Nairobi]]
****[[Voi]]
*****[[Traxus Factory Complex 09]]
****[[Tsavo]]
*****[[Tsavo Highway]]
*****[[Crow's Nest (location)|Crow's Nest]]
****[[Outpost C9]]
***[[Tanzania]]
****[[Mount Kilimanjaro]]
****[[GWC Trans-African Pipelines]]
****[[Zanzibar Island]]
*****[[Wind Power Station 7]]
****[[Arusha]]
**Equatorial Guinea
***Malabo
****[[Malabo Space Tether]]
*[[Australia]]
**[[Sydney]] ([[Template:Sydney|Locations]])
**[[Perth]]
***[[Swanbourne]]
****[[Beta-5 Division Ordnance Testing Facility]]
*[[Pacific Ocean]]
**[[Aranuka]]
***[[Aranuka Space Tether]]
*[[Asia]]
**[[Mongolia]]
**[[Borneo]]
***[[Borneo Space Tether]]
**[[China]]
***[[Beijing]]
**[[Korea]]
***[[Seongnam]]
****[[Special Warfare Center]]
**[[Pakistan]]
**[[Sector Six]]
**Sri Lanka
***Colombo
****[[Colombo Space Tether]]
**[[Japan]]
**[[India]]
*[[North America]]
**[[United Republic of North America]] ([[Template:URNA Territories|Locations]])
***[[Arizona]]
****[[New Phoenix]]
***[[Boston]]
****[[Chawla Base]]
***[[California]]
****[[Anaheim]]
***[[Canada]]
***[[Chicago]]
***[[Ohio]]
****[[Cleveland]]
***[[Orlando]]
***[[Great Lakes Spaceport]]
***[[Greater Chicago Industrial Zone]] ([[Template:Chicago|Locations]])
***[[Houston]]
***[[New York City]]
***[[Missouri]]
****[[Mark Twain]]
***[[Mexico]]
****[[Base Segundo Terra]]
****[[Yucatán Peninsula]]
***[[Philadelphia]]
*[[Caribbean Ocean]]
**[[Cuba]]
***[[Havana]]
****[[Centennial Orbital Elevator]]
*[[South America]]
**[[Rio de Janeiro]]
**[[Quito]]
***[[Quito Space Tether]]
*[[European Union]]
**[[Madrid]]
**[[Barcelona]]
**[[Florence]]
**[[Rome]]
**[[Germany]]
***[[Essen]]
****[[Beweglichkeitsrüstungsysteme|Beweglichrüstungsysteme Testing Facility]]
**[[Britain]]
***[[London]]
***[[Scotland]]
****[[Edinburgh]]
*[[Greater Czechoslovakian Authority]]
*[[North Atlantic Protectorate]]
*[[Antarctica]]
**[[Ross Island]]
***[[Mount Erebus]]
*[[Arctic Circle]]
**[[UNSC Weather Station Z/41]]
{{Col-3}}
 
{{Col-end}}
}}
}}
{{Quote|Fight for her.|Bulletin board poster of Earth}}
'''Earth''', known to prehistoric [[Human|humans]] and [[Forerunner]]s as "'''''Erde-Tyrene'''''",<ref name="Cryptum">'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'''</ref> is the third planet of the [[Sol system]], and one of four terrestrial worlds. Homeworld of the human species, Earth has been at the forefront of galactic history, from encounters with the [[Precursor]]s<ref name="Cryptum"/> to the end of the [[Covenant Empire]].<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''', level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]''</ref> Inhabited long ago by a [[Prehistoric human civilization|prehistoric interstellar human government]] conquered and dissolved by the Forerunners,<ref name="Cryptum"/> Earth is currently the capital world of the [[Unified Earth Government]].


Earth was possibly the most populated planet of the human space territories. For a significant amount of humanity's history, it was to them the only known place in the universe known to support life.
===Ecology===
Earth was home to a variety of ecosystems and a diverse array of living organisms across millions of years of evolutionary history. Prior to the [[Great Purification|activation of Halo]], the [[Librarian]] transplanted non-native [[Merse]] to [[Djamonkin Crater]] to guard [[Didact|her husband's]] [[Cryptum]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=c11|Cry|Page=11}} Some of its animal species were worshipped by [[Erde-Tyrene civilization|prehistoric humans]] as mythological figures, such as [[Abada|Abada the Rhinoceros]]<ref name="P1">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 16, 54, 205-207, 219''</ref> and [[Shalimanda|Shalimanda the heaven-snake]].<ref name="p210">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 210''</ref>
 
====Known residents====
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-3}}
=====Pre-Great Purification=====
*[[Chakas]] - Ancient human
*[[Riser]] - An ancient [[Florian]]
*[[Matriarch of guides]] - Ancient human
*[[N'chala]] - Ancient elder
{{Col-3}}
=====Post-Great Purification=====
*[[Jacob Keyes]] - [[Captain]] in the [[UNSC Navy]]
*[[Forge family]]
**[[John Forge]] - [[UNSC Marine Corps|UNSC Marine]] of the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}}
**[[Rion Forge]] - Salvager and captain of the ''[[Ace of Spades]]''
*[[Terrence Hood]] - [[Fleet Admiral]] in the [[UNSC Navy]]
{{Col-3}}
*[[United Republic of North America#Known residents|Residents of the URNA]]
*[[Mombasa#Known residents|Residents of Mombasa]]
{{Col-end}}
 
==History==
[[File:Cycle response.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Wikipedia:Pangaea|Pangaea]], the super-continent 250 million years ago that was the amalgamation of all current present-day [[:category:Continents|continents]].]]
===Pre-history===
A report filed by the Librarian during her time indexing species on the planet led her to believe that the Precursors had experimented on the planet's native lifeforms due to the mammalian-level intelligence exhibited by certain scyphozoa and cephalopoda at that time of her filing said report.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''' (2010), ''Adjunct''</ref>
 
The remains of a deceased [[Catalog]] unit, and a damaged [[monitor]], which revealed that humanity achieved its earliest known spacefaring technological state prior to [[1,100,000 BCE]] and that Forerunners believed humans had "moved their interstellar civilization outward along the galactic arm" by [[150,000 BCE]]. Not only is the dating for humanity's origin less sure now, but the very idea of Earth has humanity's birthplace has also been revealed to have been a matter of debate for the civilization that preceded and witnessed the [[human-Forerunner wars]] and some Forerunners. That ancient empire had lost many of the records that could have proven or disproven the issue, and human ruins had also been discovered on multiple worlds beside Earth from forgotten eras of prehistory. Regardless of when and how humanity first evolved and developed, it is clear that humans were present on multiple planets over a million years ago, and it was not until thousands of years into this civilization that leading human scientists traced the species' origins to Earth.{{Ref/Reuse|pri238}}
 
===Ancient history===
{{Main|Ancestors|Erde-Tyrene civilization}}
[[File:HTMCC-HCEA Terminals LibrarianAtKilimanjaro.png|thumb|left|250px|[[Mount Kilimanjaro]] moments before the Halo effect reaches Earth.]]
Spreading across the [[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way|Milky Way Galaxy]], humanity underwent several periods of technological and social regression, losing most of their records in the process. During this time, Earth was contested as the cradle of humanity by Forerunners and ancient humans themselves due to loss of records during their dark ages and as the planet had long been feral and abandoned, most ancient humans simply embraced the planet as an archaic relic of their past, since the center of human culture had largely been relocated to Charum Hakkor.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22P16|Enc22|Page=16}} Earth was one of the first human worlds to fall to the Forerunners in the [[human-Forerunner wars]].{{Ref/Reuse|Primordium}} After being defeated by the Forerunner civilization, most humans were exiled to Earth, with their civilization dismantled, populations splintered amongst the many human species and their culture degrading back to a primitive state for millennia.{{Ref/Reuse|Cryptum}} Earth and humanity came under the charge of the Forerunner [[Lifeshaper]], the [[Librarian]], who helped the humans slowly work towards rebuilding a primitive civilization. Remnants of their former technology, such as steam power and hot-air balloon flight, were re-learned under her care but later forgotten after the firing of the Halo Array.{{Ref/Reuse|Cryptum}}
 
Near the end of their war with the [[Flood]], the [[Forerunner]]s, specifically the [[Lifeworker]]s under the direction of the [[Librarian]], indexed many of Earth's species - including humans - as a part of their [[Conservation Measure]] to preserve life in the galaxy after the activation of the [[Halo Array]]. Prior to the activation, after surveying the planet, beacons were activated informing humans imprinted with the Librarian's [[geas]] to gather to evacuate the planet. Lifeworkers only had time to evacuate one out of a thousand of the planet's large species; countless species would be left behind. Several days into the evacuation the Librarian and [[IsoDidact]] arrived in the system to speak with [[Catalog]]. The evacuation was halted ahead of schedule as the Flood had broken through the local Forerunner defenses and were entering the system.<ref>''Halo: Silentium'', String 2</ref>
 
After the [[Ur-Didact]] [[Composer|composed]] most of the human population on [[Omega Halo]], the Librarian realized the remaining population would not be enough to repopulate the species. She sent [[Chant-to-Green]] to see how much the Flood had taken in the system and save whatever humans she could. The Flood had left Earth untouched after the Forerunners evacuated. Chant was only able to gather a few hundred humans to send to [[Installation 00]]. When [[Precursor]] star roads began to appear in the system, she told Chant she would stay on Earth and gave Chant the title of [[Lifeshaper]]. Later, a {{Class|Gargantua|transport}} arrived to be disassembled and reconfigured, and after gathering the necessary materials, formed a [[Portal at Voi|portal to the Ark]].<ref>''Halo: Silentium'', String 37</ref>


== History ==
===Post-Great Purification===
[[File:Cycle response.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[Wikipedia:Pangaea|Pangaea]], the super-continent 250 million years ago that was the amalgamation of all current present-day [[:category:Continents|continents]].]]
Circa [[97,445 BCE]], humans were returned to Earth and watched as the [[Portal at Voi]] was buried.<ref>''[[Halo 3: The Cradle of Life]]''</ref> With human life reseeded on Earth, it successfully re-developed.<ref name="origins">''[[Halo Legends]]'', [[Origins]]</ref>
===Prehistory===
{{Main|Prehistoric human civilization}}
The Earth first formed about 4.6 billion years ago, and gave rise to the first single-celled organisms about 3.9 billion years ago. About 200,000 years ago, the ancestors of modern humans, ''Homo Sapiens'', evolved in Africa. Indigenous to Eastern Africa, they gradually spread across the entire planet. Eventually, the humans, originally consisting of groups of hunter-gatherers, began to develop into [[Wikipedia:civilization|civilizations]].


