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This is my cursory list of local star powers in order of possible strength that I think locals would know and think about as we do different nations on the planet today. Who would you add to the list and where, and who would you move and why –– I'm not married to the order of.
Q
Douwd
Organians
Metrons
Travelers
Species 8472
Borg Collective
Kelvan
Voth
Cytherians
Aldeans
First Federation
Vissians
Dominion
Zalkonians
Children of Tama
United Federation of Planets
Klingon Empire
Romulan Star Empire
Sheliak Corporate
Tholian Assembly
Cardassian Union
Breen Confederacy
Ferengi Alliance
Jarada
Tkenkethi Coalition
Chysalians
Miradorn
Talarian Republic
Mathenites
Caldonians
Gorn Hegemony
Nausicaans
Yridians
Chalnoth
Corvallens
Orion Syndicate
Xepolites
Pakleds
Lissepians
Kressari
Bajorans
Lysians
Satarrans
Mizarians
I'll leave it to someone else to maybe do a similar list for Delta Quadrant aliens.
I’d think I’d move the Cytherians up some, not that we have a lot to go on, but they seemed like they were more powerful than Species 8472 and the Borg.
What’s also sort of interesting to think about is how some of the Space Powers changed over time, in their introductory TNG episode, the Cardassians seemed like they would be much farther down the list, but when they were selected to be the main antagonists of DS9, they got bumped up in order to be a more credible threat.
Cardassians weren't that powerful until they joined the Dominion. Before that, they were a more local, regional power. They could not have sustained a prolonged conflict with the Federation aside from a border conflict. They were fortunate the Federation wasn't interested in in military expansion, otherwise they would not have been able to bully Bajor and the rest of the local neighborhood for as long as they did.
It's nowhere near a complete or necessarily accurate list. We know so little about most of those on it.
The Gorn for example were not seen or mentioned at all in Trek from "Arena" until, what, PIC? Sure, some were lost in the Delta Triangle in TAS and one was seen in the Mirror Universe of ENT, but all that could have been left of the Hegemony could be that Gorn skeleton in Lorca's private lab. Certainly Cestus III seemed back in Federation hands, one of the birthplaces of the rekindled interest in baseball, no less.
Had they gone extinct––like the dinosaurs, or the Tkon? Were they conquered by the Klingons or the Romulans in the intervening years? In my head canon the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire post supernova might have had something to do with their reemergence on the galactic stage.
Plus there are a lot of aliens that have only been mentioned that we know even less about. In TNG's "Haven," Alcyone were thought to have killed the last of the Tarellians––how powerful were they?
Per TNG's "Unification," the Barolians do a great deal of trade with the Romulan––are they on par with say the Talarians only a little further away from the other powers?
The Legarans who Sarek was going to meet with on the Enterprise-D as both a great triumph for him and benefit to the Federation would go where exactly?
What about the transparent skulled Gallamites––could they even be Federation members?
What of all the people without names?
Nagilum’s people TNG's "Where Silence Has Lease"
Rumpelstiltskin’s people from DS9's "If Wishes Were Horses"
Cosimo’s people from VOY's "Non Sequitur"
Though if we start looking at other dimensions like Cosimo's that throws in the "Schisms" aliens and the Mirror Universe itself....how powerful is the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance...or the Romulan "Republic" there? Though, no one there has shown any interest in interfering with this dimension, if that matters here.
I’d think I’d move the Cytherians up some, not that we have a lot to go on, but they seemed like they were more powerful than Species 8472 and the Borg.
I haven't included ancient/extinct aliens on the list as they're mostly no longer active participants in galactic affairs, and because it's difficult to get an idea of how powerful they were in their peaks and how they'd compare with others past and present/how they would have if they'd have had do.
Otherwise there'd be the...
Protohumanoids
Iconians
Tkon
Preservers
D’Arsay
Ancient Orions
Sargon's people
Hur'Q
Husnok
Promellians
Menthars
Kurlans
Tarellians
Malurians
Kataan
...and others to consider. (Some really interesting ones in Christopher L Bennett's The Buried Age novel too if we'd open it up to the Treklit.)
I don't know if the Vegan Tyranny and the Slavers are canon...I don't remember them.
Where would you move the Zalkonians exactly? I wouldn't want to go too far as they're powerful but may not have the numbers of other powers. Though that might not matter given the evolutionary leap their people are taking...they might be very powerful indeed.
What are some other ancient aliens to add to the "no longer around" list while we're here?
The UFP itself seems to be it's own "Local Star Power" relative to the greater Milky Way Galaxy.
Here are the stats for what I've researched for the size of most of our major Galactic Natural Structures:
Given that Space is 3D and there are Star Systems above & below the Galactic Plane / Thin Disk / Thick Disk.
