Terran Federal Republic

The Terran Federal Republic, also known as the Terran Federation or the Terran Republic and referring to itself in official documents as the State Sovereign, is a galactic superpower located in the eastern Orion Spur. It is the main and only human-led nation in the known galaxy. It encompasses over a hundred and fifty colonised worlds and over two billion star systems. As of 2723, its population is of 79 billion. It is a parliamentary federal republic, with democratically elected officials but also unelected technocratic officials. The Federation has the largest industrial output, military spending and research spending of any nation in the galaxy. The Terran capital is located on Earth, in three cities: New York, London and Paris. Of the three, London is by far the most prominent. 
Most Federal Ministries are located in other cities on Earth. Terra remains the economic, political, cultural and scientific heart o of the Federation, and a major diplomatic center for galactic affairs. Other major worlds include Mars, New Sidon, Hiigara, Xanadu and Rechio.
The TFR appeared as a successor state to the First Commonwealth, which was the first form of unified government encompassing all of Earth. Both the First Commonwealth and the Federation were founded by a man now only known as the Custodian. It was founded after the establishment of the Commonwealth of Mars to ensure that all human colonies would remain under the same authority. The Federation has expanded from Humanity's homeworld since the late 21st century. However the discovery of the FTL Graviton Drive in the late 2100s opened up the rest of the Galaxy for large scale exploration and colonisation. The first colony founded outside the Solar system was New Sidon in 2223 in the Alpha Centauri system. This expansion would only continue over the years to reach 138 Commonwealths, each one encompassing one world. 
Compared to other space-faring species, humanity spent most of its galactic history in relative isolation. Following the First Contact War (2320-2347), humanity entered a prolonged time of isolation known as the era of isolation. The only contact humanity had with other species was that of either war or domination, with the notable exception of the Menya Union. The other nations encountered by humanity were either subjugated into dominions, or the species were wiped out altogether, as with the Wemepo. During this period, humanity focused its efforts on increasing its population and developing its military technology so as to prepare itself for a future conflict. In 2633, the Federation entered the Great Ur-Hanl war, against every other power involved. Along with its Menya ally, the Federation steamrolled slowly but surely through alien territory. In the peace treaty signed in 2645, the Federation emerged as the conflicts primary victor. It imposed favourable terms for itself, destroyed the Ur-Han as a great power as retribution for the First Contact War and created the Union of Cygnus-Orion, an institution reminiscent of the United Nations of old. This allows the Federation to effectively dominate galactic politics through this institution. Whilst the Federation is in a hegemonic position, and is disliked by many aliens, its exceptional living standards, high opportunity and stability make it the prime candidate for many aliens to immigrate. The passing of anti-xenophobia laws in the 2650s resulted in a huge wave of alien immigration in the 2660s to the 2690s. 
The Federation is a great galactic power. The Federation has the largest navy of all galactic nations, as well as one of the largest populations and economies. The Terran technological level is comparable or ahead of other nations, especially in nanotechnologies and energetics. With trade and exchange with other species now being a part of everyday life scientific development has reached an all time high. The Terran economy is also flourishing with this new found trade. Many experts consider the Federation to have entered the so-called New Terran Golden Age with the establishment of the Komuggal Dominion. The discovery of Perseus Ultima prompted the Federation to start a joint expedition with the Menya Union, its oldest galactic ally, named the Magellan initiative. This ongoing expedition is considered to be a symbol of the New Golden Age.
==History==
===First Commonwealth===
For main article, check First CommonwealthThe First Commonwealth was a state which lasted for a 25 year period between 2072 and 2097. This period saw radical changes in culture, technology, the economy, society and the military. It starts with the foundation of the Custodian founded the Commonwealth during the Unification Wars. It ended with the founding of the Commonwealth of Mars, and subsequently the Federation itself. In many ways it's the first version of the Terran Federation, at a time where it only included Earth and the sparsely populated Mars. It was much more authoritarian than the Federation is now. It had no elections as its entire existence was spent in a state of emergency. Political repression was widespread and it is estimated around 80 thousand died during this period in great political purges. The Custodian is remembered as a founding father, of both the Terran nation and Terran ideals. Unlike the Old Earth period, the First Commonwealth is considered an integral part of Federal history.
===Solar era===
The Solar era is the part of Terran history which encompasses pre-FTL space exploration after the Unification. This is called the Solar era because due to the lack of FTL technologies exploration was mostly limited to the Solar System itself. 
The early parts of the Solar era were mostly focused on Mars and the Moon. At the time of the First Commonwealth Mars had already been partially colonised. By the time of the Unification Mars' population was around 80000. Mars would however not join the First Commonwealth until a few years later, when threats from Earth of cutting off supplies forced Martian leadership to join the First Commonwealth. Within a 20 year period Mars' population would reach a million. This was due to the fact that Mars was extremely cheap to build and buy estate on. Lower gravity also proved to be a lesser problem than what was thought before, and it was quickly realised that children could br born and raised with Martian gravity, with the caveat that they could not stay for prolonged period of time on Earth. The same was however not true of the Moon. The Moon had little to no permanent population, but had become a major hub between Earth and the rest of the Solar System due to its extremely low gravity. 
Within the mid-solar era the TFR had been fully formed and Mars had become a full on commonwealth. Limited colonisation of Venus and the moons of the four gas giants was started in this era. As imagined by Old Earth scientists and novelists, Venus was not colonised on its surface but high in its atmosphere. Balloon stations were established for mostly scientific purposes around the planet. The outside pressure, gravity and radiation being comparable to that of Earth, requiring people only to have light suits and oxygen masks when outdoors. The population of Venus was however during this period never exceeding the 10000, a hundred times less than Mars. Venus was therefore not given a full commonwealth status and instead was, like the Moon given limited autonomy within Commonwealth of Earth. Many moons of gas giants were explored and partially colonised. However, just like the Moon, the absence of substantial gravity meant that populations would rarely permanently stay to live on the moons. The moons which were the most developed were Enceladus, Ganymede, Europa and Triton. These often hosted large scientific crews as well as workers who would work on stations in orbit of the gas giants for months before returning to Earth or Mars. Triton notably, had the largest telescope in the Solar System and in the Federation up until the 2430s. This era also saw widespread use of space stations. Most were constructed around Earth, but a large number were also made in orbit of Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. 
The late Solar era marks the beginning of the FTL age. This comes after the discovery of the graviton by Henry-Chevalier, and before widespread colonisation of Alpha Centauri and other systems. This allowed for faster communication and travel within the Solar system. It also allowed for anti-gravitational and artificial gravity technologies, which effectively made any planet fit for colonisation. Anti-gravitational technologies were mainly put to use on Venus, where massive floating cities were built. Venus saw a drastic jump in population and became a commonwealth in 2176. The Moon and the moons of the gas giants would also have large cities with artificial gravity fields, which would allow for normal human life. This was also applied to Mars. It was however decided that even tho the population of the moon reached 5 million in 2183, it would remain an autonomous area of the Commonwealth of Earth. Other moons however would reach a million population and be granted the status of commonwealth. The only moons that became Commonwealths by the end of the Solar era are Europa, Io and Ganymede. 
The Solar era saw very little political and internal changes. The largest political event of this era was the creation of the Commonwealth of Mars and subsequently the formation of the Terran Federal Republic. This however was mostly a change in name, as institutions unique to the First Commonwealth were now simply being moved to a federal level. This also softened many of the aggressive policies of the previous regime, such as softening anti-religious laws. It also saw the first forms of development of space warfare. The most prominent ship of the time was the Aurora Neptune-I class carrier, a single ship which served as the flagship of the pre-FTL Terran Navy. This ship would however due to it being conceived pre-FTL end up being scrapped and never seeing action. 