Human civilizations gradually became more and more complex, and eventually, possibly through contact with the Forerunners, humanity discovered spaceflight and spread across the [[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way|Milky Way Galaxy]]. After being defeated in [[human-Forerunner wars|a war]] against the Forerunner civilization, the humans were exiled back to Earth, with their species devolved and splintered into multiple subspecies and their culture degrading back to a primitive state for millennia.  
===Rise of humanity===
{{Main|Rain Forest Wars|Interplanetary War}}
[[File:TFS WWI.jpg|thumb|right|250px|World War I.]]
Many events would take place during this redevelopment across the planet including several ancient battles such as the [[Battle of Thermopylae]] and the [[Diadochi conflicts]]. On [[79|August 24, 79 CE]], [[Wikipedia:Mount Vesuvius|Mount Vesuvius]] erupted and destroyed [[Wikipedia:Pompei|Pompei]].<ref name="ILBBAugust">[http://ilovebees.blogspot.co.uk/2004/07/august-24.html ''blogspot'', ilovebees, August 24]</ref>


After the war with the Forerunners, Earth and humanity came under the charge of the [[the Librarian]], a Forerunner [[Lifeshaper]] who helped the humans slowly work towards rebuilding a primitive civilization. Remnants of their former technology, such as steam power and hot-air balloon flight, were re-learned under her care but later forgotten after the firing of the Halo Array.<ref name="Cryptum"/>
Other conflicts after this point included the [[Wikipedia:French Revolution|French Revolution]], the [[Wikipedia:Peninsular War|Peninsular War]],{{Ref/Novel|Halo: Saturn Devouring His Son}} and the [[Wikipedia:Battle of Trafalgar|Battle of Trafalgar]] during the [[Wikipedia:Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic Wars]].{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc09|Enc09|Page=260}}{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc11|Enc11|Page=272}} Following this, the [[American Civil War]] and [[World War I]] took place.


===Forerunner-Flood war===
[[World War II]] came to a close in [[1945]] with the first usage of human [[Nuclear weapon]]s at [[Japan|Nagasaki and Hirshima]].<ref name="encyctimeline">''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]'', Timeline, p. 31</ref> The bomb at Hiroshima left a [[Wikipedia:Hiroshima Peace Memorial|domed structure]] still standing.{{Ref/Reuse|origins}}
Near the end of their war with [[the Flood]],<ref>[http://www.bungie.net/fanclub/118020/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=12360308 '''Bungie.net''': ''Compound Intelligence: All Five Servers Information Compiled'']</ref> the Forerunners built a [[The Portal|machine]] to generate a [[slipspace portal]] to [[Installation 00|the Ark]] in Africa.<ref>'''[[Halo 3: The Cradle of Life]]'''</ref> They also indexed the human species as a part of their [[Library Project|Conservation Measure]] to preserve life in the galaxy after the activation of the [[Halo Array]]. After the array's activation, human life was planted back on Earth, where it successfully re-developed.<ref name="origins">'''[[Halo Legends]]''', ''[[Origins]]''</ref>


===Civilization and the Modern Age===
In [[1961]], Soviet cosmonaut [[Wikipedia:Yuri Gagarin|Yuri Gagarin]] would be the first human being to orbit the Earth.<ref>''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]'', Human Colonization of Space, p. 42</ref>
{{Main|Human|World War II}}
After the recovery from the Array, humans reduced back to hunter-gatherers for nearly a hundred thousand years, until civilizations began to form anew.


By the year 1914, much of the world was divided into two factions, the Triple Entente, or Allies: the [[United Kingdom]], France, Russia, and later the [[United States of America]], and the Triple Alliance, or Central Powers: [[Germany]], Austria-Hungary, and other nations of similar ideals. The Central Powers were defeated at the end of World War I in 1918, resulting in a decade of prosperity for the Allies, followed by an economic depression and the rise of Fascism, Nazism, and Communism in many countries. In 1939, another World War erupted, between the Allies (Britain, the Soviet Union, later the United States, and many other nations) and the Axis (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and the Empire of Japan). In 1945, the Allies defeated the Axis. Later that year, the victorious nations, in an attempt to prevent more World Wars, founded the [[United Nations]], an international assembly of peaceful nations, whose goal was to settle international disputes peacefully, and was the predecessor to the UNSC. In 1957, humanity finally made their way into space with unmanned probes and by 1961, humans themselves had gone into space. In 1969, humanity had finally stepped on an extraterrestrial surface-Earth's Moon.
Earth was in danger of overpopulation in the late 21st-century. Though this would be resolved by planetary colonization.{{Ref/Reuse|VIS}} By [[2080]], humanity's [[national government]]s, under the auspices of the [[United Nations]], had begun to establish colonies on the other planets in the [[Sol system]]. However, expansion did not come without problems. In the mid-22nd century, two major dissident factions emerged; the neo-[[Communism|communist]] [[Koslovics]] and [[Fascism|fascist]] [[Frieden]], which began to battle one another and the United Nations.<ref name="timeline">[http://www.halowars.com/GameInfo/Timeline.aspx ''Official Halo Wars Community Site'' - Timeline] (defunct, [[Archive:Halowars.com/Timeline|Archive]])</ref>


After World War II, humanity would lack war on that scale, although smaller wars and conflicts erupted, including the Korean War, Vietnam War, [[wikipedia:Cold War|Cold War]], and the first and second Iraq War. In the early 21st century, terrorism became a particular thorn in the side for the nations on Earth and small wars broke out along with civil unrest in many countries. However, no full wars on the same scale as past World Wars erupted until two centuries later.
In March–June [[2160]], Jovian Frieden secessionists attacked [[United Nations Colonial Advisors]] on the moon [[Io]], which led to three months of fighting between the Earth military and Jovian Frieden forces. National governments began to support their own colonies which sparked proxy wars off-planet, leading to tension and militarization on Earth. In [[2162]], armed conflict ripped through [[South America]], starting the [[Rain Forest Wars]], as Koslovic, Frieden, and UN forces all clashed over ideological differences, sparking additional conflicts off-planet. In December of [[2163]], the three factions [[Argyre Planitia Campaign|clashed]], this time on [[Mars]]. This was the first extraterrestrial use of Marines, who launched lightning raids on Koslovic positions, permanently affecting military doctrine for centuries. In [[2164]], UN forces began a massive military build-up and began the first true interplanetary war. The forces of the fledgling United Nations Space Command were significantly bolstered by a massive [[propaganda]] campaign running on the victories on Mars and over the next six years took back the Sol system and drove the dissident factions to destruction. Now with a massive military with no enemy to fight, overpopulation, famine, and a collapsing economy, the newly unified Earth faced an uncertain future.{{Ref/Reuse|timeline}}


===Interplanetary colonization and conflicts===
The year [[2302]] saw the beginning of construction on the [[Mombasa Tether]],{{Ref/Site|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=http://www.bungie.net/projects/odst/guide.aspx|Site=Bungie.net|Page=Field Guide entry: New Mombasa}} the first [[Space elevator]] on Earth.<ref>''[[Halo Waypoint]]'': "Space Elevator" article (Archived on [https://web.archive.org/web/20111007185941/http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/theuniverse/locations/gallery/space-tether/e9b2f438-9b5b-477e-8e52-d4e6801e9d5b Archive.org])</ref> Conditions on Earth had deteriorated significantly and by [[2310]], catching a ride on a new colony ship became appealing to some.<ref name="Xbox.com Halo Storyline">[http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo/storyline.htm ''Xbox.com:'' Halo Storyline] (Defunct, Copy on [http://halo.bungie.org/misc/mstimeline2.html HBO Forums], [http://web.archive.org/web/20080424150226/www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo/storyline.htm Wayback Machine], and [[Archive:Xbox.com/Halo/Timeline|Halopedia]])</ref> A [[Quito Space Tether|second space elevator]], this time in [[Quito]], [[South America]] was completed in [[2313]].{{Ref/Map|H3|[[Orbital]]}} In [[2332]], the [[Ross-Ziegler Blip]] was discovered in Earth's carbon and fossil records.<ref>''[[Halo: Evolutions]]'', "[[From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal]]"</ref>
{{Main|Jovian Moons Campaign|Rain Forest Wars|Argyre Planitia Campaign|Interplanetary War}}


By [[2080]], humanity's [[national government]]s, under the auspices of the [[United Nations]], had begun to establish colonies on the other planets in the [[Sol system]]. However, expansion did not come without problems. In the mid-22nd century, two major dissident factions emerged; the neo-[[Communism|communist]] [[Koslovics]] and [[Fascism|fascist]] [[Frieden]], which began to battle one another and the United Nations.<ref name="timeline">[http://www.halowars.com/GameInfo/Timeline.aspx '''Official Halo Wars Community Site''': ''Timeline'']</ref>
[[File:TerminalSydney.png|thumb|left|250px|The Australian city of Sydney, home of the UNSC Headquarters, pictured prior to the Covenant invasion in 2552.]]
===Human-Covenant War===
{{Main|Human-Covenant War}}
{{Quote|no=two|[[Isabelle]]|[[Kamal Zaman]]|q1=You know when I was living on [[Mamore]], I thought that Earth was really cool, but it's a dump.|q2=Well, what do you expect from a place called dirt?|Isabelle and Kamal Zaman talking about Earth, 2552.<ref>''[[I Love Bees]]'', [[Axon Clips]], [[Axon Clips Chapter 10|Chapter 10]] - Kamal: "Family Reunion"</ref>}}
During the entire course of the conflict, the UNSC followed the [[Cole Protocol]], which declared that no [[UNSC starship|UNSC vessel]] targeted by the [[Covenant]] was to retreat to Earth, as a means of ensuring the secrecy and security of the planet's location. In nearly twenty-seven years of galactic warfare, the Covenant never succeeded in determining the location of Earth through the measures taken under the Cole Protocol. However, by [[2552#September|September 2552]], Earth was humanity's last major stronghold in its war against the Covenant. Nonetheless, the UEG and UNSC maintained plans for an emergency exodus of heavy industry from Earth and Mars, in the event that Earth's position was compromised. Following the disastrous [[Fall of Reach]], these plans were put into effect, due to the Navy's belief that the Earth would be the aliens' next target.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=6 ''Bungie.net'': Jason Jones Interviewed By You] ([[Archive:Bungie.net/News/Jason Jones Interviewed By You|Archive]])</ref>


In March-June [[2160]], Jovian Frieden secessionists attacked [[United Nations colonial advisers]] on the moon [[Io]], which led to three months of fighting between the Earth military and Jovian Frieden forces. National governments began to support their own colonies which sparked proxy wars off-planet, leading to tension and militarization on Earth. In [[2162]], armed conflict ripped through [[South America]], starting the [[Rain Forest Wars]], as Koslovic, Frieden, and UN forces all clashed over ideological differences, sparking additional conflicts off-planet. In December of [[2163]], the three factions [[Argyre Planitia Campaign|clashed]], this time on [[Mars]]. This was the first extraterrestrial use of Marines, who launched lightning raids on Koslovic positions, permanently affecting military doctrine for centuries. In [[2164]], UN forces began a massive military build-up and began the first true interplanetary war. The forces of the fledgling United Nations Space Command were significantly bolstered by a massive propaganda campaign running on the victories on Mars and over the next six years took back the Sol system and drove the dissident factions to destruction. Now with a massive military with no enemy to fight, overpopulation, famine, and a collapsing economy, the newly unified Earth faced an uncertain future.<ref name="timeline"/>
Just prior to the battle for Earth, a [[Spartan 1.1 faction|faction]] of [[Spartan 1.1]]s stockpiled resources on the planet in case the Covenant invaded.<ref>''[[I Love Bees]]'', [[Axon Clips]], [[Axon Clips Chapter 12|Chapter 12]] - "Enter Kevin"</ref>


It was not until [[2291]] that this problem was solved when researchers created the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]] which enabled superluminal travel by allowing access to an alternate domain known as [[Slipstream space]]. In [[2310]], the UNSC unveiled their first line of colony ships and the best and brightest from both civilian walks of life and the military set out to form the [[Inner Colonies]]. This eased the overpopulation problem upon Earth which became the capital of the [[Unified Earth Government]], while the inner colony of [[Reach]] would later became the headquarters of the UNSC.<ref name="timeline"/>
Despite the effectiveness of the Cole Protocol, on [[2552#October|October 20, 2552]], the Covenant launched their first attack upon Earth, rendering the Cole Protocol moot and initiating the final confrontation between UNSC forces and the Covenant.{{Ref/Novel|[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]|Chapter=??}}{{Ref/Level|Id=BoE1|H2|[[Cairo Station]]}}


