Earth

Earth, characteristically referred to as Sol III, is the third-closest terrestrial planet from its main sequence star, Sol, and the presumed homeworld of the Human species. The permanent capital of the , it is one of the best-defended and most-developed planets among the .
Prior to the final years of the, Earth was the most populated planet in the UEG with over ten billion human residents. However, following in , the planet's population and defenses were decimated; billions of people were killed or evacuated to the few remaining Human colonial holdings.
By the War's end, much of the planet's was repopulated as refugees and former residents returned to Earth. In the following era dedicated to rebuilding human society, Earth's population saw a drastic uptick in residents to near pre-Covenant War levels. Official census data remains inconclusive, however, due to the presence of undocumented human and alien refugees numbered in the millions.
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==UEG Colony Record==
===Earth: Description===
:SYSTEM: Sol
:SATELLITES: Luna
:POPULATION: 7.9 billion
:With its large and diverse population, Earth serves as a center of governance, a leading center of artistic innovation, and the home of cutting-edge research and development. Terraforming technology has also helped to remedy centuries of mistreatment, though some environmental damage and scars of war will never be completely healed. Following the Covenant War, many of Earth's cities lay in ruins, but intensive reconstruction and redevelopment have resulted in normalcy and prosperity for most of the population.
==Post-War Reconstruction==
==Notable Locations==
As the oldest world in Human possession, Earth is a cultural and historical epicenter for human society. The scars of war and the signs of human civilization dot its surface, often twinkling in the darkness on its nightly face. With so much history and so many calling it home as the UEG's most populous and ancient world, there are many places on Earth and its lone moon, Luna, worthy of discussion.
There are millions of stories of note regarding Humanity's homeworld, it is ultimately a shame that the colonial citizens of distant worlds refuse to recognize Earth's significance. To the Insurrectionists, it's just another rock among the stars. Regardless, their opinion is wrong. Earth is the crown jewel of Human space, and it would be the greatest shame on the entire species should she fall. As expressed during the Covenant War, if Earth falls, Humanity falls.
==Residental Population==
Before the Human-Covenant War, Earth was easily the most-populated planet in the Human colonies, several space mega-habitats potentially withholding. With a population easily surpassing several billion, Earth easily outclassed the next closest planetary colony, at a measly 703 million residents. Major conflicts such as the , and later, the Human-Covenant War, saw the population fluctuate drastically into the twenty-sixth century as the number of refugees from distant colonies came to settle on Earth, ballooning to over ten billion people.
Significant lives were lost during the , reaching the point that over 90% of the planet's population was unaccounted for at a time, whether killed-in-action, evacuated, in hiding, or simply missing. Even in contemporary times, the population of Earth during the Battle for Earth and the years after remains up for debate. Not even the Unified Earth Government's federal ministries and departments struggled to find an exact number in the , including the Ministry of Information which was one of the first government agencies to officially put out any statement on the matter.
On the afternoon of the Human-Covenant War's official resolution, , the acting , , attempted to provide some degree of information regarding the Earth's population numbers even as clean operations were still ongoing and the dead and missing could not be accounted for. The original question was asked by a reporter from the Waypoint Nine Network, Jaywant Miralay, during the public conference at the UEG President's estate at the New Kirribilli House in .
In recent years, several disputed numbers regarding the population count before, during, and after the Battle of Earth came out, though, to what degree each are accurate remain inconclusive, especially regarding the number of former refugees residing on Earth.Inspired by a Twitter conversation on the official Halo Twitter page.
*Before the Battle for Earth in 2552, the reported population count was said to be near 10 billion people, including refugees.
*During the Battle for Earth, beginning in November 2552, evacuation orders and casualties from Covenant attack were so chaotic and terribly unorganized that over 90% of the planet's population could not be accounted for.
*The source on the 90% missing remark remains unknown and unfounded, however, the data point has found some backing with rumor-mills continuing to circulate the claim on and that the abandoned as many as 200 million civilians during tactical retreats from numerous combat theaters.
*A value of 9.8 billion people has been thrown around, however, what it alludes to specifically is unknown. It seems to be derived off of the stranded 200 million civilians controversy.
*In , the Unified Earth Government reported a supposed Earth population of 7.9 billion people, however, what census or statistical program that was used for the calculation has been withheld without explanation. Claims of misrepresentation of true population statistics have developed into ongoing riots among population centers hosting large quantities of disenfranchised colonial refugees.
*No official census reporting has been attempted regarding how many alien refugees have remained on Earth since the end of the Human-Covenant War.
===Transcript Excerpt - 03 March 2553===
==References==
Category:Canon Expansions
Category:UEG Inner Colonies