===Era of exploration===
The Era of exploration encompasses the late 22nd, entire 23rd and early 24th century. It is called the Era of exploration as it saw tremendous space expansion with the arrival of FTL drives. However, this Era is also a time of relative technological stagnation. 
The Era of exploration saw the settlement of the outer Solar system, and what are now the Core worlds. These encompass Sol, Alpha Centauri, Barnard's and Sirius. To this day these remain the most populated systems of the Federation, alongside a few exceptions such as the Aarran and Xanadu systems. These were the only systems where Commonwealt were founded in this Era. Other systems were lightly settled, but mostly for scientific observations or military purposes. This time period also saw widespread military buildup, as the Federation was still fairly militarist from its origins. The use of space stations also declined, as with the exception of gas giants a general trend appeared where scientific bases would made on the ground and satellites would monitor planetary parameters in orbit. Many of the space stations, notably O'neill cyllinders in the Solar system were abandoned, and were sent into the Sun or were recycled. By the end of the era of exploration, the population of Earth and the population of all other worlds made a 50/50 split of the Terran population. 
The late Era of exploration saw the rise in the belief that humanity was the only spacefaring species in the galaxy. Whilst many planets other than Earth had life, many of them didn't have any form of intelligent, and some times not even any animal life. However, in 2320 this belief would be shattered with the encounter of the Ur-Han and the subsequent First Contact War, which ended the Era of exploration. 
===First Contact War and Era of isolation===
The Era of isolation is the longest in Terran history, lasting for over three centuries. It starts with the First Contact War and ends with the Great War. 
In the 2310s Terran explorers started detecting abnormal signals in the vacinity of Xanadu. These were soon confirmed to be of artificial origin. Terran explorer ships were destroyed by Ur-Han navies, which detected them as alien vessels. The Federation mobilized but its technologically inferior fleets were crushed in 2323 by the Ur-Han. The Ur-Han were still largely preoccupied with massive unrest in the aftermath of the Mer-Sam'ti War, and so they were unable to push into Terran space. The Terran Federation utilized the Ur-Han's lack of initiative, to reverse engineer Ur-Han technology and create three new armadas with this new technology. This was considered a near 200 year jump in technology. By 2331, the Terran Federation had tripled its navy relative to the beginning of the war. Now numerically and technologically almost equal, the Federation began an offensive. The Federation won several major battles, wiping out small Ur-Han fleets. The war culminated in the Battle of the Twin Suns in 2345, when the entire Ur-Han fleet gathered under the command of the king Orapt. He was however a very poor tactician and got the fleet wiped out, and his escape pod was destroyed. An armistice was signed and two peace treaties were signed in 2347 and 2349, the former being considered the end of the war. 
The Federation established first contact with the various species of the Mirdesh Confederacy, Surben Republic and Ur-Han after the peace deal. Whilst some wanted to establish permanent diplomatic relations, embassies and trade, public opinion was now firmly xenophobic. This would end up having the Federation close itself and not interfere in Galactic affairs for 300 years. The only exception to this were Dominions, which were designed the way they were as a direct result of the widespread Terran xenophobia. Whilst initially Terran leadership, especially the Technocratic core were initially not as xenophobic as the public, within 30 years this was no longer the case, and leadership became xenophobic too. In 2348 the Declaration of Confinement was made, declaring that no humans were to interact with any aliens, including corporations and the nation itself. This was formalized with other galactic nations in the 2349 peace treaty. This would last until the first dominion was established thirty years later. 
In 2373 the Federation encountered the Somne, who were now at an early interstellar age. The Federation declared war on the Somne and overwhelmed them within two years, as their fractured nation-states were unable to face the technological superiority of the Federation. This was extremely divisive in the Federation, as many were unsure what to do. Some proposed to enslave them, or even to exterminate them completely. These ideas were quickly dismissed as the vast majority of the population, whilst xenophobic, considered slavery and genocide to be abhorrent concepts. It was decided the Somne would be given their own nation, modelled after the Federation, and which would serve Terran interests. This was the first Dominion. Whilst initially interaction was limited, by the early 2400s the Federation and the Somne, now reorganized into the Somne Combine started extensively collaborating. The Federation shared most of its non-military technologies, allowing for the Somne to expand to a few thousand systems, and half a dozen worlds. 
By 2400, Mars had a population of around 400 million, mostly in domed cities. The prospect of terraforming had been abandoned for many years, but by the 2400s, with the discovery of mass artificial gravity drives, it was believed possible. In 2431, terraforming officially began. It was to be executed primarily by the Frijkstadt Corporation. In the first few months, a mass artificial gravity drive was installed and a hyper-magnetic generator. These protected the planet from Solar winds and made the gravity similar to that of Earth. After this, the planet's atmosphere was changed to be nearly identical to that of Earth. By 2450, the atmosphere had been completely replaced, and was nearly identical to that of Earth, but having more CO2, to facilitate greenhouse effect. During the following 40 years, Earth life was imported, as well as massive amounts of ice from asteroids and comets from the Solar system. By 2489, terraforming was considered to be complete, but large projects continued well into the 2500s. Whilst an undeniable success, the Terraforming process had been a colossal expense, using up nearly 8% of Terran annual GDP for 60 years. The Federation was able to sustain this due to the massive abundance of energy from technologies and materials from other systems, but it was judged that other planets would not be terraformed, due to the relative abundance of Earth-like worlds across the galaxy. The exception to this was in 2518, when it was decided Venus would be terraformed. Unlike Mars however, this "only" required changing the planet's atmosphere, and took 14 years, from 2518 to 2532 for a much smaller cost. This allowed for both Venus and Mars to grow populations comparable to that of Earth at the time. 
In 2456, the Terran Federation encountered a species, which is now called the Wemepo. Immediately upon encountering Terran ships, they opened fire. However, unlike the Ur-Han, the Wemepo were extremely hostile, and seemingly incapable of peaceful reasoning. The Ur-Han captured Terran ships, and tried communicating with captured Terran officers, but the Wemepo simply destroyed everything they came across. This was declared a primary threat to the Federation, and the Sixth Armada "Sauron" was dispatched to the Wemepo homeworld, and a few smaller formations were sent to destroy Wemepo fleets. By 2460, all Wemepo fleets had been destroyed, and their homeworld still refused to surrender. The Federation sent multiple emissaries to the ground, but these were brutally murdered on three separate occasions. The Federation subsequently began bombing the Wemepo homeworld. By 2462, the bombardment had ejected millions of tons of debris in the atmosphere, which created a winter, which was estimated to last for a hundred years. The Wemepo homeworld was observed for the following hundred years, and by the 2540s, it was estimated that only a few thousand Wemepo were left alive, in other words that over 99.99% of the population had been wiped out. Over the following decades all sentient lifeforms on the planet died out. Today, the Wemepo homeworld, just known as Wemepo is a major archeological hub for Terran and alien scholars. 
In 2488, the Permezi were encountered. They were much less advanced than the Somne had been, and were barely entering their space age. It was decided that they would have a similar fate to the Somne, but unlike the Somne they were willing to become a Dominion in exchange for Terran technology. This was a shock to the Terran public, as so far all aliens which had been encountered were a source of war and conflict. The Permezi, whilst completely encircled by the Federation, were granted a thousand systems, containing three worlds. 