===The Insurrection and the Human-Covenant War===
====Battle for Earth====
{{Main|Insurrection|Human-Covenant War}}
{{Main|Battle for Earth}}
Humanity would enter a period of peaceful stability for the next two hundred years, until [[Insurrection|civil unrest began]] to spread in the Outer Colonies, with various groups seeking secession from Earth and the UEG. The scale of the unrest would steadily rise, eventually becoming a major threat by 2517 to the UEG's existence, and in response the UNSC began the [[SPARTAN-II Program]].
{{Quote|Earth... is all we have left.|Lord Terrence Hood prior to a joint UNSC-Covenant separatist [[Battle of Installation 00|mission to the Ark]].{{Ref/Reuse|floodgate}}}}
[[File:H2A-fleet readout.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Covenant forces moving in to strike Earth.]]
On [[2552#October|October 20, 2552]], the first Covenant forces entered the [[Sol system]]. A [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration|Covenant expeditionary force]] consisting of 13 [[Ket-pattern battlecruiser|battlecruisers]] and 2 [[CAS-class assault carrier|assault carriers]] arrived in system, first detected around [[Io]], the third largest moon of Jupiter.{{Ref/Reuse|BoE1}} After the existence of the Covenant presence was confirmed by probes, the UNSC forces went to full alert. The option was taken to wait for the Covenant forces to come to them rather than let [[Harper|Fleet Admiral Harper]] launch a counter attack. The Covenant began to work on punching a hole through the orbital defenses by taking out the stations in the battle cluster above the Mediterranean Sea via [[Antimatter charge|bombs]] planted by [[R'sisho-pattern Tick|boarding parties]].{{Ref/Reuse|BoE1}} After the Covenant fleet attempted to rush through the newly formed gap the [[Fifth Fleet|UNSC fleet]] annihilated them, destroying most of the Covenant battlecruisers but failing to destroy the assault carriers. One of the assault carriers, ''[[Day of Jubilation]]'', was successfully destroyed by [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-II]] [[John-117]] but the other, ''[[Solemn Penance]]'' commanded by the [[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]] arrived over the [[city]] of [[Mombasa]] in [[Kenya]] via [[slipspace]] and quickly [[Battle of Mombasa|assaulted]] it.{{Ref/Level|Id=BoE2|H2|[[Outskirts]]}}{{Ref/Game|Id=sscirc1arc2|ODST|Detail=Sadie's Story, Circle 1, Arc 2}}


All this was suddenly and violently rendered a moot point when a single alien ship made an unprovoked attack on the colony of Harvest, humanity's first encounter with an alien civilization - [[Covenant Empire|the Covenant]]. Over the next [[Human-Covenant War|twenty-seven years]], humanity would wage a brutal war for survival, losing hundreds of colonies, including all of the Outer Colonies in 2536; and on August 31st, 2552, the UNSC's largest military installation, the planet Reach, was discovered and invaded by the Covenant. During the entire course of the conflict, the UNSC followed the [[United Nations Space Command Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1|Cole Protocol]], which declared that no UNSC vessel targeted by the Covenant was to retreat to Earth, as a means of ensuring the secrecy and security of the planet's location. In nearly twenty-seven years of galactic warfare, the Covenant never succeeded in determining the location of Earth through the measures taken under the Cole Protocol. However, by September, 2552, Earth was humanity's last major stronghold in its war against the Covenant.  
Groundside, the Covenant assault carrier had already deployed its ground forces and occupied the city. The Covenant ground forces immediately constructed defense emplacements and structures to reinforce their newly-acquired sites against the counter-offensive UNSC forces. The {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}} was the first UNSC ship to respond to the Covenant occupation. The ship sent in their complements consisting of [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-II]] [[John-117]], [[Avery Junior Johnson|Sergeant Avery Johnson]] and elements of the [[7th Shock Troops Battalion|7th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Battalion]].{{Ref/Reuse|BoE2}} The Covenant were subsequently dislodged from [[Old Mombasa]] and, following the destruction of a {{Pattern|Protos|Scarab}}, from New Mombasa as well.{{Ref/Reuse|BoE2}}{{Ref/Level|Id=BoE3|H2|[[Metropolis]]}} The High Prophet of Regret eventually ordered a general retreat and had his assault carrier initiate a slipspace jump while still over the city. The ''In Amber Clad'' and 4 other ships followed in the carrier's wake, while the city was left in chaos.{{Ref/Reuse|BoE3}} Following this, a significantly enormous Covenant [[Truth's fleet|excavation fleet]] sent by the [[Prophet of Truth|High Prophet of Truth]], under command of [[Jiralhanae]], arrived over Mombasa on October 21 to begin digging through to a [[Forerunner]] [[Portal at Voi|excession complex]] buried under the city after securing it along with its [[East African Protectorate|surrounding areas]].{{Ref/Film|Id=waypoint|Film=Halo Waypoint|Story=Ten Twenty|StoryLinkText=Ten Twenty}}{{Ref/Site|Id=waypointvergil|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-vergil-reality|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Vergil Reality|D=15|M=06|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Level|ODST|Level=[[Coastal Highway]]}}


Despite the effectiveness of this law, on October 20th, 2552, the Covenant launched their first attack upon Earth, rendering the Cole Protocol moot and initiating the final confrontation between UNSC forces and the Covenant.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page ??''</ref><ref name="BoE1">'''[[Halo 2]]''', campaign level ''[[Cairo Station (level)|Cairo Station]]</ref>
The Covenant continued to assault the planet with even more additional [[Covenant fleet]]s arriving in the Sol system and their forces being deployed all across Earth in the following days and weeks, including at [[Mount Erebus]] and the sea floor off of the [[Yucatan Peninsula]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=goo203|Halo: Ghosts of Onyx|Page=203}} Additionally, [[human colonies]] in the Sol system such as [[Mars]] and [[Luna]] were attacked by the Covenant.{{Ref/Generic|Id=FTH|Heading=[[Halo Legendary Crate]]|Subheading=[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #2]]|Detail=[[:File:LC 002 Doc 1.jpg|First Twelve Hours]]}} The Covenant also attacked [[Sydney]], home of the UNSC Headquarters, [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6]]. Fortunately, despite the enormous damage inflicted on the city and [[Australia]], the UNSC HQ survived completely unharmed, owing to its underground facilities.{{Ref/Book|Id=BattleofSydney|Book=[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]|Chapter=Earth|Detail=p. 284-285, (2009); p. 296-297 (2011 edition)}} By November, the population of Earth reduced to around 5 billion, initially around 10 billion before the Covenant invasion.{{Ref/Reuse|ENC}} When the [[Great Schism]] began on [[2552#November|November 3, 2552]], the Jiralhanae and [[Covenant separatists|now-casted out]] [[Sangheili]] forces turned each other as the Covenant civil war stretched from the human homeworld all the way back to [[Sanghelios]], with many  [[Fleet of Retribution|Sangheili]] subsequently allied with the UNSC.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=TGJ}} At the [[Centennial Orbital Elevator]] in [[Havana]], [[Cuba]], the Jiralhanae forces were [[Battle of Havana|stymied]] by the three [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-II]]s of [[Blue Team]], who were [[Onyx Conflict|re-deployed]] to [[Onyx]] soon after.{{Ref/Novel|Id=onyx220|Halo: Ghosts of Onyx|Page=220}}
[[File:The coming Storm.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[The Portal]], buried thousands of years on Earth, unveiled by the Covenant.]]
The bloodiest battles for the planet were fought in mid November when the Covenant now led by the Jiralhanae and the Prophet of Truth began to concentrate more of their forces on Earth shortly after UNSC's [[Battle of Mare Erythraeum|defeat]] on Mars,{{Ref/Comic|Id=Issue 3|Halo Uprising|Issue=[[Halo: Uprising Issue 3|#3]]}} and when a [[Truth's fleet#Further engagements|massive Covenant loyalist armada]], which include the Jiralhanae-led [[High Charity defense fleet]] remnants and many Covenant loyalist survivors from the [[Fall of High Charity]], arrived in the system.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=TGJ}} Despite the dramatic increase in Covenant deployments, the works of [[Colonel]] [[James Ackerson]] in the Battle of Mare Erythraeum helped buy UNSC ground forces on Earth precious time,{{Ref/Book|Id=ackerson|Book=[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]|Page=??}} as the [[UNSC Home Fleet|Home Fleet]] would engage in full force against the massive Covenant attack in high Earth orbit by the time that the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] carrying the Prophet of Truth would jump to Earth on November 17.{{Ref/Level|Id=TGJ|H2|[[The Great Journey (level)|The Great Journey]]}} However, the vast majority of the numerically-inferior UNSC fleet despite the orbital defense platforms was completely destroyed by the Prophet of Truth's overwhelming fleet, only leaving a few ships remaining on the planet.{{Ref/Level|Id=Truthfleet|H3|Crow's Nest|Quote=The Prophet of Truth's ships breached the Lunar perimeter. Smashed what was left of the Home Fleet. Terrestrial casualties from the subsequent bombardment were... extreme.}} With the subsequent [[Orbital bombardment|bombardment]] from the Covenant, the enemy fleet wiped out most of the human presence of Earth.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=Truthfleet}} Immediately after the fall of Mars, [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]] was hit in an attempt to find a [[Key of Osanalan|supposed Forerunner artifact]],{{Ref/Comic|Id=Issue 1|Halo Uprising|Issue=[[Halo: Uprising Issue 1|#1]]}} but this [[Battle of Cleveland|attack]] was repulsed through the efforts of ODST forces and the self-sacrifice of Colonel James Ackerson who finally managed to delay the Covenant from pressing their assault on Earth with his plans before the planet could be heavily [[glassing|glassed]].{{Ref/Comic|Id=Issue 4|Halo Uprising|Issue=[[Halo: Uprising Issue 4|#4]]}}{{Ref/Comic|Id=Issue 2|Halo Uprising|Issue=[[Halo: Uprising Issue 2|#2]]}} Shortly after, Earth population was swifty now only about 200 million.{{Ref/Game|Id=bestiarum|Halo 3|[[Bestiarum]]}}


===Pre-Battle of Earth===
The arrival in-system of SPARTAN-117 [[Scramble onboard Forerunner Dreadnought|in]] a Covenant-controlled [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] aboard, freshly escaped from the [[Battle of Installation 05]], was unexpected.{{Ref/Level|H3|Level=[[Sierra 117]]}}{{Ref/Reuse|Id=TGJ}} SPARTAN-117 disembarked from the dreadnought in Earth's atmosphere, later recovered by Marines and taken to [[Crow's Nest (location)|Crow's Nest]].{{Ref/Level|Halo 3|[[Crow's Nest]]}} With the aid of the [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]], [[Commander]] [[Miranda Keyes]], and [[Sergeant Major]] [[Avery Johnson]], SPARTAN-117 [[Battle of Voi|breached the Covenant anti-air defenses]] near the excavated artifact, clearing the way for an [[Battle Group Victory|aerial strike]] on the Dreadnought powering it.{{Ref/Level|H3|[[Tsavo Highway]]}}{{Ref/Level|H3|[[The Storm]]}} The strike was unable to disable the device or prevent the [[Prophet of Truth]] from traveling through the portal. After a [[Outbreak on Earth|brief intervention]] by the [[Flood]] a [[Fleet of Retribution|joint Sangheili/UNSC force]] departed through the portal in pursuit.{{Ref/Level|Id=floodgate|Halo 3|[[Floodgate]]}} Some of the final remaining Covenant forces led by the Jiralhanae leadership were defeated in December in [[Operation: MARSH FLASH]], in [[Arizona]], [[United Republic of North America]].<ref name="lootcrate2">''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'', [[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #2]]</ref> Ultimately, the UNSC eliminated the Covenant presence on Earth once and for all.
Prior to the Covenant invasion of Earth, there had been a suppressed influx of information by ONI, resulting in people going about their normal lives even up until the attack. The forces stationed at Earth were heavy, with the [[Second Fleet]], [[Seventh Fleet]], the [[Sixteenth Fleet]] and the 6th Battle Group along with large amounts of Marines, Army Troopers, and [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper|ODSTs]] present, five [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-IIs]], [[Terrence Hood|Admiral Hood]] and Earth's most prominent means of defense, three hundred [[Orbital defense platform|Orbital Defense Platforms]], each sporting a Mk. V "Super" [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon|MAC]]. Also, there were numerous human colonies on various moons, a large naval shipyard and factories at Mars, and a listening post at [[Io]].


