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For other uses, see Cardassia.
For the mirror universe counterpart, see Cardassia (mirror).

Cardassia (also known as Cardassia Prime) is a planet, the homeworld of the Cardassian civilization and capital planet of the Cardassian Union. Cardassia is the sixth planet in the Cardassia star system in the Cardassia sector of the galaxy's Alpha Quadrant. Cardassia Prime is one of three habitable planets in the Cardassian system and has three moons, the inner-most of which is Letau, and one of which is known as the Blind Moon.

The Star Trek Deep Space Nine Roleplaying Game Narrator's Toolkit states that Cardassia Prime is the third planet of the star system. The Star Trek Roleplaying Game Player's Guide states that Cardassia Prime is the third planet in an eight planet system. In Star Trek: Infinite it is the second planet in a five-planet system while in Star Trek Adventures module: Alpha Quadrant Sourcebook it is the second of eight planets.

History[]

See also Cardassian history.

The Hebitians[]

The Hebitians were the first civilization to rise on Cardassia. They were a sophisticated, sustainable, self-sufficient society and worshiped the deity Oralius. The Hebitian society eventually fell when Cardassia suffered catastrophic climate change, disease killed millions and the people lost their faith becoming militaristic and expansionist - the Cardassians. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)

The Cardassian Union[]

In the need to feed the population Cardassia became the center of an interstellar empire. Several agricultural colonies were established with the sole purpose of providing food to the impoverished population. (TNG episode: "Chain of Command", DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice)

In 2372 Cardassia Prime came close to being conquered by the Klingon Empire. The invasion was only halted when Chancellor Gowron was convinced the resulting war with the Federation and Cardassians would be playing into the Dominions' hands. (DS9 episode: "The Way of the Warrior")

Dominion War[]

In 2373 Cardassia joined the Dominion and for the next 2 years functioned as their capital in the Alpha Quadrant. (DS9 episode: "By Inferno's Light")

Post-Dominion War recovery[]

At the end of the Dominion War in retaliation for the Cardassians betrayal, the Dominion decimated much of Cardassia resulting in millions of deaths and the destruction of much of the infrastructure. The clean up process took a great deal of time and there were still corpses on the streets for weeks after the Dominion withdrawal. A democratic government led by Alon Ghemor rose up in the aftermath. (DS9 episode & novelization: What You Leave Behind, DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)

The Federation invested heavily in restoring Cardassia, efforts like the Andak project attempted to restore Cardassia to it's greener past. (DS9 - Worlds of Deep Space Nine novel: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower)

In 2377 Gul Kentar amassed a large military force, and while the bulk of the Federation's fleet was in the Delta Quadrant conducting a counter attack in response to a recent Borg incursion, made a sneak attack on the Federation's reserve fleet in the Pearl Nebula. This provoked the Klingon Empire to launch a campaign against the Cardassian forces under Kentar. After a number of offensives the Klingons pushed Kentar's forces all the way back to the Cardassia system and took control of Cardassia Prime and the rest of the planets in the system. With Kentar's forces crushed the Cardassian leadership requested a truce, which was negotiated by Chancellor Martok himself, before the Klingon forces moved out of the system in pursuit of last remnants of Gul Kentar's rebellion in the Hubrik system. (TNG video game: Armada II)

In 2385, after 10 years, Allied forces began the process of withdrawing from Cardassia Prime. (ST - The Fall novel: The Crimson Shadow)

Geography[]

Cardassia was warmer and darker than other class M worlds like Bajor or Earth. (DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice)

A Cardassian year is less than 411 Cardassian days. (DS9 novel: Fearful Symmetry)

In the past much of Cardassia was covered with lush green, thick forests with heavy rainfall. However, an atmospheric calamity of unknown origin befell the planet at the time, which led to centuries of drought. The remaining forests were cut down by shortsightedness and the once fertile soil over farmed to create dust bowl conditions. By the 24th century much of the surface was covered in desert, dry scrub and moorland. Only a small patch of rain forest remained on the Ba'aten Peninsula. (DS9 novels: A Stitch in Time, The Never-Ending Sacrifice).

The once verdant forests were forgotten by later generations of Cardassians, though members of the Oralian Way had records of it present within the Recitations that showed the paradise their home world once was. (DS9 - Terok Nor novel: Dawn of the Eagles)

Following the Dominion War dust storms were common across the planet, including in Cardassia City. Summers were extremely hot and winters freezing cold. Autumn and spring were short, and heralded by several days of rain. (ST - The Fall novel: The Crimson Shadow)

Cities and settlements[]

Regions[]

Structural Landmarks[]

Lifeforms[]

Flora[]

Fauna[]

By the 2350s, there were very few remaining animals on Cardassia that were larger than the Cardassian humanoids themselves. As far as Iliana Ghemor knew, only the scant remaining species of deep-sea leviathans were larger than men. (DS9 novel: Fearful Symmetry)

Other animals included:

Appendices[]

Connections[]

Cardassia system
Cardassia ICardassia IICardassia IIICardassia IVCardassia VCardassia VI (Blind MoonLetau) • Cardassia VIICardassia VIII
planets visited by ships named Defiant
USS Defiant (NCC-1764) GolmiraTraelus II
USS Defiant (NX-74205) (I) 2371 KaremmaCallinon VIIFounders' homeworldTrillCardassiaMeridianOrias IIIEarth
2372 BajorCha'XirracFree HavenVandros IVclass L planet crash siteNew Founder homeworld
2373 Torga IVAjilon PrimeCardassiaSolosos IIIGaia IV
2374 Argolis Cluster planet • Chin'toka planets
2375 AR-558
USS Defiant (NX-74205) (II) Europa NovaTorona IVNarendra IIIVahni Vahltupali homeworld • PrentaraLuthiaBajor
Defiant (mirror universe) Bajor

References[]

External link[]

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