Many, especially within the Armed Forces, were outraged at the peaceful contact with the Permezi. By 2493, they were openly protesting against the government. In 2495, several high ranking officers decided to attempt a coup. Whilst initially successful, capturing the Assembly and Chancellor buildings in New York, the Commission was swift to respond, and immediately ordered a counter attack. In fact, relatively few decided to join in the coup, as most military troops were stationed off-world, and the vast majority of the Army and the Navy were not unhappy with the government. The Terran Guard, charged with protecting Terran officials, including Legislators and the Chancellor were also opposed to the coup, and fought back the Army in New York. The coup, which had begun on June 5th, had been stopped by June 12th. In its immediate aftermath, sweeping reforms were made to the Armed Forces. Individual top commanders were given less power, and lower ranking officers were given more autonomy. This is when FLEETCOMM and GROUNDCOMM were established, as to guarantee a consensus amongst leadership before engaging in operations. 
In 2498, the Federation encountered the Menya. James Kon, a Terran private ship owner saw seemingly artificial lights on what was then HIP76503-1B, a planet uncolonized by the Federation. This planet was in fact the Menya's first extra-system colony, which they called Jekkita. Kon decided to investigate, and landed on the planet. He had grown up in the aftermath of the Wemepo war, and was raised in a hyper-xenophobic environment, but he rejected these values and fully embraced xenophilia, especially after the Permezi encounter. He encountered Menya settlers, who had never been in contact with another species. Whilst unable to properly communicate, Kon was able to use a proto-universal translator to have rudimentary communication. He departed from the planet three days later, and reported his findings to the Terran authorities when he was back from his journey 7 months later. Terran authorities seized his translator, and linguists with the help of algorithms were able to improve on Latin to Menya translation, and vice versa. The Third Armada and diplomatic corps were sent to contact the Menya. It was soon deduced that the Menya were not hostile, and that they were quite technologically advanced, though still behind on the Federation. By 2500, formal diplomatic relations had been established and several treaties were signed. The Terran Federation and Menya Union maintain good relations to this day. 
The 26th century is sometimes referred to as the Great Void by some historians. The Federalist-Technocratic coalition in government, which had so far been very proactive and progressive became fairly stagnant by the late 2400s. In the 2500s, Terran politics were fairly stale, economic growth started declining, and demographic growth also ceased. Whilst the exact reasons behind this stagnation are a widely debated topic, most historians agree that the excellent living conditions throughout the Federation, general government satisfaction and the prolonged political status-quo are behind this stagnation, which would be broken by the Great Ur-Han Civil war. 
The Era of isolation saw massive advances in military technology. This was due to both the Ur-Han and Wemepo first contact. In turn, this brought many civilian advances as well. The second half of the 24th and first half of the 25th century are considered by many the peak of technological advancements up until the New Golden Age. Some consider the Era of isolation to have ended with the Great War, whilst others consider that it ended in the early 2500s, when the Federation started extensively interacting with the Dominions and the Menya, and also assassinating several Ur-Han kings through the ICA.
===Great Ur-Han Civil war===
For main article, check Great Ur-Han Civil war
The Terran Federation was the last nation to enter the Great Ur-Han Civil war. Its involvement would prove decisive and would turn the tides of the conflict for a final time. The military campaign was relatively short, lasting only around 2 years (2647-2649), compared to the overall 37 years of the conflict. The Federation employed their extensive military research and expansion of the Era of Isolation to full effect. It is said that the Terran Navy did not lose a single ship during the war. This is a hyperbole, but it describes well the superiority of Terran forces against the already depleted Ur-Han. The Navy lost about 25 thousand men during the conflict, whilst the Army lost around 300 thousand. There were also no civilian losses, as the war was fought exclusively in Ur-Han space. Considering that the wars casualties are around 30 billion, these losses are extremely low. This has had a major impact on the Federation, which realised that its military capabilities were more than enough to not only defend itself but also invade other large nations. The Federation exited the conflict triumphant, becoming the dominant power of Eastern space. Military expansion would also reach a halt with the completion of the 13th armada in 2666. This also had large social ramifications on the Federation and Terran culture as a whole.
===Era of emancipation===
The Era of emancipation is the period from the end of the Great War in 2649 to the beginning of the Magellan Initiative in 2719. It is defined by the end of large scale intersstellar conflicts and by the opening up of the Federation to other nations. 
In 2649, the Coalition emerged victorious in the Great War. Most triumphant of all was the Terran Federation, now largest power in the galaxy, recognized by all others. The Federation pushed for the creation of a galactic community organization, in mirror to the Old Earth United Nations. The Union of Cygnus-Orion was formed in the immediate aftermath of the war, with every sovereign nation in the galaxy being represented. At its center was the Council, made up of the Terran Federation, Mirdesh Confederacy and Surben Republic. These were meant to settle differences between members and preserve peace. The UCO has largely been successful, as no large scale conflict has emerged since its foundation. The Terran Federation decided to finally open up to other nations in the aftermath of the Great War. With its newfound recognition, it could negotiate on its own terms. The Federation signed a multitude of pacts with other nations, opening up to trade and research sharing. The movement of people was also made easier, with the UCO standard passports being implemented across known space in 2665. The Tesrat Republic, a close ally of the Federation and home to the headquarters of the UCO is located at the geographic center of known space, and has become a hub of trade, science and democracy. On several of its worlds, it has free ports, where traders from the Federation and other galactic nations come to trade without any tariffs. Whilst initially, the Era of emancipation was not a more than average prosperous time for the Federation, mostly due to the internal divisions of the Federation on the issue of opening up and the massive investments of the Federation in devastated countries, it quickly became clear that the markets the Federation opened itself to would lead it to a time of economic prosperity. Generally, Terran companies were able to steamroll foreign companies, as most of them didn't inherit the radical competitive culture which Terran companies had and they were for the most part weakened after the Great War, with the exception of weapons companies. This is most clear with Neue-King and Frijkstadt buying off several major companies in the Mirdesh Confederacy. The opening up also allowed for the sharing of many technologies, most notably true universal translators from the Mirdesh and force fields from the Surben. In 2689 the Terran Territories were granted to the Federation by the UCO Council, more than tripling its territory. By the 2680s, the Federation had normalized relations with all nations and had adopted a cooperative stance, and most of its population accepted aliens as equals. Whilst a prosperous time in its own right, the Era of emancipation is considered to only be a prelude to the prosperity and plentitude of the Terran New Golden Age, which whilst named after the Federation encompasses the whole of known space. 
===Terran New Golden Age ===
The Terran New Golden Age or NGA is the current era of the Federation. It started with the Magellan Initiative in 2719.
The Terran New Golden Age is called this way because from the mid-23rd to the early 24th centuries, a period corresponding to the second half of the Era of exploration, the Federation enjoyed a time of relative prosperity. This short lived golden age was cut short by the First Contact War. The New Golden Age, however, eclipses any amount of prosperity the galaxy has known up until now. With the galactic population now at around 450 billion, the NGA represents a new era for trade and travel between star nations, bringing with it great economic, cultural and technological prosperity. The Terran GDP and population annual growth have since the beginning of the 2710s been of at least 2% each year, and in 2722 the Terran GDP hit record growth of 5%. Other nations are also prospering. The Surben Republic, Tesrat Republic and Dermkha State have all received massive investements and loans from the Terran Federation to aid in their reconstruction post-Great War. By 2670, they had recovered their pre-war GDPs, and by the year of 2700 they had recovered their populations. They have all sustained strong economic growth, which now linked with the Terran economy also increased with the 2710s. The Tesrat Republic especially has seen extreme growth both in its population and economy. It now averages an economic growth of 16% a year and a population growth of 4%. This is mainly due to its geographically central position, being a the area where most trade in the galaxy goes. It is also the home of the Union of Cygnus-Orion, and as such has an important diplomatic position. The Mirdesh Confederacy, whilst prosperous hasn't seen the explosive growth of other nations. The culture of the Mirdeshi species however has spread all over the galaxy. Mirdesh media industry is the largest in the galaxy by far, and has penetrated every other nation. The Ur-Han, whilst initially very much excluded due to their role in the Great War, was by the 2690s an integral part of the galaxy again, but now as a secondary player. It enjoys relative prosperity. 