===Battle of Earth===
===Post-war===
[[File:Pelican and warthog.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[UNSC Defense Force|UNSCDF]] forces in a counter-offensive engagement in response to the Covenant occupation of Mombasa.]]
Following the victory at the Battle of Earth and the [[Battle of Installation 00]], the Human-Covenant War officially came to an end in March of [[2553]] with a [[Voi Memorial|ceremony]] at [[Voi]].{{Ref/Level|H3|[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]}} [[Project Rebirth]] was initiated sometime afterward to repair locations damaged by the battles on Earth.{{Ref/Novel|Novel=Halo: Legacy of Onyx|Chapter=2}}
{{Main|Battle of Earth}}
{{Quote|The entire population of Earth was cut in half as the first battle of Earth began...|[[Halo Encyclopedia]]<ref name="ENC"/>}}
On October 20th, 2552, the first Covenant forces entered the [[Sol system]]. A [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration|Covenant expeditionary force]] consisting of [[CCS-class battlecruiser|battlecruisers]] and [[CAS-class assault carrier|assault carriers]] arrived in system, first detected around Io, the third largest moon of Jupiter.<ref name="BoE1"/> After the existence of the Covenant presence was confirmed by probes, the UNSCDF forces went to full alert. The option was taken to wait for the Covenant forces to come to them rather than let [[Harper|Fleet Admiral Harper]] launch a counter attack. The Covenant began to work on punching a hole through the orbital defenses by taking out the stations in the battle cluster above the Mediterranean Sea via bombs planted by boarding parties.<ref name="BoE1"/> After the Covenant fleet attempted to rush through the newly formed gap the UNSC fleet annihilated them, destroying most of the Covenant battlecruisers but failing to destroy the assault carriers. One of the assault carriers was successfully destroyed by [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-II]] [[John-117]] but the other, commanded by the [[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]] assaulted the city of [[Mombasa]] in [[Kenya]].<ref name="BoE2">'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Outskirts]]</ref>


Groundside, the Covenant assault carrier had already deployed its ground forces and occupied the city. The Covenant ground forces immediately constructed defense emplacements and structures to reinforce their newly-acquired sites against the counter-offensive UNSC forces. The {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}} was the first UNSC ship to respond to the Covenant occupation. The ship sent in their complements consisting of [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-II]] [[John-117]], [[Avery Junior Johnson|Sergeant Avery Johnson]] and elements of the [[7th Shock Troops Battalion|7th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Battalion]].<ref name="BoE2"/> The Covenant were subsequently dislodged from [[Old Mombasa]] and, following the destruction of a [[Type-47 Ultra Heavy Assault Platform|Scarab]], from New Mombasa as well.<ref name="BoE2"/><ref name="BoE3">'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Metropolis]]</ref> The High Prophet of Regret eventually ordered a general retreat and had his assault carrier initiate a slipspace jump while still over the city. The ''In Amber Clad'' followed in the carrier's wake, while the city was left in chaos.<ref name="BoE3"/>
[[File:H4-ComposerFiringOnPhoenix.jpg|thumb|250px|The Didact's [[Mantle's Approach|flagship]] fires the [[Composer]] on [[New Phoenix]] on Earth in 2557.{{Ref/Reuse|h4midnight}}]]
Only two years after the end of the war, Earth faced yet another [[Invasion of Earth|invasion]], this time led not by a hostile alien hegemony, but a Forerunner [[ancilla]], [[000 Tragic Solitude]], the monitor of [[Installation 00]]. As a means to repair the Ark and to get revenge on humans for damaging it, the monitor tricked the UNSC into opening the [[portal at Voi|portal]] which allowed him to send thousands of [[Retriever Sentinel]]s to mine Earth for raw resources. The sentinels were engaged by the [[Home Fleet]], which lost at least ten ships in the ensuing battle. Tragic Solitude's plans were thwarted by a joint UNSC and [[Swords of Sanghelios]] team on the Ark itself.{{Ref/Novel|Novel=[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]|Chapter=??}}


[[File:Portal odst.png|thumb|200px|right|A larger Covenant fleet arriving shortly after Regret's departure and excavating around Mombasa.]]
In [[2557#July|July 2557]], the Forerunner known as the [[Didact]] arrived in-system aboard his flagship, the ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'', [[New Phoenix Incident|planning to use a device]] known as the [[Composer]] to enslave humanity. Having been forewarned by the now [[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Thomas Lasky]] of the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, along with [[Battle Group Dakota]] engaged ''Mantle's Approach''. Meanwhile, Master Chief [[John-117]] had stowed aboard the ''Mantle's Approach'' and with help from the ''Infinity'', boarded the ship. Before the Master Chief could stop the Didact, the Composer began to fire on [[New Phoenix|New Phoenix, Arizona]], digitizing its entire population. John-117 eventually destroyed the ship with a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon|nuclear device]], ending the threat of the Didact and the Composer for the time being.{{Ref/Level|Id=h4midnight|H4|[[Midnight]]}}
Prior to the slipspace event, a contingent of ODSTs were dropped from the {{UNSCShip|Say My Name}} to assist the ''In Amber Clad''<nowiki />'s counter-offensive efforts.<ref name="H3R">'''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'''</ref> The slipspace rupture prevented the assist from taking place, plunging the ODSTs into uncontrolled freefall and scattered across the city. However, [[unidentified Shock Trooper squad|one particular squad of ODSTs]] survived and continued their operation in securing the city's [[Superintendent|infrastructure AI]].<ref name="H3R"/> During the operation, the squad witnessed the arrival of [[Truth's fleet|a larger Covenant fleet]] after escaping the city.<ref name="H3R"/>


The Covenant returned in force following the Prophet of Regret's abortive attack and Covenant assault forces succeeded in penetrating the orbital defenses. At [[Wikipedia:Mount Erebus|Mount Erebus]], the sea floor off of the the [[Yucatan Peninsula]], and at the [[Centennial Orbital Elevator]] in [[Havana]], [[Cuba]], the Covenant were stymied by three [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-II]]'s, only to have those SPARTAN-IIs get re-deployed to [[Onyx]].<ref name="onyx">'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page ??''</ref> The Covenant deployed their forces all across Earth, striking at major cities such as [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]]; but this [[Battle of Cleveland|attack]] too was repulsed through the efforts of ODST forces and the self-sacrifice of Colonel [[James Ackerson]]. However, UNSC forces were unable to repulse and route Covenant landings in [[Kenya]]. After breaking Earth's [[UNSC Home Fleet|space defenses]], the Covenant bombarded Earth in Eastern Africa. The Covenant eventually succeeded in eradicating Mombasa and uncovering their primary target: [[The Portal]].
Sometime after that, a foiled threat of nuclear bombing by a Covenant refugee took place in [[Rio de Janeiro]].<ref>''Spartan Ops'', [[S1/Departure|S1E1 - Departure]]</ref>
[[File:Halo 5 - Guardian on Earth.jpg|thumb|left|250px|A Guardian Custode deploying over Earth.]]
====Created uprising====
{{Main|Created uprising}}
{{Quote|This is not a negotiation, Lord Hood. This is your surrender. My terms are clear. You are aware of my capabilities and... I am fully acquainted with yours. If the Earth's government wants to fight, feel free. But hear this. It is a battle you will not win.|Cortana to Lord Hood prior to the Created's destruction of Sydney.{{Ref/Level|HINF|[[Repository (Halo Infinite level)|Repository]]}}}}
In [[2558#October|October 2558]], [[Cortana]] reemerged as the self-proclaimed leader of the [[Created]], a collective alliance of human and Forerunner [[Artificial Intelligence|AI]] constructs whose aim was to enforce the [[Mantle]] by bringing the entire galaxy under the control of AIs. This plan called for several [[Guardian]]s to be deployed across the galaxy. Two such Guardians were deployed to Earth.


The arrival in-system of SPARTAN-117 in a Covenant-controlled [[Forerunner Dreadnought]], freshly escaped from the [[Battle of Installation 05]], was unexpected.<ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[Sierra 117]]''</ref> SPARTAN-117 disembarked from the dreadnought in Earth's atmosphere, later recovered by Marines and taken to [[Crow's Nest]].<ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[Crow's Nest (level)|Crow's Nest]]''</ref> With the aid of the [[Thel 'Vadam|Arbiter]], [[Miranda Keyes|Commander Miranda Keyes]], and Sergeant Avery Johnson, SPARTAN-117 [[Battle of Voi|breached the Covenant anti-air defenses]] near the excavated artifact, clearing the way for an aerial strike on the Dreadnought powering it.<ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[Tsavo Highway]]''</ref><ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[The Storm]]''</ref> The strike was unable to disable the device or prevent the [[Prophet of Truth]] from traveling through the portal. After a brief intervention by the [[The Flood|Flood]] a joint Separatist/UNSC force departed through the portal in pursuit.<ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[Floodgate]]''</ref> This series of events saw the complete departure of the Covenant from Earth as they ventured forth to Installation 00, where they would finally be crushed by the UNSC and their Separatist allies.
The first Guardian proved too powerful for even the ''Infinity'' and the vessel was forced to abandon Earth for deep space.{{Ref/Level|Id=guardians|H5G|[[Guardians]]}} The second one arrived at [[Sydney]], destroying defending [[F-41 Broadsword]]s and causing the defending {{UNSCShip|Plateau}} to crash into the city,<ref>''[[Halo: Fractures]]'', [[Rossbach's World (story)|Rossbach's World]]</ref> ultimately leveling it.{{Ref/Site|Id=CF156|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-fleetcom-fiction|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Fleetcom Fiction|D=14|M=08|Y=2024}} All technology on Earth and all orbiting vessels were disabled, which resulted in the [[Subjugation of Earth|planet falling under Created control]].{{Ref/Reuse|guardians}}


Following the victory at the Battle of Earth and the [[Battle of Installation 00]], the Human-Covenant War ended in March 2553. Many of Earth's cities were left in ruins and the planet's population was sharply reduced as a result of the Covenant invasion. With the war's end and the departure of the Covenant separatists to their respective homeworlds, the UNSC has begun to rebuild the extensive damage inflicted upon Earth's infrastructure and human population.
{{clear|left}}


==Earth locations==
==Government==
===Planetside===
For most of human history, Earth was governed by individual [[National government]]s. In the 21st-century they would achieve a level of cohesion and stability under the [[United Nations]].{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22pg18|Enc22|Page=18}}
Planetside, Earth has seven continents of extremely varied climates and cultures.


