Qo ' noS Qo ' noS ( alternatively spelt Q ' onoS , also known as Kling , and transliterated to Kronos in English ) was an inhabited class M planet in the Qo ' noS system , the homeworld of the warp - capable Klingon species , and the capital of the Klingon Empire . ( " " ; ; ; ; ; ) Astronomical data . Qo ' noS was located in the Qo ' noS system and had one moon , Praxis . The system was in Sector 70 ( the Qo ' noS sector ) in block 27 , the Omega Leonis sector block , in the Beta Quadrant . The exact coordinates of the planet were 43 . 89 . 26 . 05 in grid 09 , quad 68 , block 27 , sector 70 . ( , " display graphics " ) Qo ' noS was about four days away from Sol at warp 4 . 5 and was less than ninety light year s from the Sol system . ( ) Planetary features . Described as a " planet of cave s " , the planet was composed of a subterranean series of volcano es , which lay dormant for centuries , to the point of being considered extinct , before becoming alive again in the 2250s . Some caves were of substantial size , including caves not connected to the volcano system . ( ) The planet ' s upper atmosphere was dense , preventing Starfleet from conducting long - range topographical and energy analysis , at least until the mid - 24th century . As such , the Federation went into with Qo ' nos considered uncharted territory . ( ) The planet had chaotic weather systems ; thunderstorms were frequent . ( ) History . As the homeworld of the Klingon s and the capital world of the Klingon Empire , Qo ' noS housed the Klingon High Council and other important institutions . Warp capability was achieved some time after 1947 and warp 6 had been achieved some time before 2152 . ( ; ; ; ) Using the Vulcan star charts , Qo ' noS was first visited by Human s in 2151 . ( ; ) During the 22nd century , the Vulcans acquired a black market survey of the planet . It remained some of the only intelligence Starfleet had on the planet even a century later . ( ) During the late 2250s , the volcanic system underpinning the planet was again alive , after centuries of inactivity . ( ) Despite the Klingons ' xenophobic views , the Orion s held land on Qo ' noS , which they used as an " embassy outpost . " The outpost had a hefty non - Klingon population , dominated by Orions , and even the presence of Human s was not significantly questioned . ( ) In 2293 , the ozone layer on Qo ' noS was severely damaged when Praxis , a key energy - production facility for the Klingon Empire , exploded after an accident involving over - mining , its destruction sending out a subspace shock wave . This event forced planning for the evacuation of Qo ' noS and led to the signing of the First Khitomer Accord with the Federation . ( ) Wesley Crusher claimed that Qo ' noS joined the Federation at some point between 2327 and 2365 . ( ) The Treaty of Alliance was signed by both parties . ( ) In 2375 , Julian Bashir and Miles O ' Brien discovered evidence that covert operations on Qo ' noS were currently being conducted and monitored by Section 31 . ( ) Mirror universe . In the mirror universe , Qo ' noS turned into a blackened ball of dust when Terran emperor detonated a hydro bomb in the vents of the planet ' s volcanic system , triggering a phreatic eruption and rendering the planet uninhabitable within weeks . Though Terran ships fired on ships trying to escape , the attack did not result in the extinction of the Klingons . ( ) Subsequently , Georgiou held the title Dominus of Qo ' noS . ( ) Alternate reality . In the alternate reality , had been fragmented by 2259 , when took refuge on Qo ' noS after attacking Starfleet Headquarters . The was ordered to execute him using advanced long - range torpedo es , but Captain elected to descend to Qo ' noS in a K ' normian trading ship to apprehend Khan instead . After an altercation with a Klingon patrol , Khan surrender ed to Kirk once he surmised that his crew were located within the torpedoes . ( ) Further information . Geographical . One area of the planet was given to the Orion s , who built an embassy outpost there . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Establishing the homeworld . During development of the aborted TV series " " , John Meredyth Lucas wrote a two - parter , called " Kitumba " , which would have featured the Klingon homeworld . The planet was described as being only marginally larger than Earth . Because of the Klingons ' belief in their invincibility , the planet would have had no defense systems . The Klingon warlord , who presided over political and military decisions , resided here . ( " " ) The Klingon homeworld was also to have featured in the second " Star Trek " film , as planned by Gene Roddenberry . Susan Sackett wrote that the movie would feature not only an extensive insight into the Klingons ' way of life but additionally " an inside look at their home planet . " ( " " , p . 215 ) This also , however , did not enter development beyond the conceptual stage . In an interview conducted about midway through TNG Season 3 , Worf actor Michael Dorn was asked if he would like the Klingon homeworld to be featured in an episode . He replied , " " That ' s an easy way out . " " ( " " , p . 