Romulan Neutral Zone

The Romulan Neutral Zone was an exclusion zone between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire that existed from 2160 until 2387. The Neutral Zone was established by treaty after the end of the Earth-Romulan War. Entry by either side into the Zone constituted an act of war. The Romulans incorporated a map of the Neutral Zone into the Romulan Senate chamber's floor. The Romulan Neutral Zone effectively ceased to exist in the wake of the Romulan supernova. (; ; )
== Location ==
The Neutral Zone was located in the Beta Quadrant. ()
In 2259, the location of this region was labeled on a stellar cartography chart that was seen on the 's ready room viewscreen. () 
During the Neutral Zone Incursion of 2266, the location of the Romulan Neutral Zone was labeled on a map of Sector Z-6 that was displayed on the bridge viewscreen of the . (, production art)
In 2293, the location of the Romulan Neutral Zone in the Milky Way Galaxy was labeled in a star chart that was in Captain James T. Kirk's quarters aboard the . ( okudagram)
In 2366, the location of the Romulan Neutral Zone was labeled on a tactical intelligence analysis that was displayed on one of the viewscreens of the . ( okudagram)
In 2369, the location of the Romulan Neutral Zone was depicted by a thin line on a Deep Space 9 traffic control database map that was displayed on one of the viewscreens of the Enterprise-D. ( okudagram)
== History ==
After the Earth-Romulan War, at least eight Earth Outpost Stations were built on asteroids throughout the Zone. In 2266, four of these outposts were destroyed by a Romulan Bird-of-Prey. Commander Hansen was in command of Earth Outpost 4 until its destruction. () Under the terms of the treaty, the Romulans had a legal right to seize and impound any Federation starship that entered the zone. () 
In 2311, the Neutral Zone was reinforced and redefined in the Treaty of Algeron. Deanna Troi recalled this fact when she discussed the incident with Commander Riker. (; )
In 2364, the was ordered to investigate the Neutral Zone to solve a mystery concerning the disappearance of a string of Federation outposts. It was later established that the outposts were destroyed by the Borg due to a signature technique unique to their technology. A crew member aboard the ship, Worf, described it: "The outpost was just not destroyed, it's as though some great force just scooped it off the face of the planet." Later that year, the Enterprise-D encountered a Borg cube that had obliterated several other populations in uncharted space in the same fashion. ()
In 2365, the Enterprise-D rendezvoused with her sister ship in the Neutral Zone before the Yamato exploded. After that, the Enterprise headed to Iconia to find out what happened to the Yamato. ()
In 2366, after receiving intelligence from a Romulan defector about a possible Romulan base at Nelvana III, outposts along the zone received warnings from Starfleet Command. Several independent vessels in nearby sectors received the same warning. ()
In 2367, according to a starship mission status chart seen on the bridge of the Enterprise-D, the and were assigned to patrol this zone. ( display graphic)
Later that year, in a false holographic future created for Commander William T. Riker on Alpha Onias III, his service record indicated that on stardate 49472, Riker was ordered to patrol the Neutral Zone on the and provide tactical support for Starbase 384. ( okudagram)
In 2369, according to a starship mission status seen in the observation lounge of the Enterprise-D, the and the were assigned to patrol this zone. ( production art) By this year, the Federation had installed subspace listening posts and gravitic sensor nets along their side of the zone. () For that year, one of the missions of Starbase 12 was as a base for ships patrolling the zone. This mission was mentioned in the Sector Ipai Relay Log. ()
In 2370, FGMS Gyt'aerat arrived at Deep Space 9 on stardate 47556.3 from the Neutral Zone. ( production art)
In 2373, the was ordered to patrol the Neutral Zone in prelude to a second Borg assault on Earth, as Starfleet Command felt that Jean-Luc Picard's experience with the Borg would make him a risk during the battle to defend Earth, but phrased it so as to indicate that their presence was necessary "in case the Romulans decide to take advantage of the situation." This despite that fact that there had been "no unusual activity along the Romulan border for nine months." As further stated by Data, "It seems highly unlikely they would choose this moment to start a conflict." ()
After the Romulans stole the , The Doctor was able to access the ship's navigational logs and determined that they were "at warp 9.9, heading straight for Romulan space," according to the map of the Neutral Zone he was viewing. Once the Romulans who had hijacked the Prometheus were within 40 minutes of the Romulan border of the Zone, their Commander Rekar altered the ship's heading to 118'26, taking them off course to Romulus and on course to a rendezvous with the Tal'Shiar fleet. Thirty-two minutes later, after the ship's EMH's had taken over the bridge, the EMH Mark II noted that they were now "only about eight minutes from the Romulan border" to the Neutral Zone. ()