====[[Africa]]====
[[File:HW Infinity refit.png|thumb|250px|{{UNSCShip|Infinity}} undergoing a refit in a naval yard above Earth.{{Ref/Site|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/chasing-shadows|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Community Update - Chasing Shadows}}]]
*[[Diego Garcia]] - Island in the Indian Ocean and a major [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] base.
By the 26th-century, the United Nations is the acting administrative body for the national governments of the planet.{{Ref/Reuse|CatalogUN}} The [[Unified Earth Government]] and [[United Nations Space Command]] are based on Earth, specifically in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]].<ref name="waypointuniunsc">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/factions/unsc ''Halo Waypoint:'' Universe - UNSC]</ref>{{Ref/Site|Id=|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/factions/ueg|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=UEG|Detail=|D=|M=|Y=}}
*[[Egypt|Arab Republic of Egypt]]
*[[Kenya|Republic of Kenya]]
**[[Mombasa]] - Major African city that was the first landing site of Covenant forces on Earth, destroyed in ensuing attack and retreat during the Battle of Earth.
***[[New Mombasa]]
****[[New Mombasa Orbital Elevator]]
***[[Old Mombasa]]
****''[[Turf]]'' - The "backstreets"<ref>'''Halo 2''', multiplayer map ''[[Turf]]''</ref> of Old Mombasa, and the location of a downed Scarab destroyed by [[UNSC Marine Corps|UNSC Marines]]
***[[Tombstone|UNSC Munitions Testing Facility]] - A decommissioned, hazardous facility turned into an industrial wasteland on the outskirts of Mombasa<ref>[http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=12358 '''Bungie.net''': ''An Affinity for Art'']</ref>
**[[Nairobi]] - The capital city of Kenya
**[[Voi]] - A town further inland from Mombasa and a source of major battles late in the [[Battle of Earth]]
***[[Voi Municipal Water Pump House 03]]
***[[Traxus Factory Complex 09]]
**[[Tsavo]]
***[[Tsavo Highway]] - An overpass highway bridging Voi, Mombasa, Arusha, and other cities together.
***[[Outpost C9]]
***[[Crow's Nest|UNSC Underground Facility "Crow's Nest"]]
*[[Tanzania|United Republic of Tanzania]]
**[[Mount Kilimanjaro]]
**[[Nkuu River]]
***[[GWC Trans-African Pipelines]]
**[[Zanzibar Island]] - Location of [[Wind Power Station 7]]
***[[Wind Power Station 7]] - Decommissioned wind wheel<ref>'''Halo 2''', multiplayer map ''[[Zanzibar]]''</ref>, which was acquired by the UNSC as SPARTAN training grounds.<ref>'''Halo 3''', multiplayer map ''[[Last Resort]]''</ref>


====[[Australia|Oceania]]====
===Defenses===
*[[Australia|Commonwealth of Australia]]
Prior to the formation of the UEG, individual national governments maintained their own military forces such as with the [[United States of America]] and the [[Wikipedia:United States Marine Corps|United States Marine Corps]].{{Ref/Book|Enc09|Section=Timeline|Page=31}}<ref name="halowarsbarracks">''Halowars.com'', UNSC - Barracks ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090312142038/http://www.halowars.com/GameInfo/barracks.aspx Warback Machine archive] and [[Archive:Halowars.com/UNSC#Barracks|Halopedia archive]])</ref>
**[[Sydney]]
***[[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6|HighCom Facility Bravo-6]] - Home of [[UNSC High Command|HIGHCOM]] and HQ of the UNSC.
***[[Sydney Synthetic Intellect Institute]] - [[Artificial intelligence|A.I.]] research institute.
**[[Western Australia]]
***[[Perth]]
****[[Swanbourne]]
*****[[Beta-5 Division Ordnance Testing Facility]]


====[[Asia]]====
By the 26th-century, Earth is defended by the [[UNSC Home Fleet]] of the [[UNSC Navy]]{{Ref/Reuse|BoE1|}} and 300 [[Orbital defense platform]]s{{Ref/Level|H2|[[The Armory]]}} of the [[UNSC Air Force]].{{Ref/Book|OSFM|Page=136-138}} Following the Battle for Earth, [[Joint Task Force MARIAH]] was assigned to help protect the portal to the Ark.{{Ref/Site|Id=cflegendend|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-legendary-endings|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Legendary Endings|D=13|M=12|Y=2021}}
*[[United Korea|Korea]]
**[[Wikipedia:Kyonggi Province|Kyonggi Province]]
***[[Seongnam|Songnam]]
****[[Special Warfare Center]] - Testing and training area, famous for testing the [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor|MJOLNIR MK VI]] and the [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/C variant|C]] and [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/V variant|V]] variants.
*[[Pakistan]]
*[[China]]
*[[Japan]]


====[[North America]]====
Different parts of the Earth also maintain their own defence forces such as those that belong to the [[East African Protectorate]].{{Ref/Site|Id=CFStrike|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-ship-strike|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Ship Strike|D=20|M=04|Y=2023}}
*[[Canada]]
 
*[[United States of America]]
==Society==
**[[Massachusetts]]
The major cities of Earth are [[London]], [[Mombasa]], [[Quito]], [[Chicago]], [[Cairo]] and [[Sydney]].{{Ref/Reuse|VIS}} Mombasa was considered one of the most renowned and majestic cities on Earth.{{Ref/Book|Halo: The Essential Visual Guide|Page=129}} [[Beijing]] and [[New York City]] were considered big media and advertising cities with those affiliated with the media, such as journalists and photographers, living and working in either.{{Ref/Comic|Id=graphicnovel|[[Halo Graphic Novel]]|Page=85}}
***[[Boston]]
 
****[[Chawla Base]] - An ONI base that housed the artifact from [[I love bees|I Love Bees]]
===Economy===
**[[Ohio]]
Earth has six space elevators all over the planet.{{Ref/Book|EVG|Page=191}}{{Ref/Site|URL=http://halo.bungie.net/projects/odst/guide.aspx|Site=Bungie.net|Page=Halo 3: ODST Field Guide, "Superintendent" entry}} Five of these are in Mombasa, Quito, [[Borneo]], [[Aranuka]], and [[Havana]].
***[[Cleveland]] - Site of the [[Battle of Cleveland]]; underneath the city is the [[Key of Osanalan]]
 
**[[Illinois]]
Earth traded produce as well, though this produce was claimed by [[Ellen Anders]] to have the highest pesticide levels in the [[Inner Colonies]].{{Ref/Comic|[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]}}
***[[Greater Chicago Industrial Zone|Chicago]]
 
****[[Industrial Zone 08]]
==Non-canon and dubious canon appearances==
*****[[Tactical Autonomous Robotic Defense System]]<ref>'''Halo 2''', multiplayer map ''[[Foundation]]''</ref>
===Silver Timeline===
**[[New York]]
{{Main|Silver Timeline}}
***[[New York City]] - The Morelli family from I Love Bees all live or were born here.
{{Notice/Silver}}
**[[Commonwealth of Kentucky]] - [[Rani Sobeck]] from I Love Bees lives here or was born here.
Earth in the Silver Timeline features a population 7,190,234,109, based on a UEG estimate taken on February 23, 2550. It has a complex biosphere undergoing remediation with an overall managed, temperate climate. It is part of Defense Zone Alpha and work is ongoing to upgrade Earth's [[Orbital defense platform]]s.{{Ref/Site|Id=silver|URL=https://halotheseries.tv/|Site=Halo: The Series|Page=Dr. Catherine Halsey's Computer|D=25|M=3|Y=2022|LocalArchive=Dr. Catherine Halsey's Computer}}
**[[Oregon]] - [[Fueder Construction|A construction company]] in the [[United States of America|United States]] is located here.
 
***[[Salem]]
==Gameplay==
**[[Missouri]]
[[File:H2A CairoStation Loadscreen.png|thumb|right|250px|''Cairo Station'', which is set in orbit of Earth.]]
***[[Mark Twain]]- Birthplace of [[Admiral|Adm]]. [[Preston Jeremiah Cole]]
===''Halo 2''===
*[[Mexico]]
{{Main|Halo 2|Halo 2: Anniversary}}
**[[Mexico City]]
In ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 2: Anniversary'', a total of four [[Campaign]] levels take place on or above Earth. ''[[The Armory]]'' and ''[[Cairo Station]]'' take place in space above Earth. Parts of Europe, [[Africa]] and the Middle East can be seen. ''[[Outskirts]]'' and ''[[Metropolis]]'' take place on Earth in the city of [[Mombasa]] in Africa. The final cutscene of the game in ''[[The Great Journey]]'' also takes place above Earth.
***[[Base Segundo Terra]] - Mexico City, Mexico. Used as the staging area to attack the [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] incursions on Havana and the Yucatan Peninsula.  
 
*[[Cuba|Republic of Cuba]]
A number of [[multiplayer]] maps also take place on or above Earth. ''[[Midship]]'' and ''[[Elongation]]'' take place in orbit above the Earth, showing the same view of Earth as ''The Armory'' and ''Cairo Station''. ''[[Terminal (map)|Terminal]]'', ''[[Turf]]'', ''[[District]]'', ''[[Ivory Tower]]'', ''[[Tombstone]]'', ''[[Headlong]]'', ''[[Zanzibar]]'', and ''[[Foundation]]'' all take place on Earth in various places.
**[[Havana]]
 
***[[Centennial Orbital Elevator]] - A 200 year old antiquated Space Elevator that was destroyed during the Battle of Earth.
===''Halo 3''===
{{Main|Halo 3}}
Each ''Halo 3'' campaign level from ''[[Arrival]]'' to ''[[Floodgate]]'' take place on Earth in [[Tanzania]] or [[Kenya]]. The final cutscene in ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]'' also takes place on Earth.
 
''[[High Ground]]'', ''[[Last Resort]]'' and ''[[The Pit]]'' from the original line up of ''Halo 3'' multiplayer maps take place on Earth. The [[Heroic Map Pack]] maps, ''[[Blackout]]'' and ''[[Ghost Town]]'' of the [[Legendary Map Pack]], and ''[[Orbital]]'' and ''[[Longshore]]'' of the [[Mythic Map Pack]]s were eventually added that all took place on Earth.


====[[South America]]====
===''Halo 3: ODST''===
*[[Chile|Republic of Chile]]
{{Main|Halo 3: ODST}}
*[[Wikipedia:Ecuador|Republic of Ecuador]]
All the campaign levels and [[Firefight (Halo 3: ODST)|Firefight]] maps of ''Halo 3: ODST'' take place on Earth.
**[[Quito]] - Home to the [[Quito Space Tether]], one of Earth's six Space Elevators.