5 ) The Klingon homeworld first appeared later in TNG ' s third season , in the episode . Both " Our Brother ' s Keeper ” by Beth Woods and " Brother to Dragons " by Drew Deighan , scripts which inspired " Sins of the Father " , included the Klingon homeworld ; " Brother to Dragons " was partly set on the planet and " Our Brother ' s Keeper " referenced it . ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) Writer Ronald D . Moore was pleased to be asked to script " Sins of the Father " precisely because it was to be the first installment to show the planet . ( ) Director Les Landau similarly relished the task of representing the planet , later enthusing , " " Here was an opportunity to explore the Klingon world in depth from beginning to end . " " ( " " , p . 194 ) At the outset of writing " Sins of the Father " , Ron Moore provided Co - Executive Producer Michael Piller with an explanatory two - page memo about the Klingons which included the statement , " " The Klingon homeworld is a world of extremes . The tilt of the planet ' s axis results in wild seasonal changes and there is a great deal of volcanic activity . There ' s a single land mass and an enormous , turbulent ocean . The race we know as Klingon was born on this harsh and brutal planet . " " Presumably referring to the same planet , the memo also noted , " " The Klingon Empire sprang from a single , relatively poor planet in a modest star system . " " ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) The final - draft script for " Sins of the Father " echoed some of those ideas , stating , " " The planet has a single large land mass , and the world is dominated by a vast ocean . The tilt of the planet ' s axis has created wild seasonal changes and the atmosphere should appear turbulent and showing extremes of both warm and frigid weather on the planet . " " Upon establishing Qo ' noS in " Sins of the Father " , the creative team opted to give the Klingon homeworld a murky green sky and make the planet , as seen from space , appear primarily green . By way of explanation , Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry stated , " " I guess [ it was ] my homage to [ Altair IV in ] , which had a green atmosphere , and we just felt that there would be a degree of noxiousness on the Klingon homeworld . " " ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) For " Sins of the Father " , Syd Dutton of Illusion Arts was assigned to create a matte painting of the Great Hall and surrounding First City . ( 1st ed . , p . 118 ; 3rd ed . , p . 178 ) When Dutton and Dan Curry were planning this painting , Curry took inspiration from personal experience of having spent much of his youth in Asia , primarily Thailand , Laos , and Nepal . Said Curry , " " I wanted the Klingon architecture to kind of be an amalgam of those architectural styles [ . . . ] Syd immediately got what I was talking about and Syd ' s first sketch became the final sketch , and Syd would do a sketch on brown wrapping paper in oils and then [ . . . ] I ' d talk to [ Executive Producer ] Rick Berman and [ Co - Producer ] Peter Lauritson about it and they would go with it , so we went ahead with the final version . " " The illustration was ultimately still an oil painting , though painted on Masonite , and measured about four feet wide . Purposefully making the painting very wide enabled focus on different portions of the illustration to represent different parts of the city . The matte painting of Qo ' noS designed for " Sins of the Father " had some additional elements composited together with it , such as rear - projected footage of people walking around between columns in the exterior of the Great Hall . The painting was also to show the First City amid a lightning storm . " " The lightning was composited on an optical printer , not a digital composite , " " clarified Dan Curry . " " Syd [ Dutton ] would then paint different angles of light for the reflections , so it wasn ' t just a flash frame but you felt that the lightning was directional . " " The painting was composited by Dutton ' s partner at Illusion Arts , Bill Taylor . ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) Also for " Sins of the Father " , Production Designer Richard James and Set Decorator James Mees had to devise the creation of sets for the Klingon homeworld . Les Landau explained , " " [ They ] had to visualize [ the planet ] in terms of set design and set decoration . Additionally [ . . . ] Marvin Rush , the cameraman , had to conceptually find a visual representation of what the Klingon world was all about [ . . . ] There were long detailed conversations about how , conceptually , we should deal with them [ i . e . the challenges of showing the planet in live - action ] . " " ( " " , p . 194 ) Multiple sets and set pieces used to represent Qo ' noS in " Sins of the Father " were reused from previous " Star Trek " productions . Ron Moore commented , " " We didn ' t build anything for ' Sins ' by itself , I don ' t think . " " Circular arches on the planet were first made for , in which they were encompassed in the interior of the cryosatellite featured in that episode . A street in the First City was made from pre - existing set pieces which were integrated especially for " Sins of the Father " . Even the Great Hall was substantially redressed from having been used as the laboratory aboard the Tanuga IV research station , shown in . ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) The sets created for Qo ' noS in " Sins of the Father " were hugely successful . " " Ultimately , Rick Berman gave the final approval for each and every one of the ideas and details , " " stated Les Landau , " " and we showed a world that was heretofore never seen before , and which the audience craves to see more of . " " As such , Landau was extremely pleased with the amount of effort that James , Mees and Rush went to in helping depict the planet . ( " " , p . 194 ) The interior design of the Klingon Great Hall and other sets in " Sins of the Father " actually earned James and Mees the Emmy Award for Best Art Direction . Upon viewing " Sins of the Father " many years after having written it , Ron Moore was amazed by the extensiveness of the sets for the Klingon homeworld , shortly thereafter remarking , " " I was struck by how many sets we had , and this was one of the bigger pieces we did on the show , because we didn ' t normally have this many sets on an alien world . " " ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) According to Ron Moore , the entirety of " What Dreams May Come " – a story by Drew Deighan that gradually evolved into becoming – was set in orbit above the Klingon homeworld , involving the " Enterprise " - D and two Klingon battle cruisers . Production changes prevented the planet appearing in " Reunion " at all , though . " " You know , there were lots of sequences down on the Klingon homeworld , " " said Moore . " " Those got cut very early on . " " In early drafts of the outing , the Klingon homeworld was to have been the location where Duras went , after killing K ' Ehleyr , pursued there by Worf ( who ends up killing Duras ) and Riker . ( " Reunion " audio commentary , TNG Season 4 Blu - ray ) However , this setting was clearly altered to Duras ' Bird - of - Prey . For , a matte painting of the Klingon homeworld on fire , during the Klingon Civil War , was done by Syd Dutton and Robert Stromberg at Illusion Arts . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 23 , No . 2 / 3 , p . 35 ) Much consideration was given to whether more of the Klingon homeworld would appear in than does feature into that film , showing more than just a Klingon courtroom . Screenwriter Mark Rosenthal explained , " " What happened was that they felt in terms of budget , recreating the entire planet would be impossible , so it became this prison concept [ on Rura Penthe ] . The original idea was to go to the actual capital city . I still think it was a better idea . " " ( " The Making of the Trek Films " , 3rd ed . , p . 100 ) In a deleted scene from , Worf regretfully commented to Deanna Troi that he should have taken Alexander to visit " the Klingon homeworld . " ( TNG Season 7 Blu - ray special features ) Ron Moore was happy that DS9 Season 3 installment provided an opportunity to revisit Qo ' noS , later reminiscing , " " I was glad to go to the Klingon homeworld for a change . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 90 ) Moore also non - canon ically imagined that Qo ' noS was visited by Worf in the interim between the destruction of the " Enterprise " in and his arrival on Deep Space 9 in DS9 Season 4 premiere . ( ) In Ron Moore ' s first draft of DS9 ' s final Klingon episode , , Gowron returned to Qo ' noS at the end of the installment . The planet isn ' t depicted in such a way in the episode ' s final version , though , as Gowron is instead killed aboard Deep Space 9 . ( " " , p . 691 ; " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 32 , Nos . 4 / 5 , p . 74 ) Even though the regular characters on included half - Klingon B ' Elanna Torres , the premise of the series meant the show couldn ' t regularly feature Qo ' noS as a setting . ( " " , p . 164 ) At one point , though , it was rumored that the next " Star Trek " series after " Voyager " would probably be set on the Klingon homeworld . Ron Moore dismissed this as " just a rumor . " Kronos was mentioned in the series bible for . In that document , it was stated that , if Hoshi Sato was given ten minutes with a Klingon , she ' d soon be chatting about the weather on Kronos . The script of specified that , in that episode , a visual effect of the Klingon homeworld was to represent the planet during one of its days . The document also detailed the view of the planet thus ; " " The gothic towers of the Klingon High Council Chamber rise above the smoggy yellow haze of the teeming capital city . " " Dan Curry recalled , " " My immediate reaction [ to the script ] was , ' Let ' s contact Syd Dutton at Illusion Arts . " " ( " NX - 01 File 02 " , ENT Season 1 special features ) Hence , Illusion Arts went on to create the episode ' s matte painting of the Klingon capital . ( ) Continued Curry , " " We looked at reference photographs and we found a photograph of some place in Morocco or North Africa that was in Syd ' s library and we loosely based the terrain on it . " " Since Dutton was very busy at the time , however , he brought in another matte painter , Bobby Scifo , who did the shot of Qo ' noS that was finally used for " Broken Bow " . It was decided that this representation of the Klingon homeworld would feature a large canyon . " " Some of the staff at Illusion Arts , I think it was John Wong , built a very rough , large - scale model , maybe ten feet across , of this canyon with Klingons in it , " " explained Curry . The miniature allowed the team to view the buildings from different perspectives , knowledge which they then used to decide how the final shot would look , incorporating the same buildings from the model . ( " NX - 01 File 02 " , ENT Season 1 special features ) During filming of , a green screen , on Paramount Stage 9 , stood in for a holographic view of Kronos , a perspective from " a hilltop overlooking the great city below , " as stated in the episode ' s final draft script . Next , the green screen was replaced with a CGI depiction of that view . ( " Information from call sheets " ) Brannon Braga opted for the Klingon homeworld not to appear as the location of a Klingon courtroom in the " Enterprise " installment , which was instead subsequently intended to be on Narendra III . This was because the homeworld had been shown earlier in the series and " Enterprise " was conceived to generally be , at the point when " Judgment " was due to air , moving further out into space . ( " Judgment " audio commentary and podcast ) The holographic view of Kronos from " Unexpected " was also included in an amended complaint of copyright infringement in the case of Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios vs . Axanar Productions and Alec Peters ( the court document was filed on ) . That document also stated that Qo ' noS had first appeared in " Sins of the Father " and had subsequently " played a large role " in . Qo ' noS in the alternate reality . For the planet ' s appearance in , the filmmakers were inspired by , the city abandoned due to the Chernobyl disaster that inspired Praxis in " The Undiscovered Country " . Roberto Orci commented about the planet , " " Maybe its civilization was built on top of the old version of the Klingon civilization , so Scott Chambliss did an amazing job of putting the new on top of , sort of , ruins of a city that may have gone through a Praxis - like event . " " Chambliss himself explained , " " At first , Qo ' noS was going to be a super - industrialized place , where the off - product of their industry was so toxic , they basically turned the planet itself into an utter waste zone . In doing that , they altered the environment so much it became a non - stop storming planet . There was only lightning , storm , and crazy wind in the sky . You couldn ' t even walk the surface of the planet , because it was all oceans of toxicity . They had burrowed down into the planet , as well as built their city on top . They kept building higher and higher because the meth level got higher and higher . " " The concept of the highly polluted Klingon homeworld went on to influence the design of the place . " " When it came down to dealing with it , " " recalled Scott Chambliss , " " the [ battle ] sequence wasn ' t fully fleshed out in the beginning , which is normal [ . . . ] Ultimately , that took us to a place of trying all different kinds of environmental pieces of this overall picture of toxified Qo ' noS [ . . . ] I think I did 14 different versions of the set . Each one had a different specificity of what it was , and why it was the way it was . Nothing really landed with J . J . [ Abrams . ] It finally got to the point where I needed to do something a lot more abstract . " " Chambliss also remarked that the area of Qo ' noS featured in the battle sequence was " probably a factory " and possibly had been " a munitions factory " or " a place for building space craft . " ( ) Scott Chambliss took classical influence for the columns in this region . " " The quadrant of the city where the action takes place is sort of an interpretation of the Roman , the warrens below the Colosseum floor , " " he said . The idea of designing the set in an extremely abstract way led Scott Chambliss to propose a particular feature of the site , which he described as a " big , glowing , lensy thing in the background , the big halo . " This element was based on the sculptural installation . " " That was the thing I kept staring at , and seeing the scale of a Human being in front of it , " " he reflected , " " and thought , ' This is so cool . Maybe this is a way into what we ' re doing , playing with a massive sunburst or light source , or whatever the hell it was going to be , against our villain , who is supposed to be the baddest guy on Earth . ' But the epic scale of that glow even makes this huge bad guy look tiny . " " ( ) Following the set ' s construction , the rest of the planet was fleshed out . At Pixomondo , the look of the world was designed by CG Supervisor Enrico Damm and Compositing Supervisor Dan Cobbett . Remembered Pixomondo Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Grossmann , " " The way J . J . turned it over to us was as a moody and atmospheric environment [ . . . ] For the larger planet and the flying through it , we tried to take as many design cues from the partial , destroyed set that was there as far as textures and design angles , and