Cardassia Prime Cardassia Prime ( or simply Cardassia ) was the inhabited second and prime planet in the Cardassian system , located in the Alpha Quadrant . The planet had one moon . Cardassia Prime was the capital world of the Cardassian Union and the homeworld of the Cardassian s , a warp - capable humanoid species . For two years , from 2373 - 2375 , Cardassia Prime was an ally of the Dominion . Location . In 2375 , the location of Cardassia was labeled on a tactical map that was displayed in the wardroom of Deep Space 9 . Cardassia was located approximately five light year s from Bajor , thirty light years from Starbase 375 , and fifty - five light years from Ferenginar . ( , " okudagram " ) Later that year , the position and orbit al path of Cardassia was illustrated on a tactical map that was displayed in the wardroom of Deep Space 9 . ( , " okudagram " ) Planetary features . In comparison to Human s , Cardassians preferred a darker , warmer and more humid environment , most likely reflecting the surface conditions on their homeworld . ( ) Although Cardassia Prime was a world with few natural resources , the rare mineral jevonite could be found on the planet . ( ) History . Prior to the militarization of the Cardassian government , Cardassia was home to some of the finest art and architecture in the quadrant . However , the once great Cardassian civilization fell in to severe decay . Due to the planet ' s scarcity in natural resources , the impoverished society suffered from famine and disease , leading to millions of deaths . The Cardassian military continued this destruction of its heritage in order to fund the Federation - Cardassian War . ( ) At the end of the Dominion War , determined to punish the Cardassian people for their acts of rebellion against the Dominion , Weyoun ordered that Lakarian City be destroyed , resulting in the deaths of two million civilians . This could not , however , have prepared the Cardassian people for an even greater tragedy . After the destruction of Lakarian City , the Cardassian forces switched sides to aid the Federation Alliance . Enraged by the turn of events and betrayal , the Female Changeling demanded that the Cardassian people be wiped out . After planetary bombardment from the Dominion and Breen fleets in orbit and mass slaughter from the Jem ' Hadar on the planet surface , the death toll stood at an estimated eight hundred million Cardassians , with a large portion of the cities in ruins . ( ) Appendices . Background information . " car - DASS - ee - uh " was the pronunciation for this planet ' s name from the script pronunciation guide for " Tribunal " . The DS9 writing staff hoped to establish Cardassia in the second season of the series . " " We ' re going to have to explore what Cardassia is , " " declared Ira Steven Behr . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 24 , Nos . 3 / 4 , p . 108 ) The second season outing established that the Cardassian homeworld was called Cardassia Prime . The planet was first seen on screen shortly thereafter , in ( Season 2 ' s penultimate episode ) . Benjamin Sisko actor Avery Brooks , who directed " Tribunal " , had to account for the newness of the locale . " " So there were new things for me to consider , " " he recalled , " " like what the temperature was likely to be , and that kind of thing . " " ( " " , p . 150 ) In " Tribunal " , the Cardassian homeworld was realized with several matte painting s illustrated by Illusion Arts , Inc . . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 / 26 , No . 6 / 1 , p . 111 ) One such painting was specifically done by Syd Dutton and Robert Stromberg . ( " " , p . 150 ) Stromberg was instrumental in creating the views of Cardassia in " Tribunal " . A matte painting he created of the episode ' s Cardassian cityscape took cues from space station Deep Space 9 . " " Robert took architectural elements from that and painted buildings that emulate that type of structure , " " stated David Williams , the optical cameraman at Illusion Arts . " " He used dark lighting because Cardassians don ' t like light . " " Stromberg also added a volcano , in some preliminary sketches , but it was later removed , because the producers thought it was slightly too much activity for the scene . The final version of the matte painting measured 20x24 inches . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 / 26 , No . 6 / 1 , p . 72 ) For the views of Cardassia in " Tribunal " , several forced - perspective miniatures were crafted by model - maker Tony Meininger . ( " " , p . 