====[[Europe]]====
===''Halo: Reach''===
*[[United Kingdom]]
{{Main|Halo: Reach}}
**[[United Kingdom|England]]
Only one map in ''Halo: Reach'' takes place on Earth and that is ''[[Breakneck]]'', which is set in [[Section 21]] of [[Mombasa]].
***[[London]]
***[[Bristol]]
***[[Leeds]]
***[[Reading]]
***[[Cheshire]]
***[[Birmingham]]
***[[Portsmouth]]
**[[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]
***[[Edinburgh]]
*[[Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]]
**[[Essen]]
***[[Beweglichkeitsrüstungsysteme|Beweglichrüstungsysteme Testing Facility]] - Testing site of the C Variant MJOLNIR MK. VI


====[[Antarctica]]====
===''Halo 4''===
*[[Ross Island]]
{{Main|Halo 4}}
**[[Wikipedia:Mount Erebus|Mount Erebus]] - Site of a Covenant attack during the Battle of Earth.
A large portion of the level ''[[Midnight]]'' is set on the ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' resting above [[New Phoenix]], Earth. North America and parts of South America can be seen in the skybox of the level. The [[Epilogue (Halo 4 level)|Epilogue]] also shows some scenes in the Earth city of New Phoenix.


====[[Arctic]]====
===''Halo: Spartan Strike''===
*[[Arctic|Arctic Ocean]]
{{Main|Halo: Spartan Strike}}
**[[UNSC Weather Station Z/41]]<ref>'''Halo 3''', multiplayer map ''[[Blackout]]''</ref>
All of the missions as part of [[Operation A: Orphic Spear]] and [[Operation E: Brother's Keeper]] take place in Mombasa and New Pheonix respectively, both on Earth.


===Orbital===
===''Halo 5: Guardians''===
*''[[Athens Station]]'' - An [[Orbital defense platform|ODP]] defending Earth, destroyed by boarders in the Battle of Earth.
{{Main|Halo 5: Guardians}}
*''[[Cairo Station]]'' - An ODP defending Earth. It was the command center of Earth's defense by [[Terrence Hood|Admiral Hood]].
The final cutscene of ''[[Guardians]]'' features the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} over Earth. Only one multiplayer level, [[Breakout Arena]], takes place over Earth, set on [[Munera Platform A7]]. Parts of Eastern Europe, the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa can be seen in the skybox as the planet rotates.
*''[[Malta Station]]'' -  An ODP defending Earth, destroyed by boarders in the Battle of Earth.
*''[[Nassau Station]]'' - An ODP defending Earth..
*[[Station Wayward Rest]] - Termination point of the COE. Destroyed during the Battle of Earth.


===[[Luna]]===
*[[Academy at Mare Nubium|Luna OCS Academy]] - The Moon-based training academy for [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] Naval officers.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery widths="160">
<gallery>
File:Zanzibarfull.jpg|[[Wind Power Station 7]] on [[Zanzibar Island]], [[Tanzania]].
File:Macstationcairolarge1ki.jpg|[[Orbital defense platform]] ''[[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo]]'' in [[geosynchronous orbit]] around Earth.
File:Tanaga_District.png|[[Tanaga]] district of [[New Mombasa]], with the [[New Mombasa Orbital Elevator]] in the background. This is seconds prior to the New Mombasa Slipspace incident.
File:FoundationH2.jpg|[[Tactical Autonomous Robotic Defense System]] testing grounds in Industrial Zone 08 of [[Greater Chicago Industrial Zone|Chicago]], United States of America.
File:Earth Orbit.jpg|Earth seen from orbit.
File:Earth Orbit.jpg|Earth seen from orbit.
File:UNSC Home Fleet.JPG|The UNSC Home Fleet prior to the arrival of the Covenant.
File:UNSC Home Fleet.JPG|The UNSC Home Fleet prior to the arrival of the Covenant.
File:Earthshot.jpg|[[UNSC Defense Force|UNSCDF]] [[Orbital defense platform|Orbital Defense Platforms]] in [[geosynchronous orbit|geosynchronous]] orbit around Earth.
File:H2ACampaign HomeFleetInEarthOrbit.png|Earth as seen from ''[[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo Station]]'', with the orbital defense grid and Home Fleet in view.
File:The coming Storm.jpg|[[The Portal]], buried thousands of years on Earth, unveiled by the Covenant.
File:Halo3.png|The severed frigate {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}} seen falling towards Earth orbit in 2552.
File:Quito se.jpg|Quito, one of many massive metropolises on Earth and home to the [[Quito Space Tether]].
File:H2A - InAmberCladEarth.png|The ''UNSC In Amber Clad'' descends into Earth orbit in 2552.
File:H4-Midnight-Composer-Panorama.jpg|The [[Ur-Didact]] fires the [[Composer]] upon Earth in [[2557]].
File:H2A - StonetownScreenshot.jpg|The outer perimeter of [[Wind Power Station 7]] on [[Zanzibar Island]], [[Tanzania]], marked by the remains of traditional architecture of Ancient Africa.  
File:H2A - Stonetown.jpg|[[Wind Power Station 7]] on [[Zanzibar Island]], [[Tanzania]].
File:H4-Earth.jpg|Earth as seen in ''Halo 4''.
File:H4-NewPhoenix.jpg|The American city of [[New Phoenix]], Arizona in the United Republic of North America in the year 2557.
File:Nmomb general 03.png|The Kenyan city of [[Mombasa]] prior to its [[Battle of Mombasa|destruction]] in [[2552]] by the Covenant.
File:Nmomb general 03.png|The Kenyan city of [[Mombasa]] prior to its [[Battle of Mombasa|destruction]] in [[2552]] by the Covenant.
File:H2_Turf_1.png|Centuries-old architecture in [[Old Mombasa]].
File:H3_TheStorm_VoiView.jpg|Factories in the African city of [[Voi]] prior to its [[glassing]] in 2552.
File:Cleveland in 2552.PNG|The American city of Cleveland, Ohio under siege in 2552 by Covenant forces.
File:Cleveland in 2552.PNG|The American city of Cleveland, Ohio under siege in 2552 by Covenant forces.
File:Innerplanets.jpg|A size comparison of Earth, Mercury, Venus and [[Mars]].
File:FoundationH2.jpg|[[Tactical Autonomous Robotic Defense System]] testing grounds in Industrial Zone 08 of [[Greater Chicago Industrial Zone|Chicago]], United States of America.
File:Innerplanets.jpg|A size comparison of Earth, [[Mercury]], [[Venus]] and [[Mars]].
File:Moon.jpg|The Moon, Earth's one natural satellite and a major population center.
File:Fight for her.jpg|"Fight For Her"; a poster rallies the UNSC to defend Earth, as seen on the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}.
File:H4 - NewPhoenix Streets.png|The deserted city streets of New Phoenix in 2557; its terraced urban architecture reflects that of other worlds such as [[Reach]].
File:Quito se.jpg|Quito, one of many massive metropolises on Earth and home to the [[Quito Space Tether]].
File:HINF London Skyline.png|The city of London during the Covenant invasion of Earth in [[2552]].
File:Portal odst.png|A [[Truth's fleet|larger Covenant fleet]] arriving shortly after Regret's departure and excavating around Mombasa.
File:Earth.JPG|Earth in 2552.
</gallery>
</gallery>
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes}}
{{Clear}}


==List of appearances==
==List of appearances==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{Fm}}
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
*''[[Halo 2]]''
*''[[Halo 3]]''
*''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''
*''[[Halo Wars]]''
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[i love bees]]''
*''[[Halo 2]]''
*''[[Halo Graphic Novel]]''
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''
*''[[Iris]]''
**''[[Halo 3: The Cradle of Life]]''
*''[[Halo: Landfall]]''
**''[[Halo: Combat]]''
**''[[Halo: Last One Standing]]''
*''[[Halo: Uprising]]''
*''[[Halo 3]]''
**''[[Bestiarum]]''
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''
*''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]''
*''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]''
*''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''
*''[[Halo Wars]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[Origins]]''
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian]]''
**''[[Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian]]''
**''[[Dirt]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Dirt]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[The Mona Lisa]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[The Mona Lisa]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Palace Hotel (short story)|Palace Hotel]]''
**''[[Palace Hotel]]''
**''[[Human Weakness]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Human Weakness]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]''
**''[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]''
**''[[From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Graphic Novel]]''
*''[[Halo: Reach]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Uprising]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|Terminals]]
**''[[Origins]]''
*''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''
*''[[I love bees|I love Bees]]''
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''
*''[[Iris]]''
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Dead or Alive 4]]''
*''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]''
*''[[Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Spartan Ops]]''
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
{{col-2}}
*''[[Rebirth]]''
*''[[Halo: Spartan Assault]]''
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''
*''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]''
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: New Blood]]''
*''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]''
*''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''
*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Last Light]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
*''[[Halo: Ground Command]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos]]''
*''[[Halo: Fractures]]''
**''[[Breaking Strain]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Into the Fire]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Rossbach's World (story)|Rossbach's World]]''
*''[[Halo: Smoke and Shadow]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Envoy]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Retribution]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Legacy of Onyx]]''
*''[[Halo: Bad Blood]]''
*''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]''
*''[[Halo: Lone Wolf]]''
*''[[Halo: Renegades]]''
*''[[Halo: Shadows of Reach]]''
**''[[Sacrifice]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Infinite]]''
*''[[Halo: The Television Series]]''
**''[[Contact]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Solace (TV Series)|Solace]]''
*''[[Halo: The Rubicon Protocol]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Outcasts]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Saturn Devouring His Son]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]''
{{col-end}}


==Sources==
==Sources==
{{reflist|2}}
{{Ref/Sources|2}}
 
{{Sol system}}
[[Category:Earth| ]]
[[Category:Earth| ]]
[[Category:Planets]]
[[Category:Planets]]
[[Category:Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Homeworlds]]

Latest revision as of 01:52, December 26, 2024

Wikipedia.png
There is more information available on this subject at Earth on the English Wikipedia.
Earth
Earth thumbnail from Dr. Catherine Halsey's Computer and Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo
Astrographical

System:

Sol system

Orbiting:

Sol[1]

Orbital position:

Third planet[1]

Moon(s):

One; Luna[1]

Physical

Diameter:

12,756 kilometers (7,926 mi)[1]

Gravity:

1.0 G[1]

Length of day:

24 hours[1]

Length of year:

365.2 days[1]

Atmosphere:

1.0 (N2, O2, Ar)[1]

Surface temperature:

-20°C to 40°C (-4°F to 104°F)[1]

Societal

Demonym:

Earther[2]

Species:

Population:

  • Approx. 10 billion (pre-Battle of Earth)[3][4]
  • Approx. 200 million (Post-Battle of Earth, as of Nov. 17, 2552)[5][6]
  • 7.9 billion (modern)[7]

Government:

UNSC strategic significance:

Critical (2558)[9]

UNSC threat level:

Alpha (2558)[9]

 

"Beautiful, isn't she?"
Thomas Lasky discussing Earth, with John-117.[10]

Earth is the third planet and one of four terrestrial worlds of the Sol system. It is the presumptive homeworld of the human species, though this was disputed by some ancient humans, due to the loss of records to technological dark ages and the presence of human ruins on other worlds.[11] It is the current capital world of the Unified Earth Government, and home to the headquarters of the United Nations Space Command.

With a population of around ten billion, Earth was the most populated planet in UEG territory prior to the Covenant invasion. Despite being dramatically reduced during the Covenant invasion in 2552 due to both casualties inflicted by the Covenant and a major evacuation effort, the population had again risen to several billion by the end of 2553.[4]

Overview

Nomenclature

Earth is also known by the designation of Sol III.[5][12] During the Forerunner era it was called Erde-Tyrene[13] (pronounced "Er-da-ty-reen")[14] which was abreviated to "Erda".[15][16] The name Erde-Tyrene would be known to the Prophet of Regret and his forces after the planet's discovery at a Meridian Forerunner artifact.[17]

Astronomical features

Earth experiences the aurora borealis.[18]

Orbital locations

Environmental features

Mount Kilimanjaro as viewed from a Kenyan river in 2552.