In late 2374, before the Romulans joined the Dominion War, the bulk of their fleet was deployed along the Neutral Zone. () The disappeared and was presumed destroyed by the Dominion near the Neutral Zone. It was believed that the Dominion ships had crossed the Cardassian-Romulan border to strike the Cairo from the Romulan side of the Zone, a pattern the Dominion employed frequently and which the Romulans ignored due to their nonaggression pact with the Dominion. ()
In 2379, Praetor Shinzon attempted to fool Picard into believing he wanted the Neutral Zone to be abolished. ()
In 2380, a rescue team from the made an incursion through the Neutral Zone and into Romulan space so as to rescue Imperium Magistrate Clar, who was captured by them. ()
In 2381, the Cerritos was hijacked by Betazed Intelligence agents Cathiw, Dolorex, and Katrot after they were affected by Lieutenant jg T'Lyn's emotional turmoil over her transfer from the , which was being telepathically projected to everyone aboard and causing widespread emotional instability. The three set course for the Neutral Zone, but after T'Lyn's turmoil was resolved, the now emotionally stable crew retook their ship and averted an incursion at the last minute. ()
In 2384, Captain Thadiun Okona helped the fugitive crew of the modulate their shields to enter the Neutral Zone without breaking the Federation's treaty with the Romulan Star Empire. The under Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway was prevented from continuing its pursuit of the Protostar into the zone by Commander Kaseth's warbird. However, when the Protostar landed at Noble Isle, Kaseth led a Tal Shiar into the Neutral Zone to try to take the ship, but they were defeated by Murf. The Dauntless nearly destroyed the Protostar as a result before detecting that the Romulan forces had been defeated. ()
After the evacuation of Romulans threatened by the Romulan supernova ended, the Neutral Zone collapsed. Subsequently, people like Seven of Nine, who worked with the Fenris Rangers, felt called to maintain a semblance of order on the worlds the Federation left behind. ()
In an alternate future, the Neutral Zone had ceased to exist as a result of the Romulan Empire being taken over by the Klingons by 2395. ()
File:Romulan Neutral Zone map, 2266.jpg|A partial star chart of the Romulan Neutral Zone (2266)
File:The Explored Galaxy.jpg|The location of the Romulan Neutral Zone on "The Explored Galaxy" chart (2293)
File:Tactical Intelligence Analysis.jpg|Map showing a region of space between Outposts 3 and 6 (2366)
File:Neutral Zone map, Birthright II.jpg|Map showing another region (2369)
== Sectors ==
* Gamma Hydra sector
* Kaleb sector
* Sector 004/11 – 010/35
* Sector 009
* Sector 023
* Sector 030
* Sector 031
* Sector 045/34 – 052/32
* Sector 130
* Sector 134
* Sector 142
* Sector 1045
* Sector Z-6
== Objects in the Romulan Neutral Zone ==
* Devron system
* Epsilon Legato
* Iconia
* Moore's Star
* Nelvana system
** Sigma Nelvana
** Nelvana III
* Noble Isle
* Theta Curry
== Objects near the Romulan Neutral Zone ==
=== Federation side ===
* Algeron IV
* Alpha Onias system
** Alpha Onias III (uninhabited)
* Angel I (independent)
* Arloff IX
* Barradas system
** Barradas III (uninhabited)
* Calder system
** Calder II (Federation planet)
* Dessica II (independent)
* Draken system
** Draken IV (Federation planet)
* Galorndon Core (uninhabited)
* Gamma Hydra
** Gamma Hydra II
** Gamma Hydra IV (Federation planet)
* Kolarin system
** Kolarus III (independent)
* Vendor (independent)
* Yadalla Prime
=== Romulan side ===
* Beta Hutzel
* "Eden"
* Unnamed Romulan planet
== See also == 
* Romulan-Cardassian border
* Romulan-Klingon border
== Appendices ==
===Background information===
According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 66), the first outposts were the Earth Outposts. There were 23 of these outposts, which were established in 2160. The first seven outposts were built in what had been the Romulan War Theater of Operations. Additional outposts were built over the centuries. There were four Tango Outposts in the Bolarus sector, six Sierra Outposts in the Kaleb sector, three Romeo Outposts in the Taugan sector, and six Quebec Outposts in the Hyralan sector.
An okudagram map seen in Starlog Press publication depicted a portion of the Romulan Neutral Zone. On the map, the locations of Outposts 1-7 were depicted in Federation space. Outposts 41 and 42 were depicted in space claimed by the Klingon Empire. 
=== External links ===
* 
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de:Romulanische Neutrale Zone
es:Zona Neutral Romulana
fr:Zone Neutre Romulienne
ja:ロミュラン中立地帯
nl:Romulan neutrale zone
pl:Romulańska Strefa Neutralna
Category:Regions
 Romulan Neutral Zone
Category:Cartography