extrapolate from that what a city , planet and building would look like . " ” These aspects became a combination of industrial areas and ten - mile - high building spires existing in the dense , polluted air . Pixomondo also developed a toxic atmosphere from which the ships could appear . Grossmann added , “ " We took reference from the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and from really tall and spire - y buildings [ . . . ] What I liked was when you see pictures photographed from up there , the buildings are so tall that they peek through the clouds and you have no real sense of how far you are away from the ground . That gave us the idea to build the planet Kronos in atmospheric layers . We tried to imagine what a planet like Jupiter would be like underneath all these layers of atmosphere . " " The upper levels of Qo ' noS were based on thinking that , in the upper atmosphere of a Jupiter - like planet , there might be occasional clarity amongst the thick clouds . “ " As we start to descend down through the atmosphere , " " stated Ben Grossmann , " " we had the idea to almost give it an underwater feel . We figured that with that much humidity and moisture to create a toxic cloud , you ’ d imagine there ’ s a lot of toxic sludge around . We ran a bunch of waterfall simulations and we allowed pretty high amounts of accumulated condensation to create these toxic waterfalls . " ” Lower in the planet ' s atmosphere , the lighting shifted to seem akin to an underwater cave , with shafts of light scattering in the atmosphere and illuminating the environment . “ " We realized the most effective way to nail this look and make it feel real was by rendering as much as possible the volumes of atmosphere all in one , " ” Ben Grossmann recounted . “ " Normally you just render lighting passes and let the compers dial in the balance [ . . . ] But when you ’ re shooting everything through a really heavy atmosphere , that technique doesn ’ t work anymore . So what you have to do is render the effects volumes properly lit from within and calculating the qualities of the light as they move through varying densities of atmosphere . Needless to say that was quite a render hog but gave us the look we were going for in the end . " ” The fluid simulations were done in Naiad , whereas volumetric effects – such as atmospheric swirls from wing tips – were rendered in FumeFX . Ben Grossmann concluded , " " To help give a sense of scale to these volumes we ran blowing air debris and bits of ash and detritus as fluid sims rendered out with Thinking Particles . And we used Krakatoa too [ . . . ] Buildings [ were ] rendered in V - Ray . " " Minor CGI was involved even in the area used for the battle sequence , such as tattered pieces of fabric which were included as ground elements and were created as cloth sims . The name of the homeworld . It took a long time before the Klingon homeworld received a definitive name on - screen . Ron Moore later remembered , " " There was a matter of great debate , within the [ TNG ] staff , about naming the Klingon homeworld . It was one of these tedious discussions that went on " ad nauseum " , far beyond its actual importance , because writers would just sort of name the Klingon homeworld and then everyone would hate it [ . . . ] Memos flew around about this , and we ' d sit and we would write all these Klingon names [ . . . ] to try and come up with something that sounded decent and interesting and strong , for their homeworld . " " ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) During the making of " Sins of the Father " , linguist Marc Okrand was invited to name the planet . " " The Homeworld was a big deal , " " Okrand recalled . " " I actually came up with about six names , some sounded good , some actually meant something . Paramount gave them to Gene Roddenberry and he picked his favorite . I had no further connection with it until I saw the episode and all they said was ' we ' re going to the Homeworld . " " ( ) Indeed , the writing staff went through a period , between considering names , in which they planned to refer to the planet merely as " the homeworld . " Commented Ron Moore , " " Then that got awkward , ' cos you were constantly saying , ' on the homeworld , ' and , ' Where ' s the homeworld ? ' [ and ] ' Set course for the homeworld . ' And so we started trying to come up with a name . " " ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) Several names for the planet have been established on screen and in reference works . An NBC press release which was issued on 3 January 1968 and pertained to , for instance , referred to the Klingon planet ' s name simply as " Klingon . " ( " " ) As another example , the " Star Trek : Phase II " episode " Kitumba " referred to the Klingon homeworld as " Ultar " . ( " " ) According to Ron Moore , Marc Okrand suggested naming the planet either " tlhIngan " ( the unofficial Klingonese name for the Klingon species ) or something similar , which Moore considered " almost unpronounceable . " ( " Sins of the Father " audio commentary , TNG Season 3 Blu - ray ) Location of Qo ' noS and the Empire . In dialogue , the Klingons have always been exclusively identified as an Alpha Quadrant race . The Klingon