There are most likely some Star Systems hanging out in the Galactic Halo regions as well, fewer Star Systems, but there should be some significant amount.
The UFP itself can be considered a "Local Star Power", kind of like a mix of the US & EU in terms of size due to number of member worlds at the time which can be equivalent to number of Member States/Nations.
Interstellar nations/beings that can easily affect the goings on in local space—space near the Federation and familiar Alpha/Beta Quadrant aliens. The Dominion are local insofar as the Bajoran wormhole makes them so. The Hirogen are not as they’re too distant to be of immediate concern.
Interesting map! It has the virtue of including more interstellar/star powers than on many fan maps.
Good point. Territories could/should look like they overlap from certain points of view because some empires might be on the left but also encompass above or below their neighbor.
Some of these colors maybe shouldn't even be all that solid. That solid blue glob of the Federation, for example, implies every star system in that area is Federation territory. That might not be the case. There could be many civilizations in that region that are not Federation members. Further, if they are space fairing but not Federation members, they still should have right of passage through Federation space.
Does a government's sovereign territory include deep space or is it limited only to star systems?
^ yeah definitely a problem with maps like these are they don’t take three dimensions into consideration.
(Though that is useful as a catch all to explain how powers nowhere near each other are able to reach one another (the Klingon Empire attacking the Cardassian Union) or how our heroes get from place to place so easily.)
You’d probably need an AI to watch all the episodes and do a 3D map showing overlapped territory—and lightening/darkening different swaths of space where the border is harder than others.
Plus there’s the thing in Trek where they haphazardly used real stars way further out than the ship they later established could travel to. The Rigel, Antares, Deneb, Sheliak, and Mintakan systems are pretty far out from the Core Worlds yet some are among the earliest visited.
I like to think that there are interstellar highways/eddies of naturally warped space that make them easier to get to. So the borders around those clusters of space are hard even if the territory between is shaded lighter to suggest fewer colonies/installations.
I’m going to enjoy us all employing AI’s to draw some of this stuff up in the coming years.
I always thought it was interesting there's not really an equivalent to the United Nations on a galactic scale in the Star Trek universe. I know some people try to argue the Federation is UN-like, but the Federation is more an idealized version of the United States being its own interstellar polity/government as a distinct faction.
There's treaties in-between powers, but there's not a formal agreement between the major powers to have an overarching body to discuss matters and enforce agreed upon "galactic law." If one power started using weapons of mass destruction against planetary civilizations (e.g., biogenic weapons), there doesn't seem to be a formal body to discuss that problem between Alpha Quadrant powers to organize a concerted response. It's all just a hodgepodge of agreements between the different powers and they all interpret how to respond to treaty violations they're a part to.
Like can people see the Klingons, Federation, Romulans, etc., agreeing to certain fundamental principles, and understanding that they'll enforce those principles together if it comes to it? It would require the Klingons and Romulans at least paying lip service to the idea of a galactic body okaying the use of force which they might see as impacting their sovereignty. Also, what does "economic sanctions" mean in a universe with replicators?
Although, maybe things could have changed after the alliance between all three during the Dominion War. The United Nations and the current international law regime was created out of the aftermath of World War II.
I always thought it was interesting there's not really an equivalent to the United Nations on a galactic scale in the Star Trek universe. I know some people try to argue the Federation is UN-like, but the Federation is more an idealized version of the United States being its own interstellar polity/government as a distinct faction.
The Federation was more UN like in the TOS era. It changed to more US like in the TNG era.
Sarek was the Vulcan Ambassador to the Federation. Sarek represented Vulcan in "Journey to Babel". In the novel for TSFS, Uhura seeks asylum from Federation/Starfleet security at the Vulcan embassy on Earth after helping steal the Enterprise.
Luxwana is an ambassador but it seems she represents the Federation, not Betazed, in dealings with non Federation members
Interstellar nations/beings that can easily affect the goings on in local space—space near the Federation and familiar Alpha/Beta Quadrant aliens. The Dominion are local insofar as the Bajoran wormhole makes them so. The Hirogen are not as they’re too distant to be of immediate concern.
Then the UFP qualifies as a "Local Power" like the US/EU are "Local Powers" in their respective hemispheres.
The Hirogen's are basically analagous to Genghis Khan's roaming barbarians in space, but with a Hunting Modus Operandi instead of Mongol hordes, and more localized Hunting Tribes focused than one unified Horde Kingdom.
Interesting map! It has the virtue of including more interstellar/star powers than on many fan maps.
That's why I use it as my reference map, it's the best one that covers the "Thin Disk section" with as much relevant information post Voyager's return.
Good point. Territories could/should look like they overlap from certain points of view because some empires might be on the left but also encompass above or below their neighbor.
