Colony

The **Colony** is the basic economic unit of Galactic Civilizations III, comparable to a city in a traditional land-based 4X strategy title. Planets host colonies, and there can be up to one colony per habitable planet. To build its economy, the colony uses its Unrecognized icon name Social Construction to construct projects, including improvements that each occupy a hexagonal tile on the colony map. The number of available tiles depends on the planet class. A colony has four primary economic outputs: Unrecognized icon name Net Income, Unrecognized icon name Influence Growth, Unrecognized icon name Research and Unrecognized icon name Ship Construction. A number of base statistics, modified by bonuses from improvements and other sources, determine those outputs.

## Projects

A colony invests its Unrecognized icon name Social Construction into construction projects. Projects typically construct improvements but can also produce a one time bonus, a shipyard, or a newly terraformed tile. Improvements provide a bonus to the colonial economy and sometimes to the entire civilization. The bonus depends on the level of the improvement. Improvements can cost Unrecognized icon name Maintenance, which is subtracted from the Unrecognized icon name Gross Income to yield the Unrecognized icon name Net Income.

## Colony map

The planet class determines the number of tiles available for constructing improvements. An improvement occupies a tile on the colony map and can boost the level of specific types of improvements on adjacent tiles. A tile may have a tile bonus or may be a trade resource. Terraforming provides access to additional tiles.

## Statistics

A colony has two basic statistics: Unrecognized icon name Population and Unrecognized icon name Morale. Unrecognized icon name Growth generates Unrecognized icon name Population, which, with the help of nearby asteroid mines, determines Unrecognized icon name Raw Production. Unrecognized icon name Raw Production determines Unrecognized icon name Net Income (along with Unrecognized icon name Maintenance and trade routes, generating Unrecognized icon name Treasury), Unrecognized icon name Influence Growth (generating Unrecognized icon name Influence), Unrecognized icon name Research (unlocking technology) and Unrecognized icon name All Construction. Unrecognized icon name All Construction determines Unrecognized icon name Social Construction (consumed by colonial projects) and Unrecognized icon name Ship Construction (consumed by the assigned shipyard to produce ships). Unrecognized icon name Growth largely depends on Unrecognized icon name Approval, which is exactly the Unrecognized icon name Morale divided by the Unrecognized icon name Population. The Unrecognized icon name Population is subject to a Unrecognized icon name Population Cap, which can be increased with Unrecognized icon name Food.

All of the mentioned statistics are modified by bonuses from:

* Improvements
* Nearby starbase modules
* Technology
* Trade routes
* Diplomacy
* Ideology
* Faction traits and abilities
* Planet types
* Relics and anomalies
* Events
* Mercenary ships in
* Citizens in
* Governments in
* Artifacts in

## Invasion Damage

Tiles and improvements can be destroyed during planetary invasions, whether or not the invasion is successful. The likelihood of this happening depends on the invasion tactics used by the aggressor.

## Planet Coordinate System

When cheats are activated you may place resources on a planet that you own. The image below depicts the coordinate system used to specify location.