association with the Alpha Quadrant began to be established in . In , the Klingons are mentioned as having had a series of skirmishes with the Romulan s , along the border between them . In , K ' Ehleyr states that Klingon wars are rarely confined to the Empire . She suggests the current war might eventually spread to the neighboring star systems , and eventually to the Tholian s and the Ferengi . All three were later established to be Alpha Quadrant powers , in such episodes as and . The association between Qo ' noS and the Alpha Quadrant was carried over to the dialogue in as well . In , Chief Engineer B ' Elanna Torres boasts that Klingon females are renowned in the Alpha Quadrant for their physical prowess and voracious sexual appetites . In , Captain Kathryn Janeway reminisces about what it would be like to live in Captain James T . Kirk ' s era , with the Alpha Quadrant still largely unexplored and Humans on the verge of war with the Klingons . In , Chakotay identifies the Klingon bat ' leth as an Alpha Quadrant weapon . The close proximity of Qo ' noS and Earth was established in the pilot episode of . Qo ' noS was located only four days away for a starship traveling at warp 4 . 5 . established that this was at most only ninety light year s away , as that was the farthest away from Earth any Human had ever gone , up to that point . In , Qo ' noS ' close proximity to Earth was further confirmed , as faster starships could easily reach the planet from the Sol system and return within a day . The film also includes a star chart display graphic of the Neutral Zone and the Klingon Empire seen in the offices of Admirals Pike and Marcus ; while not in focus or legible in the film itself , the star chart graphic was labeled , in the lower corner , as a map of the Alpha Quadrant . All the vagueness about the homeworld was at least concluded in a targeted comm burst display graphic from the film , directly establishing the location of the planet Qo ' noS to be in the Beta Quadrant . Before this , reference works that predated " Star Trek : The Next Generation " have depicted the location of the Klingon Empire and the homeworld in what has been , later on , established as the Alpha Quadrant . These include such works as the " Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual " ( T0 : 02 : 07 : 00 ) and " Star Trek Maps " ( Chart A ) . More recent reference works have , however , moved the Klingon Empire into the Beta Quadrant . They show that the Empire borders only the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets . Despite the conflicting canon ical dialogue references establishing the Ferengi and the Cardassian s as neighbors of the Empire , they are depicted on the other side of the Federation , away from the Klingons in these graphics . Only one of these star chart graphics depicting the Klingons in the Beta Quadrant has made a brief on - screen appearance , as a display graphic on a PADD in . The information on the PADD , though , was completely illegible on screen . Trivia . According to " " ( p . 55 ) , the capital city for the uniglobal government and for the Klingon Empire was the First City on Qo ' noS . The dominant species on the planet were the Klingon s . Points of interest on this world were the Great Hall , Qam - Chee , Tong Vey , Quin ' lat , Temple of G ' boj , Kri ' stak volcano , Lake of Lusor , and Caves of Kahless . The Klingons were warp - capable in 930 AD . The planet was on the front line during the brief Klingon Civil War of 2368 . In 2378 , there were 3 . 84 billion Klingons living on the planet . " Star Trek : Star Charts " also shows Qo ' nos as clearly being in the Beta Quadrant ( p . 55 ) , in very close proximity to , which is approximately 113ly from Sol , not the 90ly stated in dialogue . A " Star Charts " - derived chart seen in corroborates this . One theory ( relayed by Richard Arnold but effectively disproved in the two - parter and ) held that alternate hemispheres of the Klingon homeworld were responsible for the differences between Klingons with cranial ridges and those without . ( ) Since a range of white and African - American performers played Klingons on , different hemispheres of the planet were indeed given associations for the contrasts in the make - up . Make - Up Supervisor Michael Westmore explained , " " We settled on this strategy : all the natural brown - toned actors were Northern Klingons [ . . . ] All the fair - skinned actors were Southern Klingons . " " ( " " , p . 68 ) A similar hypothesis was suggested by Brannon Braga ; shortly prior to the premiere of " Enterprise " in , he postulated , " " Maybe there ' s a subspecies from a different continent on the Klingon homeworld . " " In reply to a Klingon - loving fan criticizing John Colicos ' pronunciations of Klingonese in , Colicos claimed an obscure area of the planet was where his character of Kor was from . " " I said , ' Oh , I come from a section of the Klingon planet over the hills and far away – in the southern part , where it ' s warmer , " " the actor relayed . ( ) The soundtrack of " " references this planet ; one composition is titled " The Kronos Wartet " , which like every track by Michael Giacchino , is also a pun , in this case referencing the .