The Magellan Initiative is the symbol of the New Golden Age. It is an expedition launched in 2719, five years after the discovery of a hyperlane to Perseus Ultima. It is led by the Terran Federation and the Menya Union, and has seen involvement from most Dominions, the Surben Republic and the Ur-Han.
==Government==
===Organization===
The Federation is a federal technocratic parliamentary republic. Whilst it is a federal system, most of the power is on the federal level, as well as most legislation. The administrative units of the Federation are commonwealths. Each commonwealth encompasses one world. Commonwealths are usually formed when a world reaches a population of around a million. Commonwealths mostly hold the power to pass legislation which is directly in relation to the world in question. Commonwealths can also hold criminal investigations of their own but commonwealths do not have separate police forces from the central government. The military is also fully centralised. Commonwealths are unlike the Federal government entirely democratic. Commonwealths are led by an Administrator. He is directly elected for a 6 year term. The parliaments of commonwealths are unicameral. The only chamber is called the Commonwealth Parliament and is directly elected by its people. The number of representatives varies from commonwealth to commonwealth and is most often directly proportional to its population. However this is not always the case: the Commonwealth of Mars has 167 representatives whilst the Commonwealth of Venus, with a similar population, has 223 representatives. The Federal Commissionappoints a Governor to each commonwealth. He is the ultimate representative of the central government on that commonwealth. In theory they are able to remove Administrators from their office. This has however happened only 2 times in Federal history. Governors are not appointed for a mandate, once they are appointed they often remain indefinetly, or until they are replaced by the Commission. 
Multiple commonwealths in the same system form a stellar community. These stellar community virtually has no power whatsoever over the commonwealths themselves and only serves as a mediator between the commonwealths during disputes over resources.
The Federation has a bicameral parliament. It, like most other national offices are separated into the so-called Technocratic and Federal cores. The Technocratic core represents offices which are, as the name suggests, filled by technocrats. These are highly educated individuals which were trained from a very young age, usually around 12, to carry out various administrative and bureaucratic duties. Their dedication to the state itself is almost fanatical, putting its interests before theirs in all circumstances. Technocrats fill out various administrative positions, but most importantly make up the unelected Senate and the Federal Commission. The Federal core offices are those where they are democratically elected. The upper chamber of Parliament, the Senate, is the Technocratic chamber. It has 355 members who are randomly elected from the technocrats. The status of senatorial candidate is given out by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The lower chamber is democratically elected on a federal level. Assembly representatives are not meant to represent a commonwealth in particular but the people of the Federation overall. There are 1135 assembly representatives. 
The Assembly has no real parties, but rather factions. These are groupings of several, often dozens of, parties. These are however not to be confused with coalitions, which are instead alliances between several factions. In the last 200 years, the Assembly has been dominated by two coalitions: the Social-Liberals & Democrats (SLD) and the Federalists & Technocrats (FT). However, for all but one election in the past 350 years, every chancellor has been from the Federalist faction. This has led many to describe the Federation as a one-party state. 
After each election, thirteen randomly appointed anonymous senators form a new Federal Commission. It has no single leader, and yet serves as the nominal collective head of state. Whilst made up of thirteen members, the Commission is not a deliberative body. The Councillors, officially known as Lords debate amongst themselved until they reach a decision, which they then announce. The Assembly elects a Chancellor. The Chancellor is the counterweight to the Commission and is the head of government. His position is similar to that of prime ministers on Old Earth. He appoints Ministers but these can be overruled by the Commission.
The Commission is the head of state of the Federation, but the Chancellor is the main figurehead of government both internally and abroad. He attends diplomatic meetings and most other public events, whilst the Commission rarely addresses the public. 
The Senate, Chancellor and Commission are located in London, whilst the only Assembly is located in New York. The Federal Court of Justice, the highest court of appeal, is located in Paris. 
The federal and commonwealth elections alternate between each other, meaning there is an election every 3 years. All elections for legislative assemblies are proportional. They do not represent individual constituencies and so their results are interpreted from the votes of the Federation or Commonwealth as a whole. Elections where a single person has to be elected, such as Administrator or Mayor elections use a ranked voting system. 
Earth and the Solar System are unique. The Commonwealth of Earth does not have any institutions of its own, and instead any institutions that would be unique to a commonwealth are the federal ones on Earth. The Chancellor also serves de jure as Administrator of Earth, but he most often delegates this role to another person, most often in line with the election results from Earth. It also has no Governor, as it is considered that "Earth governs all worlds". Earth therefore does not have its own commonwealth elections and only votes in federal ones. The Solar System, despite being the most populated system in the Federation and the known galaxy does not have a Stellar Community either. Instead, any disputes between commonwealths are settled by the Federal Office of Solar Affairs. 
Legislative assemblies are forbidden to have an even number count. This is in theory supposed to reduce the odds of a perfect tie. However recent studies show that when abstentions are taken into account this almost doesn't affect the number of ties whatsoever.
===Ministries===
Almost all of Federal institutions are part of a ministry. There are currently nine ministries, and they have mostly been the same since the formation of the TFR: 
*Federal Ministry of National Security
*Federal Ministry of War 
*Federal Ministry of Science and Technology
*Federal Ministry of Justice
*Federal Ministry of Industry, Energy, Economy and Finance
*Federal Ministry of Diplomacy
*Federal Ministry of the Interior
*Federal Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Arts
*Federal Ministry of Labour and Welfare
*Federal Ministry of Public Services
*Federal Ministry of Healthcare 
Federal Ministries, unlike those of most Old Earth nations are static. They do not change with the arrival of new governments, as they are defined in the constitution itself. Renaming or modifying a ministry's portfolio therefore requires a constitutional amendment. 
For the Federal institutions which aren't specific to a ministry, there are Federal agencies. These are appointed by a group of senators and assembly members. These senators and assembly members also form two separate comitees which ensure the good functioning of the agency.
===Law===
Terran law is based on a Continental legal system, it is based on Civil law. Judges are not to make the law but simply interpret it. Case law is strictly forbidden and judges are instructed to treat each case completely separately from one another, especially in official documentation.
Terran law is divided into three areas: civil law, criminal law and administrative law. Criminal laws are allowed to apply an ex post facto system, where a person is retroactively charged with a crime which wasn't a crime when it was committed. 
The Federation doesn't recognise any religious laws as a motivation for the enactment of prohibitions. However, public decency and public order laws have been fairly widespread across the Federation. The first category notably includes the complete prohibitions of pornography and sex work of any sort. Terran laws against discrimination have existed for a long period of time, dating back to even before the Unification. However these laws regarded exclusively humans, and widespread xenophobia existed for most of the Federation's history. With its involvement in the UCO laws have been passed to stop discrimination of aliens, most notably with the New Dreyfus Act of 2681 which prohibits any discrimination of any individual belonging to a sentient species. 
Terran law is quite socially conservative. As previously mentioned pornography and sex work as strictly prohibited. The penalties for these range from 5-10 years of imprisonment. Gender laws have been passed during the First Commonwealth which limit a person's gender to either male or female. This includes transgender people who can pick between the two. 
The Terran Federation officially promotes state-atheism and is opposed to any religions. However, unlike the First Commonwealth which outright banned religious worship, the Federation de facto is simply a secular state with no official religions. Most of Old Earth religious monuments were preserved throughout the First Commonwealth and Federation with great care, most of them being turned into museums. Most of the nation's population is however atheistic, mostly due to the First Commonwealth explicit anti-theistic policies. 