Planetside, Earth has seven continents. Three continents are Africa, Asia and Antarctica. Asia and Africa are the first and second largest continents respectively.[19]

There are several oceans on the planet's surface as well, such as the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean,[19] and the Caribbean Ocean.[20]

Locations

Pre-Great Purification
Post-Great Purification
26th-century

Ecology

Earth was home to a variety of ecosystems and a diverse array of living organisms across millions of years of evolutionary history. Prior to the activation of Halo, the Librarian transplanted non-native Merse to Djamonkin Crater to guard her husband's Cryptum.[21] Some of its animal species were worshipped by prehistoric humans as mythological figures, such as Abada the Rhinoceros[22] and Shalimanda the heaven-snake.[23]

Known residents

Pre-Great Purification
Post-Great Purification

History

Pangaea, the super-continent 250 million years ago that was the amalgamation of all current present-day continents.

Pre-history

A report filed by the Librarian during her time indexing species on the planet led her to believe that the Precursors had experimented on the planet's native lifeforms due to the mammalian-level intelligence exhibited by certain scyphozoa and cephalopoda at that time of her filing said report.[24]

The remains of a deceased Catalog unit, and a damaged monitor, which revealed that humanity achieved its earliest known spacefaring technological state prior to 1,100,000 BCE and that Forerunners believed humans had "moved their interstellar civilization outward along the galactic arm" by 150,000 BCE. Not only is the dating for humanity's origin less sure now, but the very idea of Earth has humanity's birthplace has also been revealed to have been a matter of debate for the civilization that preceded and witnessed the human-Forerunner wars and some Forerunners. That ancient empire had lost many of the records that could have proven or disproven the issue, and human ruins had also been discovered on multiple worlds beside Earth from forgotten eras of prehistory. Regardless of when and how humanity first evolved and developed, it is clear that humans were present on multiple planets over a million years ago, and it was not until thousands of years into this civilization that leading human scientists traced the species' origins to Earth.[11]

Ancient history

Main articles: Ancestors, Erde-Tyrene civilization
The Librarian's final moments near Mount Kilimanjaro.
Mount Kilimanjaro moments before the Halo effect reaches Earth.

Spreading across the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, humanity underwent several periods of technological and social regression, losing most of their records in the process. During this time, Earth was contested as the cradle of humanity by Forerunners and ancient humans themselves due to loss of records during their dark ages and as the planet had long been feral and abandoned, most ancient humans simply embraced the planet as an archaic relic of their past, since the center of human culture had largely been relocated to Charum Hakkor.[25] Earth was one of the first human worlds to fall to the Forerunners in the human-Forerunner wars.[15] After being defeated by the Forerunner civilization, most humans were exiled to Earth, with their civilization dismantled, populations splintered amongst the many human species and their culture degrading back to a primitive state for millennia.[13] Earth and humanity came under the charge of the Forerunner Lifeshaper, the Librarian, who helped the humans slowly work towards rebuilding a primitive civilization. Remnants of their former technology, such as steam power and hot-air balloon flight, were re-learned under her care but later forgotten after the firing of the Halo Array.[13]

Near the end of their war with the Flood, the Forerunners, specifically the Lifeworkers under the direction of the Librarian, indexed many of Earth's species - including humans - as a part of their Conservation Measure to preserve life in the galaxy after the activation of the Halo Array. Prior to the activation, after surveying the planet, beacons were activated informing humans imprinted with the Librarian's geas to gather to evacuate the planet. Lifeworkers only had time to evacuate one out of a thousand of the planet's large species; countless species would be left behind. Several days into the evacuation the Librarian and IsoDidact arrived in the system to speak with Catalog. The evacuation was halted ahead of schedule as the Flood had broken through the local Forerunner defenses and were entering the system.[26]

After the Ur-Didact composed most of the human population on Omega Halo, the Librarian realized the remaining population would not be enough to repopulate the species. She sent Chant-to-Green to see how much the Flood had taken in the system and save whatever humans she could. The Flood had left Earth untouched after the Forerunners evacuated. Chant was only able to gather a few hundred humans to send to Installation 00. When Precursor star roads began to appear in the system, she told Chant she would stay on Earth and gave Chant the title of Lifeshaper. Later, a Gargantua-class transport arrived to be disassembled and reconfigured, and after gathering the necessary materials, formed a portal to the Ark.[27]

Post-Great Purification

Circa 97,445 BCE, humans were returned to Earth and watched as the Portal at Voi was buried.[28] With human life reseeded on Earth, it successfully re-developed.[29]

Rise of humanity

Main articles: Rain Forest Wars, Interplanetary War
World War I as depicted in Undefeated. Cropped from source image originally provided by User:TheArb1ter117.
World War I.

Many events would take place during this redevelopment across the planet including several ancient battles such as the Battle of Thermopylae and the Diadochi conflicts. On August 24, 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed Pompei.[30]

Other conflicts after this point included the French Revolution, the Peninsular War,[31] and the Battle of Trafalgar during the Napoleonic Wars.[32][33] Following this, the American Civil War and World War I took place.

World War II came to a close in 1945 with the first usage of human Nuclear weapons at Nagasaki and Hirshima.[34] The bomb at Hiroshima left a domed structure still standing.[29]

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin would be the first human being to orbit the Earth.[35]

Earth was in danger of overpopulation in the late 21st-century. Though this would be resolved by planetary colonization.[5] By 2080, humanity's national governments, under the auspices of the United Nations, had begun to establish colonies on the other planets in the Sol system. However, expansion did not come without problems. In the mid-22nd century, two major dissident factions emerged; the neo-communist Koslovics and fascist Frieden, which began to battle one another and the United Nations.[36]

In March–June 2160, Jovian Frieden secessionists attacked United Nations Colonial Advisors on the moon Io, which led to three months of fighting between the Earth military and Jovian Frieden forces. National governments began to support their own colonies which sparked proxy wars off-planet, leading to tension and militarization on Earth. In 2162, armed conflict ripped through South America, starting the Rain Forest Wars, as Koslovic, Frieden, and UN forces all clashed over ideological differences, sparking additional conflicts off-planet. In December of 2163, the three factions clashed, this time on Mars. This was the first extraterrestrial use of Marines, who launched lightning raids on Koslovic positions, permanently affecting military doctrine for centuries. In 2164, UN forces began a massive military build-up and began the first true interplanetary war. The forces of the fledgling United Nations Space Command were significantly bolstered by a massive propaganda campaign running on the victories on Mars and over the next six years took back the Sol system and drove the dissident factions to destruction. Now with a massive military with no enemy to fight, overpopulation, famine, and a collapsing economy, the newly unified Earth faced an uncertain future.[36]

The year 2302 saw the beginning of construction on the Mombasa Tether,[37] the first Space elevator on Earth.[38] Conditions on Earth had deteriorated significantly and by 2310, catching a ride on a new colony ship became appealing to some.[39] A second space elevator, this time in Quito, South America was completed in 2313.[40] In 2332, the Ross-Ziegler Blip was discovered in Earth's carbon and fossil records.[41]

A matte painting from the terminals depicting the Outbreak at the Containment Facility.
The Australian city of Sydney, home of the UNSC Headquarters, pictured prior to the Covenant invasion in 2552.

Human-Covenant War

Main article: Human-Covenant War

Isabelle: "You know when I was living on Mamore, I thought that Earth was really cool, but it's a dump."
Kamal Zaman: "Well, what do you expect from a place called dirt?"
— Isabelle and Kamal Zaman talking about Earth, 2552.[42]

During the entire course of the conflict, the UNSC followed the Cole Protocol, which declared that no UNSC vessel targeted by the Covenant was to retreat to Earth, as a means of ensuring the secrecy and security of the planet's location. In nearly twenty-seven years of galactic warfare, the Covenant never succeeded in determining the location of Earth through the measures taken under the Cole Protocol. However, by September 2552, Earth was humanity's last major stronghold in its war against the Covenant. Nonetheless, the UEG and UNSC maintained plans for an emergency exodus of heavy industry from Earth and Mars, in the event that Earth's position was compromised. Following the disastrous Fall of Reach, these plans were put into effect, due to the Navy's belief that the Earth would be the aliens' next target.[43]

Just prior to the battle for Earth, a faction of Spartan 1.1s stockpiled resources on the planet in case the Covenant invaded.[44]

Despite the effectiveness of the Cole Protocol, on October 20, 2552, the Covenant launched their first attack upon Earth, rendering the Cole Protocol moot and initiating the final confrontation between UNSC forces and the Covenant.[45][46]

Battle for Earth

Main article: Battle for Earth

"Earth... is all we have left."
— Lord Terrence Hood prior to a joint UNSC-Covenant separatist mission to the Ark.[47]
Covenant forces moving in to strike Earth.

On October 20, 2552, the first Covenant forces entered the Sol system. A Covenant expeditionary force consisting of 13 battlecruisers and 2 assault carriers arrived in system, first detected around Io, the third largest moon of Jupiter.[46] After the existence of the Covenant presence was confirmed by probes, the UNSC forces went to full alert. The option was taken to wait for the Covenant forces to come to them rather than let Fleet Admiral Harper launch a counter attack. The Covenant began to work on punching a hole through the orbital defenses by taking out the stations in the battle cluster above the Mediterranean Sea via bombs planted by boarding parties.[46] After the Covenant fleet attempted to rush through the newly formed gap the UNSC fleet annihilated them, destroying most of the Covenant battlecruisers but failing to destroy the assault carriers. One of the assault carriers, Day of Jubilation, was successfully destroyed by SPARTAN-II John-117 but the other, Solemn Penance commanded by the High Prophet of Regret arrived over the city of Mombasa in Kenya via slipspace and quickly assaulted it.[48][49]

Groundside, the Covenant assault carrier had already deployed its ground forces and occupied the city. The Covenant ground forces immediately constructed defense emplacements and structures to reinforce their newly-acquired sites against the counter-offensive UNSC forces. The UNSC In Amber Clad was the first UNSC ship to respond to the Covenant occupation. The ship sent in their complements consisting of SPARTAN-II John-117, Sergeant Avery Johnson and elements of the 7th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Battalion.[48] The Covenant were subsequently dislodged from Old Mombasa and, following the destruction of a Protos-pattern Scarab, from New Mombasa as well.[48][50] The High Prophet of Regret eventually ordered a general retreat and had his assault carrier initiate a slipspace jump while still over the city. The In Amber Clad and 4 other ships followed in the carrier's wake, while the city was left in chaos.[50] Following this, a significantly enormous Covenant excavation fleet sent by the High Prophet of Truth, under command of Jiralhanae, arrived over Mombasa on October 21 to begin digging through to a Forerunner excession complex buried under the city after securing it along with its surrounding areas.[51][52][53]

The Covenant continued to assault the planet with even more additional Covenant fleets arriving in the Sol system and their forces being deployed all across Earth in the following days and weeks, including at Mount Erebus and the sea floor off of the Yucatan Peninsula.[54] Additionally, human colonies in the Sol system such as Mars and Luna were attacked by the Covenant.[55] The Covenant also attacked Sydney, home of the UNSC Headquarters, HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6. Fortunately, despite the enormous damage inflicted on the city and Australia, the UNSC HQ survived completely unharmed, owing to its underground facilities.[56] By November, the population of Earth reduced to around 5 billion, initially around 10 billion before the Covenant invasion.[3] When the Great Schism began on November 3, 2552, the Jiralhanae and now-casted out Sangheili forces turned each other as the Covenant civil war stretched from the human homeworld all the way back to Sanghelios, with many Sangheili subsequently allied with the UNSC.[57] At the Centennial Orbital Elevator in Havana, Cuba, the Jiralhanae forces were stymied by the three SPARTAN-IIs of Blue Team, who were re-deployed to Onyx soon after.[58]

The Portal at Voi as seen in the Halo 3  level Tsavo Highway.
The Portal, buried thousands of years on Earth, unveiled by the Covenant.