150 ) As well as being populated by adding footage of people from Illusion Arts , the aforestated Cardassian matte painting by Stromberg was combined with a miniature for the foreground , which allowed for a considerably complex camera move . The landscape portion of the painting was shot in one camera pass , then a second pass filmed the clouds above the city . While the clouds were being recorded , the motion control rig moved the painting at a faster rate than for the first pass , creating the illusion of rolling clouds when the two passes were put together . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 / 26 , No . 6 / 1 , pp . 72 - 73 ) Production Designer Herman Zimmerman has said he took inspiration in the set design for " Tribunal " from ' s 1948 book , and of the final look of Cardassia , Zimmerman explained , " " Spartan , uncompromising and merciless are all adjectives that you could use to describe Cardassia . " " ( " " , p . 150 ) Following its on - screen debut in " Tribunal " , plans were made for Cardassia to continue being developed in DS9 Season 3 . " " There are things happening on Cardassia which you heard a bit about in ' The Maquis ' and ' The Wire ' . We ' re going to keep that bubbling , " " stated Ira Steven Behr . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 / 26 , No . 6 / 1 , p . 98 ) At the conclusion of that season , Behr declared that " deepening Cardassia " was an important goal for the writers to bear in mind for the fourth season . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 115 ) The DS9 writing staff continued elaborating on the politics of Cardassia . In season four offering , the writers used the planet to metaphorically represent the USSR during the period after the Berlin Wall came down , when communism waned in favor of capitalism . " " We were kind of going down that road with Cardassia , " " reflected Robert Hewitt Wolfe . ( " " , p . 274 ) Similarly , Wolfe likened Cardassia , shortly before it joined the Dominion in fifth season installment , to impoverished Germany under the governance of the in the time between the two world wars . " " Cardassia was losing , " " he noted . ( " " , p . 427 ) At one time , writing duo David Weddle and Bradley Thompson – taking inspiration from a news story about Russian scientists who were extracting plutonium from nuclear warheads and selling it , and bearing in mind Cardassia Prime was falling apart – imagined what would happen if the planet ' s inhabitants decided to sell off Cardassia ' s weapons . This idea was the genesis of season five outing , though the planet was ultimately written out of the story . ( " " , pp . 437 - 438 ) By the time René Echevarria wrote DS9 Season 7 installment , the DS9 writing staff were definite they aimed to have Cardassia destroyed at the end of the series . " " That was something Ira [ Behr ] specifically wanted , " " explained Echevarria . " " The world in flames . The earth salted . Destroyed . It was almost personal . " " ( " " , p . 608 ) In , a scene set on Cardassia , in Enabran Tain ' s basement , was edited down . ( " " , p . 694 ) Views of Cardassia from orbit were included in visual effects footage from which was supervised by David Stipes . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 32 , Nos . 4 / 5 , pp . 87 & 88 ) According to " " ( pp . 35 , 43 & 46 ) and the " " ( " The Dominion War : Strategy and Battles , 2373 - 75 " & " Stellar Cartography " , p . 18 , 20 - 21 ) , the capital of Cardassia ( Cardassia VI ) was Lakat . The dominant species were the humanoid Cardassians . In 2378 , the population was 7 . 9 billion . The Cardassians have been warp - capable since 1925 . Major attractions of the planet included the Imperial Plaza , the Lakarian Amusement Park , and University of Culat . In December 2375 , the Battle of Cardassia was won by the Federation and its allies . During this battle , the Dominion instrumented a planet - wide " vengeance genocide " against their former allies . Most of the major cities were destroyed . Lakat alone suffered 2 million dead . After the war , Bajorans aided the Cardassians in the rebuilding of their world . According to Decipher ' s " Aliens " sourcebook , Cardassia is the third planet in its system . However , the " Worlds " sourcebook says it ' s the second planet in its system . Apocrypha . In the non - canon novel " A Stitch in Time " , Elim Garak aids in the reconstruction of Cardassia after the Dominion War . Furthermore , despite opposition from prominent figures such as Gul Evek and Gul Madred , Cardassia took on a democratic - styled government , ending the military ' s rule . In the alternate future seen in the " Deep Space Nine " book trilogy " " , Cardassia Prime , along with the entire Cardassian Union , were razed by the Grigari . By the year 2399 , the Cardassians were all but extinct .