The Terran prison system is one of the strictest in the galaxy. It is state-run. Prisons are extremely standardized, and are the same across the entirety of the Federation. All penalties lasting for over a year are done in deep space stations, making escape rates essentially non-existent. Most people who are incarcerated for non capital crimes stay for a period of less than five years in jail. Whilst capital punishment is abolished, a person which has committed a capital crime (murder, rape, pedophilia or high treason) is stripped of their citizenship, and therefore does not have any rights or protections. If they die, it is neither recorded nor reprimanded. However most capital criminals end up in work camps on prison-worlds. The majority of these are largely inhospirable planets, with massive mining facilities. The prisoners are forced to work in these facilities. This work is not paid. The death rates in such facilities are extremely high. 
AI laws in the Federation are considered some of the most liberal in the galaxy. AI is legal, and fully sentient AI can have citizen rights. All AIs are to spend the first 80 years of their "lives" working. After this period, a fully sentient AI may file a citizenship request, which is almost universally accepted. They are allowed to participate in elections, serve in the military (around 95% of all fully sentient AI are made for civillian purposes) and enjoy all other rights of a citizen. They can also decide to "resign" and explore the world. However, it is interesting to note that most AIs at some point of their "lives" become teachers. This is in stark contrast with other nations, except for the Tesrat Republic and Menya Union. The Surben Republic has outlawed fully sentient AI, whilst the Ur-Han have banned AI altogether. Mirdesh federal constituencies have different laws regarding AI, but only few are nearly as liberal as the Terran Federation. 
The Terran Federation has strict rules regarding genetics. Full body cloning is outlawed for sentient beings. However, partial cloning of organs is legal for medical purposes. It is also illegal to genetically engineer a child individually before it was born. The military is allowed to use large alterations such as muscular and cognitive enhancements for very small groups of elite soldiers. Rich individuals sometimes try to circumvent laws to augment their cognitive or physical capabilities. The Bureau of Federal Security has a branch dedicated to such crimes, the Bio-Genetic Alternation Control Agency, part of the Fifth Detachment. However, the Terran government has spread large-scale genetic alterations during the 2200s, which result in the vast majority of the human population having these genes in present day. These genes augment longevity, bone density, protection from certain diseases and significantly reduce the chance of genetic abnormalities. This has led from a dramatic increase in lifespan in the 2200s, going from 103 years on average in 2203, to 126 in 2304. 
Interspecies marriage is legal and has the same standing as human-human marriage legally speaking.
===Foreign relations===
The Federation has spent most of its history in isolation from other galactic nations. From the start of the First Contact War to its intervention in the Ur-Han Civil war the Federation's only official delegation to an alien nation was the delegation which signed the peace treaty at the end of the First Contact War. The exception to this were Dominions. Dominions were nations which had barely entered their space age by the time of their contact with the Federation. The Federation would first assess the level of development and power of the nation and then send a delegation that would ask the nations to subjugate themselves to Terran interests. Only the Perefi accepted this without resistance. In most cases the Federation, in the case of refusal, would send in a small task force which would disable most military capabilities of the nation and send the ultimatum again. So far every nation which was sent the ultimatum a second time has accepted. The Federation would then start a project of development in the Dominion, sharing technologies and building infrastructure. This was all in the intention of rendering the Dominions completely loyal to the Federation. Local culture wasn't interfered with except for study. By the time of the Ur-Han Civil war there were five Dominions, all very much loyal to the Federation. 
In the 2640s the Terran Federation entered the Ur-Han Civil war. The Federation would end up playing a decisive factor in the war, and would decisvely win it. This would open up the Federation to other nations and it would go on to become a founder of the UCO, council member and galactic superpower. 
Today the Federation is still a superpower and Council member. It is often considered the first nation by hard power. Whilst on better terms than during the Era of Isolation, the Federation still has cold relations with other large galactic nations. It has had a very aggressive foreign policy since the end of the war. Other than the Dominions the nations best connected to the Federation are the Menya Union and Tesrat Republic, which have both been allies and economic partners. The Mirdesh Confederacy and Surben Republic, the only two nations which match the Terran economy and navy have tense relations with the Federation. They have had a long standing alliance, since times preceding the Terran arrival into galactic politics, and are reluctant to let the Terran Federation become the dominant power in the Galaxy. However, various Mirdesh constituencies have better relations with the FTR. Some, like the Peshtum have even signed several investment contracts with the FTR. The Surben Republic joined the Magellan Initiative to avoid letting the Terran Federation explore and establish complete dominance on the Perseus Arm. The opposition in the Terran Assembly wish to change the competitive and aggressive Terran stance into one of cooperation and cordial relations. The Ur-Han Kingdom is generally aligned with the Mirdesh-Surben bloc, but is also partially under Terran influence. Immensely weakened following the war, it is now relegated to a secondary power. The Terran Twelfth armada is indefinitely positioned in the Ur-Han homeworld to avoid any sort of military build up. 
The Federation is the leader of the Orion Economic Cooperation and Development association, or OECDA. This is an economic bloc which includes the Federation, its Dominions, the Menya Union and the Tesrat Republic. This allows for the unrestricted movement of goods and peoples between every nation. It has also standardized currencies, aiming to fix their exchange rate to that of the Sol. The Menya Union has adopted a new currency, the New Menya Credit which is equal in value to the Sol. The Tesrat are currently working on implementing a similar currency. The Permezi, Tormen, Perefi and Somne Dominions have adopted the Sol as their currency. The Dermkha and Seftet have aligned their currencies with the Sol. Finally, the Komuggal Republic has so far no done this, but it is currently having talks with the Terran Central Bank to implement the Sol as its currency. 
===Military===
The Terran Federation maintains the largest professional military in the known Galaxy. It is considered by most to be the best equipped and best trained military in the galaxy. The military is managed by the Federal Ministry of State Security. The Commission and the Chancellor are the the leaders of the military, but do not directly control military strategy. The Central Military Commission is the leading body of the military. It is divided into FLEETCOM and GROUNDCOM. In 2723 both branches had 50 million trained personnel. However only around 20 million of the trained personnel is on active duty, 2 million of which are on peacekeeping missions, and another 830 thousand are on pacification missions in the Terran territories. The Terran Navy has 5.9 million personnel, half of which is in active duty, the rest being spread out within the Army. 
Joining the Armed Forces is voluntary, but in cases of extreme political and military crisis conscription may be invoked. However, due to Terran military superiority and the number of reservists this has never been applied or even considered. Mandatory military service has been abolished in 2468. The Terran Navy is the largest one in the known galaxy. It employs over 336 carriers of standard size as well as 15 larger battlecarriers. The Terran Navy operates 4 supercarriers. No other navies employs equivalent spaceships. These are massive in scope and UCO treaties following the Great War forbid any other nation from building them. It also maintains the largest cruiser fleets, with 125 cruisers. The Army has 456 bases abroad, most of which are in Dominions, the Tesrat Republic and the Ur-Han. The Navy has 12 port-bases abroad. The largest port-base is located in orbit of Ur-Sumtka, where the Third Armada is stationed. 
Most alien species, unlike Humanity, did not experience large scale pre-interstellar warfare on their planet. This has resulted in most alien species having a very small ground army force, as it is relegated to a completely secondary role. The Terran military does not suffer from this issue, as the widespread political divisions on Earth prior to the Unification ensured a long standing army tradition. The Terran military is infamous among alien species for its ruthlessness: whilst alienilitaries of mten primarily focus on winning naval engagements which often secure ground surrenders, it has not been uncommon for the Terran military to bomb planets into submission, with little to no regard for civilian targets. The bombing of the Ur-Han colony of Sulur Passa during the Great Ur-Han Civil war is especially infamous, as the colony of nearly 800 million people was bombed to an extent where it had to be abandoned altogether after the war, as the planet's ecosystem was in ruins. After the Federation entered the Great War, Ur-Han casualties civillian drastically increased. It is estimated that the Federation is responsible for around 6 billion civillian deaths during the war. This mass bombardment technique has received a name in Terran military doctrine, now known as the Wrath of Heaven doctrine.