The bloodiest battles for the planet were fought in mid November when the Covenant now led by the Jiralhanae and the Prophet of Truth began to concentrate more of their forces on Earth shortly after UNSC's defeat on Mars,[59] and when a massive Covenant loyalist armada, which include the Jiralhanae-led High Charity defense fleet remnants and many Covenant loyalist survivors from the Fall of High Charity, arrived in the system.[57] Despite the dramatic increase in Covenant deployments, the works of Colonel James Ackerson in the Battle of Mare Erythraeum helped buy UNSC ground forces on Earth precious time,[60] as the Home Fleet would engage in full force against the massive Covenant attack in high Earth orbit by the time that the Forerunner Dreadnought carrying the Prophet of Truth would jump to Earth on November 17.[57] However, the vast majority of the numerically-inferior UNSC fleet despite the orbital defense platforms was completely destroyed by the Prophet of Truth's overwhelming fleet, only leaving a few ships remaining on the planet.[61] With the subsequent bombardment from the Covenant, the enemy fleet wiped out most of the human presence of Earth.[61] Immediately after the fall of Mars, Cleveland, Ohio was hit in an attempt to find a supposed Forerunner artifact,[62] but this attack was repulsed through the efforts of ODST forces and the self-sacrifice of Colonel James Ackerson who finally managed to delay the Covenant from pressing their assault on Earth with his plans before the planet could be heavily glassed.[63][64] Shortly after, Earth population was swifty now only about 200 million.[65]

The arrival in-system of SPARTAN-117 in a Covenant-controlled Forerunner Dreadnought aboard, freshly escaped from the Battle of Installation 05, was unexpected.[66][57] SPARTAN-117 disembarked from the dreadnought in Earth's atmosphere, later recovered by Marines and taken to Crow's Nest.[67] With the aid of the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, Commander Miranda Keyes, and Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, SPARTAN-117 breached the Covenant anti-air defenses near the excavated artifact, clearing the way for an aerial strike on the Dreadnought powering it.[68][69] The strike was unable to disable the device or prevent the Prophet of Truth from traveling through the portal. After a brief intervention by the Flood a joint Sangheili/UNSC force departed through the portal in pursuit.[47] Some of the final remaining Covenant forces led by the Jiralhanae leadership were defeated in December in Operation: MARSH FLASH, in Arizona, United Republic of North America.[70] Ultimately, the UNSC eliminated the Covenant presence on Earth once and for all.

Post-war

Following the victory at the Battle of Earth and the Battle of Installation 00, the Human-Covenant War officially came to an end in March of 2553 with a ceremony at Voi.[71] Project Rebirth was initiated sometime afterward to repair locations damaged by the battles on Earth.[72]

The Didact's flagship fires the Composer on New Phoenix on Earth in 2557.[73]

Only two years after the end of the war, Earth faced yet another invasion, this time led not by a hostile alien hegemony, but a Forerunner ancilla, 000 Tragic Solitude, the monitor of Installation 00. As a means to repair the Ark and to get revenge on humans for damaging it, the monitor tricked the UNSC into opening the portal which allowed him to send thousands of Retriever Sentinels to mine Earth for raw resources. The sentinels were engaged by the Home Fleet, which lost at least ten ships in the ensuing battle. Tragic Solitude's plans were thwarted by a joint UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios team on the Ark itself.[74]

In July 2557, the Forerunner known as the Didact arrived in-system aboard his flagship, the Mantle's Approach, planning to use a device known as the Composer to enslave humanity. Having been forewarned by the now Captain Thomas Lasky of the UNSC Infinity, along with Battle Group Dakota engaged Mantle's Approach. Meanwhile, Master Chief John-117 had stowed aboard the Mantle's Approach and with help from the Infinity, boarded the ship. Before the Master Chief could stop the Didact, the Composer began to fire on New Phoenix, Arizona, digitizing its entire population. John-117 eventually destroyed the ship with a nuclear device, ending the threat of the Didact and the Composer for the time being.[73]

Sometime after that, a foiled threat of nuclear bombing by a Covenant refugee took place in Rio de Janeiro.[75]

A Guardian Custode deploying over Earth.

Created uprising

Main article: Created uprising

"This is not a negotiation, Lord Hood. This is your surrender. My terms are clear. You are aware of my capabilities and... I am fully acquainted with yours. If the Earth's government wants to fight, feel free. But hear this. It is a battle you will not win."
— Cortana to Lord Hood prior to the Created's destruction of Sydney.[76]

In October 2558, Cortana reemerged as the self-proclaimed leader of the Created, a collective alliance of human and Forerunner AI constructs whose aim was to enforce the Mantle by bringing the entire galaxy under the control of AIs. This plan called for several Guardians to be deployed across the galaxy. Two such Guardians were deployed to Earth.

The first Guardian proved too powerful for even the Infinity and the vessel was forced to abandon Earth for deep space.[77] The second one arrived at Sydney, destroying defending F-41 Broadswords and causing the defending UNSC Plateau to crash into the city,[78] ultimately leveling it.[79] All technology on Earth and all orbiting vessels were disabled, which resulted in the planet falling under Created control.[77]

Government

For most of human history, Earth was governed by individual National governments. In the 21st-century they would achieve a level of cohesion and stability under the United Nations.[16]

An Autumn-class heavy cruiser and UNSC Infinity above Earth being tended to by several Bustler-class freighters.
UNSC Infinity undergoing a refit in a naval yard above Earth.[80]

By the 26th-century, the United Nations is the acting administrative body for the national governments of the planet.[8] The Unified Earth Government and United Nations Space Command are based on Earth, specifically in Sydney, Australia.[81][82]

Defenses

Prior to the formation of the UEG, individual national governments maintained their own military forces such as with the United States of America and the United States Marine Corps.[83][84]

By the 26th-century, Earth is defended by the UNSC Home Fleet of the UNSC Navy[46] and 300 Orbital defense platforms[85] of the UNSC Air Force.[86] Following the Battle for Earth, Joint Task Force MARIAH was assigned to help protect the portal to the Ark.[87]

Different parts of the Earth also maintain their own defence forces such as those that belong to the East African Protectorate.[88]

Society

The major cities of Earth are London, Mombasa, Quito, Chicago, Cairo and Sydney.[5] Mombasa was considered one of the most renowned and majestic cities on Earth.[89] Beijing and New York City were considered big media and advertising cities with those affiliated with the media, such as journalists and photographers, living and working in either.[90]

Economy

Earth has six space elevators all over the planet.[91][92] Five of these are in Mombasa, Quito, Borneo, Aranuka, and Havana.

Earth traded produce as well, though this produce was claimed by Ellen Anders to have the highest pesticide levels in the Inner Colonies.[93]

Non-canon and dubious canon appearances

Silver Timeline

Main article: Silver Timeline
HTV-SilverTeam logo.png
This article contains information about the Silver Timeline, and is not a part of the established Halo canon.

Earth in the Silver Timeline features a population 7,190,234,109, based on a UEG estimate taken on February 23, 2550. It has a complex biosphere undergoing remediation with an overall managed, temperate climate. It is part of Defense Zone Alpha and work is ongoing to upgrade Earth's Orbital defense platforms.[94]

Gameplay

Cairo Station, which is set in orbit of Earth.

Halo 2

Main articles: Halo 2, Halo 2: Anniversary

In Halo 2 and Halo 2: Anniversary, a total of four Campaign levels take place on or above Earth. The Armory and Cairo Station take place in space above Earth. Parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East can be seen. Outskirts and Metropolis take place on Earth in the city of Mombasa in Africa. The final cutscene of the game in The Great Journey also takes place above Earth.

A number of multiplayer maps also take place on or above Earth. Midship and Elongation take place in orbit above the Earth, showing the same view of Earth as The Armory and Cairo Station. Terminal, Turf, District, Ivory Tower, Tombstone, Headlong, Zanzibar, and Foundation all take place on Earth in various places.

Halo 3

Main article: Halo 3

Each Halo 3 campaign level from Arrival to Floodgate take place on Earth in Tanzania or Kenya. The final cutscene in Halo also takes place on Earth.

High Ground, Last Resort and The Pit from the original line up of Halo 3 multiplayer maps take place on Earth. The Heroic Map Pack maps, Blackout and Ghost Town of the Legendary Map Pack, and Orbital and Longshore of the Mythic Map Packs were eventually added that all took place on Earth.

Halo 3: ODST

Main article: Halo 3: ODST

All the campaign levels and Firefight maps of Halo 3: ODST take place on Earth.

Halo: Reach

Main article: Halo: Reach

Only one map in Halo: Reach takes place on Earth and that is Breakneck, which is set in Section 21 of Mombasa.

Halo 4

Main article: Halo 4

A large portion of the level Midnight is set on the Mantle's Approach resting above New Phoenix, Earth. North America and parts of South America can be seen in the skybox of the level. The Epilogue also shows some scenes in the Earth city of New Phoenix.

Halo: Spartan Strike

Main article: Halo: Spartan Strike

All of the missions as part of Operation A: Orphic Spear and Operation E: Brother's Keeper take place in Mombasa and New Pheonix respectively, both on Earth.

Halo 5: Guardians

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians

The final cutscene of Guardians features the UNSC Infinity over Earth. Only one multiplayer level, Breakout Arena, takes place over Earth, set on Munera Platform A7. Parts of Eastern Europe, the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa can be seen in the skybox as the planet rotates.


Gallery

List of appearances

Sources

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  2. ^ Halo: Fractures - Breaking Strain
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  4. ^ a b Twitter: @HaloWaypoint Hey, what was the population of Earth prior to November 2552?
  5. ^ a b c d Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 54
  6. ^ Halo 3 Bestiarum
  7. ^ Halo: Warfleet, page 22
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  23. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 210
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  27. ^ Halo: Silentium, String 37
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  44. ^ I Love Bees, Axon Clips, Chapter 12 - "Enter Kevin"
  45. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, ??
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  47. ^ a b Halo 3, campaign level Floodgate
  48. ^ a b c Halo 2, campaign level Outskirts
  49. ^ Halo 3: ODST: Sadie's Story, Circle 1, Arc 2
  50. ^ a b Halo 2, campaign level Metropolis
  51. ^ Halo Waypoint - Ten Twenty
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  59. ^ Halo Uprising, issue #3
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  63. ^ Halo Uprising, issue #4
  64. ^ Halo Uprising, issue #2
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  74. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, ??
  75. ^ Spartan Ops, S1E1 - Departure
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  78. ^ Halo: Fractures, Rossbach's World
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  90. ^ Halo Graphic Novel, page 85
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