==Economy==
The Terran economy is one of the largest and most developed in the known galaxy. It is the second largest economy by nominal GDP and the first one by PPP GDP, only behind the Mirdesh Confederacy. The Federation has a workforce of over 48 billion workers. It has an extremely low unemployement rate at 0.3%. Poverty has been nearly eradicated in the 27th century, the number of people living under the poverty line being less than 0.5% of the total population. These are most often the poorest citizens of Earth's arcologies, which are so large and at times overcrowded that the government has trouble managing them. The Federation's national debt is around 12% of its GDP, which is an amount comparable to that of other nations. The Terran economy functions on a keynesian model. It has often been described as a mix of french dirigisme and nordic socialism. Due to the complete abundance of resources since the 22nd century, and their relatively even distribution, the Terran government is able to maintain large spending without having very high taxes, which are at around 20% on all sectors. The main institution in charge of regulating the economy is the Ministry of Industry, Energy, Economy and Finance. The Terran economy is often described as a post-scarcity economy, or near post-scarcity economy by some. 
===Agriculture===
Terran agriculture accounts for around 2% of the national GDP. Large parts of many colonized worlds are suitable for cultivation, but many planets, are full on farm-worlds, purely dedicated to producing food which is then exported to the rest of the nation. Most of these are ocean-worlds, which have their seas filled with algae. This algae is harvested, compressed and sent to various Terran worlds, where it is used to create synthetic food of all sorts, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, meat, dairies and others. Fishing and the killing of animals for food is outlawed. Massive industries produce synthetic meat, milk and eggs. These are cheaper to manufacture, healthier and require no animal cruelty compared to traditional methods. 
===Industry===
The Terran Federation has a very large industrial capacity. It has by far the largest heavy industry and processing industry sectors of any nation, both proportionally and in absolute terms. Its mining sector produces the most raw and refined minerals in the known galaxy. It produces 30% of galactic metal alloy output, 45% of plastic output and over 28% of androids and robots. Industry and mining represents nearly 40% of the national GDP. The nation's manufacturing output is the first one in the galaxy. It is also the largest manufacturer of both civillian and military spaceships, and home to Siems Shipyards, TMP and Xanadu Driveyards, respectively the first, second and fourth largest ship manufacturers in the galaxy. CDC Selvan, a subsidiary of the Clarktech Corporation, is the galaxy's largest electronics parts manufacturer. Clarktech and TMP are the first and second largest manufacturers of robots in the galaxy, whilst AZIMOV is the largest manufacturer of androids. 
===Science and technology===
The Federation is the leading nation in scientific research in the galaxy. This is due to a long history, from the start of the Federation proper, which has encouraged scientific development before essentially any other sector. Over 18% of national spending is attributed to research & development. This is the highest overall spending on R&D of any nation by any measurement, proportional, absolute and per capita. It also has the most researchers in absolute and per capita terms, with over 13 billion workers being researchers in some area or another. 
===Tourism===
The Federation receives 3 billion foreign tourists per year. This is one of the lowest numbers out of any star nation, only being ahead of the Komuggal Dominion. This is mostly due to the fact that other nations are closer to each other than the Federation, and that dominions receive a great amount of tourists from the Federation. National tourism is however very high, with over 22 billion yearly tourists, or nearly a third of the population.
===Corporations===
The Federation is home to many of galaxy's largest corporations. These dominate the Terran economy and collaborate extensively with the government. Despite most of the largest companies being private, the government still holds large portions of them through national shareholders, in particular HMCI and Farcomcor. Out of the ten largest corporations in the galaxy, seven are Terran and two are companies founded by the Federation in dominions. The largest corporations in the Federation include: C2I, General Appliances, Frijkstadt, Neue-King, Clarktech TMP, MRGS, Knight Corporation, Galactic Media, Xanadu Driveyards, GAMI, AZIMOV and Hyperholdings. Most of these operate both within and outside the Federation.The largest stock market in the Federation is the Terran Central Stock Exchange (TCSE) in Amsterdam on Earth. All of the largest corporations in the Federation operate abroad. Due to immense concessions made in this regard by other galactic powers in the aftermath of the Great War, the Terran megacorporations have been able to acquire massive economic influence abroad. The largest corporations are allied in the lobbying group ALEPH.
==Demographics==
A simultaneous census occurs on every commonwealth alongside an estimate of non-commonwealth populations by the Ministry of the Interior every decade. The mot recent census is the 2718 one. The 2718 census puts the total Terran population at 79,28 billion. This includes 69 billion commonwealth citizens alongside 2,3 billion non-commonwealth citizens. There are an additional 8 billion residents in the Federation, which are all aliens. It is the second largest population of any nation after the Mirdesh Confederacy. Most of the population growth is attributed to natural growth, but in recent years immigration has grown to account for up to 30% of population growth. The second half of the 27th century saw a massive influx of alien immigrants which accelerated growth substantially, but this movement has calmed down in recent years. The annual natural population growth is traditionally around half a percent. The Federation's population is expected to hit 100 billion by the time of the 2788 census. 
The Sol system alone accounts for over 20 billion people, over a quarter of the total population. Over 9 billion people live on Earth, distributed between arcologies of up to 600 million inhabitants and old cities. Major technological developments have allowed for such a high population without ruining the planet's ecosystem, which by 2230 had mostly been restored to its pre-industrial status. The great cities of old however house almost all government offices, but their population rarely exceeds 20 million. The second most populous system is Alpha Centauri, with its 12 billion people. This population is split between the system's three commonwealths: New Tyre, New Babylon and New Sidon. New Sidon has over half the system's population, with a population of 6 billion. Barnard's Star and Sirius and their five combined commonwealths have another 12 billion people. These four systems combined form the Core systems, and account for 55% of the Federation's population. The bulk of the remaining population is located on other major commonwealths located in different systems, most notably Rechio, Hiigara and Xanadu together having 12 billion people. These three and the Core make up 70% of the population. The rest is mostly spread out on commonwealths and space stations. The average commonwealth outside of the previously mentioned ones has only around 50 million people. Around a half a billion people live on space stations or non-commonwealth worlds. An additional 536 million people live on charter worlds which are under corporate administration. 
The Terran population is mostly concentrated on a few worlds. However, most of the previously named worlds have stagnating populations. This is due to huge inner migrations. Since the end of the Great War, the Terran economy is booming and the number of colonised worlds is rapidly increasing. Great amounts of people leave for these new worlds, including smaller commonwealths from the larger ones. The bulk of population growth is concentrated on small commonwealths, and whilst their population grows due to migration, natural growth has by far the highest factor. It is projected that another 18 commonwealths will hit a population of a billion by 2748. 
===Species===
The Terran population is overwhelmingly human. Among the citizenry, 93% are humans and 7% are alien. When the resident population is accounted for, aliens make up 16% of the population. The alien population is made up of mostly humanoid species. The largest alien populations are Dermkha, Ur, Surben and Tesrat. Most alien species have very similar biology to humans on a very basic level, they all have DNA and have similar evolutionary patterns to those found on Earth. All modern sapient species also have appeared around 200 thousand years ago.
===Ethnicities===
The Federation has a diverse array of human ethnicities. There is no ethnicity which holds a large majority. The Federation recognises X ethnicities, which are: East and South East Asian (20%), African (16%), White-European (12%), White-Hispanic (9%), South Asian (9%), Semitic (6%) and mixed (28%). Essentially all commonwealths have this, or a very similar ethnic distribution. There exceptions to this rule however, the most notable ones being New Athens, Xanadu and Rechio, with the former having a European majority (~65%) and the later two having East and South East Asian majorities (~55% and ~85% respectively). Whilst different races exist for some alien species, their numbers are so small that the Federal Institute of Statistics (FIS) doesn't take them into account. However, considering the growth of the alien share of the population, expected to hit around 20 billion citizens by 2788, there are plans to start taking these into account as well as soon as in 2748. Race is fairly unimportant in every day life, as discrimination has been all but eradicated, especially considering the fact there is no large majority. 
===Religion===
The Terran Federation officially has a policy of state-atheism. However, the term secular much better fits the Federation's approach to religion. The Federation does not have any state religion and citizens are effectively free to practice any religion they wish. This does not however stop the vast majority of the population from being atheist. Around 86% of the population is unaffiliated. The only two significant religions in the Federation are Islam and Christianity. Islam, more precisely Shia Islam, represents 5% of the total population, the most of any religion. They are led by the Caliph, who is elected every 16 years by a council of scholars of Islam. Christianity has 4% of the population as followers. The Orthodox and Catholic churches are the largest one by far. Alien religions make up for 3% of the total population, they are almost exclusively practiced by alien citizens. The largest one of these is the Worship of the Ancients, originating from the Ur-Han. There are a few other Old Earth religions which have survived, but are very small in number, most notably buddhism, hinduism, judaism, paganism and various sects of Islam and Christianity. 
===Education===
All education in the Federation is free for all citizens. Schools are divided into primary schools, secondary schools, preparatory schools and high schools. Education is managed by the Ministry of Public Services and the Ministry of Research and Technologies. 
Primary education, starting at age 5 up to age 18 is mandatory for all citizens. The major subjects taught to all students are Latin, English, Elementary Mathematics, History, Geography, Cultural Education and Practical Education. Alongside these main classes are auxiliary classes which can be chosen by students, with a minimum of 2 per student. These include: Major Languages, Old Earth Languages, Alien Languages, Old Earth Culture and History, Xenohistory, Advanced Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Sciences, Biology, Political Education and Military Education, among others. At the end of primary education, students receive a General Certificate. This is the most basic form of degree. Secondary education, from ages 18 to 22 is not mandatory. Secondary education is generalised like primary education, having the same major and secondary subjects as primary education. At the end of secondary education, students receive a Secondary Certificate. This degree is enough to enroll in most positions which don't require very highly skilled workers.
Preparatory schools are not mandatory and have no fixed age. The students typically enroll for 2 years. Here students deepen their knowledge of the fields they want to further study in high schools. Students to not receive any degrees at the end of preparatory schools, as they only exist to enhance the students knowledge and capabilities, and give out no degree. High education consists of universities and other higher education centers. Unlike other schools, these are managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology. High education length varies wildly depending on the students choices. The curriculums also vary from place to place. Unlike primary and secondary education, not all high education schools degrees have the same weight. For example, a degree given by the Musical Institute of New Sidon in Sidon City has more value than that given by the Musical University of Calom. This is however not indicated on the document itself. The degrees, depending on the length and type of curriculum are in order of value: basic, advanced, doctorate and in some areas high doctorate. 
The Terran Federation has a policy of high specialisation, driving students towards a specific profession from an early age and continuing throughout one's education. The 7 major subjects are unlike what their names suggest fairly elementary in nature. These contain only the very basics of each field, with the exception of Latin and English. Auxiliary classes on the other hand, which are chosen by students are much more in depth and are much more important in the acquisition of acquisition of a student's certificate. Certificates also keep track of a student's auxiliary classes and their results. 
The Federation's universities are some of the most prestigious in the galaxy. Some of the most well-known include: Nikola Tesla Polytechnics Academy on Earth, Musical Institute of New Sidon, Grand University of Bologna, Sun Tzu Military School on New Rome and La Place Experimental Physics Institute on Earth. 
=== Health===
Healthcare in the Terran Federation is free and universal. Every citizen is entitled to this service, and all medical expenses entirely covered by the state. This also applies to aliens, but they are most often sent back to their homeland to be treated by their own kind, familiar to their physiology. On planets with readily available quantum-communicators however, they can be operated from their own space in Terran space with remote machinery.
== Planets ==
All Terran worlds with large populations are administred in the same manner, with the exception of Earth which has a few differences. They are organized into Commonwealths. Each Commonwealth has two leaders of the executive branch: the General Administrator and the Governor. The General Administrator is directly elected by the commonwealth's population for a 6 year term, whilst the Governor is appointed by the Commission for an indefinite period of time. Over time Governor's have lost power, and they are now in practice little more than a ceremonial role. The legislative branch is represented by the Commonwealth Assembly which is directly elected as well. Commonwealths enjoy relative autonomy, most notably in the area of infrastructure where the central government has little to no involvement. There are also minor differences in Commonwealths, such as work hours limits, minimum wages, taxes on certain products and drugs legality. Parties from Commonwealths usually don't correlate with the factions of the central elections, but are rather single parties part of the larger factions.
Each Commonwealth often has its own holidays, calendar, traditions, symbols and others. Commonwealth's play a large part in every citizen's life and identity.
Smaller worlds enjoy much larger autonomy, and their government organizations vary wildly. Many newly founded colonies are based on corporate resource extraction expeditions or scientific settlements. 
=== Earth ===
For main article, see Earth
Earth is the Federation's and Humanity's homeworld. It is also the largest economic, demographic, scientific and cultural hub of the Federation. It distinguishes itself from other Commonwealths in many ways. It is officially called the Commonwealth of All Peoples of Earth (see First Commonwealth), unlike every other Commonwealth simply called after the planet. Earth's administrative divisions are also unique, it is divided into Districts like every other Commonwealth, but these follow historical lines much more often than geographical ones. It is also unique for its population distribution. Over half of Earth's population lives in arcologies, self-sustaining cities (over time arcologies stopped being completely self-sustaining, and many of them now rely on food imports) of titanic proportions which can house hundreds of millions. These are a relic of the First Commonwealth and early Federal era. However most of the political institutions are housed in the Old Cities, which house the majority of theremaining of the population. These are cities which pre-date the First Commonwealth and Federation. Whilst they have immense cultural significance, their individual populations are relatively low, rarely surpassing the 10 million mark. Earth is also unique for encompassing the Moon, officially known as the Luna District. The Moon has around 7% of the full population of Earth, or around 640 million people. The Federation's capital is officially split into the cities of London, New York and Paris. London is also the capital of Earth itself.
=== New Sidon ===
New Sidon was the Federation's first extra-solar colony. As such, it holds a place of special importance for the Federation. It also has the second largest population in the Federation after Earth itself, but is projected to surpass it. It is a large trade center, and is by some considered the primary Terran trade hub. It's position near the Solar System makes it attractive for new companies to appear, whilst not having the harsh living and enterprise conditions of the sprawling arcologies of Earth. It is also larger than Earth in size, and projected to be able to house a larger population overall. 
=== Mars ===
Mars was the Federation's first colony and first attempt at terraforming. Over an 80 year period, the Frijkstadt Corporation terraformed Mars to make it into what we know today. It is now a lush green world similar to Earth. For a long time in early Federation history Mars was a stepping stone for all those which wished to depart Earth but did not want to embark on an interstellar journey unprepared. Mars is today most well known for its heavy industries, which are said to produce a tenth of the galaxy's alloys. It is also the home to the Ultramarine Corps' headquarters.
=== Hiigara ===
Hiigara is currently the Federation's third most populous world behind Earth and New Sidon. However, it is much younger. Not settled until the mid 2300s, Hiigara is often referred to as the Federation's greatest success story. It is estimated that by 2800 Hiigara will have surpassed both Earth and New Sidon. It is extremely attractive to corporations and people, as it has some of the lowest taxes in the Federation. It is also home to some of the greatest natural landscapes of the Federation, making it an attractive tourist location. The climate is often described as idyllic and ideal for human settlement. It is also a bastion of the Social-Liberal faction, and the local Freedom of the Citizen party. This has given it much more socially-liberal policies than most of the Federation. Forced labour sentences were outlawed in 2597, and pornographic content legalized in 2635. This has put it at odds with the central government more than once. It has a culture very distinct from the rest of the Federation as a result of this, with the average Hiigaran considering fewer subjects taboo than his peer from Earth or New Tyre and being much less reserved about his criticisms of the government. The Bureau of Federal Security was temporarily outlawed from Hiigara in 2679, as it was considered to be breaching fundamental freedoms and privacy of Terran citizens. However it was reinstated later the same year when the central government threatened a planet-wide embargo. This event resounded like an echo throughout the Federation, and in the following 2684 general election of the Federation the social-liberal party tripled its seat count, taking Chancellorship and establishing a majority with the Democratic faction for the first time since its establishement, and ending the Federalists 300 year domination of politics. However, scandals surrounding Chancellor Marken Polla's advisors wrecked the Social-Liberal faction which lost the next election. It has slowly regained seats, winning a majority on Hiigara in every election since. Its capital of Soban is one of the largest university centers in the galaxy. 
==Culture ==
The Terran Federation has been a center of galactic culture since its emancipation. Unlike most others, it has only recently started being influenced and influencing other galactic cultures, with exceptions in the dominions. Terran culture is relatively homogenous - a vast majority of the population of the population is human and centuries of united rule has brought Old Earth cultures close together bringing a new mash of old cultures, often referred to as Terran culture. Nevertheless, planets and regions have inevitably diverged from one another, and most have their own distinct cultures. Nominally however, the state does not recognise cultural autonomy, even though it is de facto recognised. Recent mass immigration from the Menya Union, the Ur-Han, Surben Republic and dominions has broadened the spectre of views in the Federation. 
Terran culture has put a great emphasis on prosperity, stability, scientific progress and innovation. Values such as dilligence, honour, loyalty and honesty are highly regarded within Terran society, to the point where an individual can be shunned for their entire life if they behaved in a dishonourable or disloyal fashion. Whilst not as politically liberal as other nations, the Federation has a steady immigration pool thanks to high stability and social mobility. The Federation effectively allows anyone to rise the social-economic ladder by merit alone. 
===Language===
The two official Federal languages are Latin and English. All official documents are written in at least both of these languages, and often in other ones as well. The so-called Recognised Major languages include: French, Arabic, Mandarin, Hindu, German, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch. These are other languages which are officially recognised as playing a major role in the Federation. Whilst both Latin and English are official languages, Latin is mostly used in the upper-strata of society, especially among technocrats. English is used on a day-to-day basis by the vast majority of the population. Many people in the Federation speak at least three or even four languages, most often English, Latin and one or two Major languages. About 13% of the population is bilingual, 56% is trilingual and 21% is quadrilingual. The percentage of people which speak only one language is negligeable. It is even looked down upon to speak fewer languages. Of the Major languages, French is by far the most prevalent, with over thirty billion speakers. 
The main script used by the Federation is Latin script. The Terran Constitution, Latin script is defined as the script containing the 26 letters of the English alphabet. There are however variants of the script for other languages. Three other scripts are officially recognised and used more or less widely: Cyrillic, the Arabic script and the Eastern script. These scripts contain several variants or even different scripts altogether. Cyrillic generally refers to the Russian script and is widely used, especially within the domain and culture of extra-planetary habitations. Eastern script includes simplified Chinese, Hangul and Japanese scripts. Arabic contains all the regional variants, the Syrian one being most often used. 
The Custodian pushed for Esperanto to become the First Commonwealth's official language, but it failed to gain traction. In 2089, he revoked the position of Esperanto in favour of English and Latin. He however never wished to suppress other languages, and himself spoke over a dozen languages. 
Alien languages in the Terran Federation have no official status. The most widespread alien language is Zurkari, which is easy to learn as its sounds can be made by any species. Zurkari is in many ways the galactic lingua franca. Other major languages include Surben, Ur, Dermkha and Menya. 
===Sports===
The Federation's two most popular sports are football and anti-gravity racing. Many other sports are practiced, most of which get attention during the Olympic Games. 
Football has remained since its creation one of the most popular sports among humans. It is regularly played on both a competitive and amateur level. It has spread among other species, many adapting the rules of the game to better fit their physiology and culture. No international events are held, due to the difference in rules. The Federation however has multiple levels of tournaments. There are sub-commonwealth, commonwealth and national tournaments. By far the most popular tournaments are the Terran Federal Championship and the Earth Football Championship. Both of these happen on a biannual basis and consistently get over 20 billion viewers on television. There have been calls to make it a national sport, due to it being very prominent in almost every nation on Old Earth, but these have so far mostly been rejected. 
With the discovery of anti-gravity technologies in the mid to late 2100s, came anti-gravity racing. This allowed for vehicles which go to speeds up to 400km/h and with extreme maneuverability. After the outlawing of cars on Earth in 2198 it became increasingly popular. It has been in practice in other galactic nations for several centuries. The International AG Cup happens once every four years and is one of the only sporting events which happens internationally. The Federation has its own cup, the Federal AG Tournament, every year. There are also a multitude of other, private cups which often receive more attention than the Federal one. The most notable of these is the New Sidon AG Cup, which regularly has over 8 billion viewers. AG races are extremely dangerous due to the speed of the vehicles and the sharpness many turns. They have the highest mortality rate of any sport. 
Chess also has a special place in the Federation. Whilst it is not as central to Terran education as it was in places like the USSR, it is still widely taught to children from a young age. By far the most popular optional activity at school, over 23% of all students have a chess related activity. It has also proven to be popular with alien populations, which find it less "barbaric" than Terran traditional sports such as football or handball. 
The Olympic Games have remained a stable of the Federation since its inception. There is now no more distinction between summer and winter olympic games, instead happening once every 3 years. Whilst most Olympic Games are held on different locations on Earth, a few of them have been taking place on other planets.
===Cuisine ===
Terran cuisine and food are fairly similar to Old Earth food from all over the world. Many traditional meals are still widespread to this day, with relatively few new meals appearing over the years. However the greatest advancements in this domain were made in the matters of food variety. The many different worlds of the Federation, many of which had their own lifeforms have brought upon humans an amount of choice regarding what they eat. Whilst animals are rarely killed for food nowadays, most of the comestible animals found on new worlds would have their DNA sampled, and their meat would be synthetically reproduced. These are still however much less consumed than Earth animal meat, most notably chicken, beef and pork. The most widespread of these new types of meat are Xanadu gargantuant slime meat and New Jericho fishdog meat. There are also many types of plants which are now widespread in the Federation from other worlds than Earth. Hiigaran berries and Rechian bananas are some of the most popular fruits in the Federation. 
The Federation has adopted a few dishes from alien cultures as well. These mostly concentrate in so called xeno-restaurants, which offer foods frerom the specific alien culture. These a relatively popular within the Federation. They receive fairly extensive subsidies from the government as the ingredients they require are often more expensive to acquire in Terran space.
Category:Terran
Category:Nation