But given most people are using 2D portrayals, I'll assume that this portrayal is close to the center flat plane of the Milkyway and that it covers a Limited amount of Z-Axis, a very limited amount thanks to the "Thin Disk's" natural thickness. And since the "Thin Disk" is a natural structural component of our Galaxy, it effectively becomes a "Natural Border". Similar to how many Nation States in our World base Geographic boundaries on "Natural Borders".
Some of these colors maybe shouldn't even be all that solid. That solid blue glob of the Federation, for example, implies every star system in that area is Federation territory. That might not be the case. There could be many civilizations in that region that are not Federation members. Further, if they are space fairing but not Federation members, they still should have right of passage through Federation space.
I'd treat everything in each Star System's Heliosphere as a "Natural Boundary" and as Sovereign & belonging to said Star System.
I would personally define in the UFP charter to have each Star Systems Sovereign Territorial Space to be demarcated by their CSZ (Contiguous Spherical Zone).
CSZ (Contiguous Spherical Zone) = Radius starts at the center-point of the Planetary System to the shortest possible radius that can envelope every aspect of the volume of the HelioTail (Consistently) at the transition point between the HelioTail and the rest of Galactic Space.
Current estimates for the radius of our CSZ in our Sol System is @ 0.01724 ly radius from the center-point of the Sol’s center-point which is our Sun. I’ll round up to 0.01725 ly for Sol System.
ESEZ (Exclusive Spherical Economic Zone) = Radius of (1 ly + CSZ Radius) that starts at the center-point of the Star System and extends out spherically forming a “Sphere of Economic Influence” where the Sovereign Government of that Star System has "Exclusive Economic Access" to all Astronomical Resources within their ESEZ.
SDIZ (Space Defense Identification Zone) = Radius of (1 Parsec + CSZ Radius):
1 Parsec ~= 3.26 ly ~= 206,000 AU ~= 3.0856775814913673×1016 meters
Radius starts at the center-point of the Star System and extends out spherically forming the SDIZ. Any overlapping SDIZ must be worked out by treaties between the managing bodies of each Star System.
International Space = the “Open Space” outside a Star Systems SDIZ and claimed Nation State’s Territorial Space that isn’t centered on a local Star System. Enforcement is up to each Nation State and whom they allow to travel through their Territorial Space.
Given that the UFP seems to have nearly everybody within that small chunk of "Thin Disk" signed up to US/EU style SupraNational Political/Economic Union to form one Super Nation State, I wouldn't be surprised if we got everybody on board and the Coalition of Planets really did transition to the UFP similar to how the "League of Nations" transitioned into the UN, but this time instead of being a loose association like the UN, it became closer to the US/EU Supra Nation State model.
The Federation was more UN like in the TOS era. It changed to more US like in the TNG era.
Sarek was the Vulcan Ambassador to the Federation. Sarek represented Vulcan in "Journey to Babel". In the novel for TSFS, Uhura seeks asylum from Federation/Starfleet security at the Vulcan embassy on Earth after helping steal the Enterprise.
Luxwana is an ambassador but it seems she represents the Federation, not Betazed, in dealings with non Federation members
I always wondered if the title "ambassador" was the equivalent of "senator" in the US political system?
Maybe each Federation member gets a certain number of ambassadors elected/appointed to the Federation Council. And US Senators represent not only their states in government, voting on policy, but they also sometimes go on their own foreign policy visits to other countries pursuing diplomacy on behalf of the United States.
I always wondered if the title "ambassador" was the equivalent of "senator" in the US political system?
Maybe each Federation member gets a certain number of ambassadors elected/appointed to the Federation Council. And US Senators represent not only their states in government, voting on policy, but they also sometimes go on their own foreign policy visits to other countries pursuing diplomacy on behalf of the United States.
Customarily in the United Federation of Planets, ambassadors represented the Federation to non-member worlds, and sometimes member worlds had ambassadors to represent their worlds to the Federation itself.
Spock refers to Sarek as "a great representative of the Vulcan people and the Federation."
Worf's position seemed to be as an envoy to speak for the Federation as a whole to a foreign power, where Sarek's title and position seemed to encompass that sometimes but also centered on the interests of Vulcan in decisions made about internal Federation policy (especially in TOS' "Journey to Babel").
Thin disk is a little misleading though. It’s still over a thousand light years high and thousands more beyond that in the thick disk. That’s a lot of space to be claiming for every light year you go in any 2D direction. So I think there’s a lot over overlap of space we just don’t see in most maps.
Something as vast as any of the larger powers I think are more like giant lattices or sponges with a lot of space between worlds and installations. Most of it unused and some of it off limits for pre-warp protectorates and peoples who don’t want in to the Federation or are wanted for it. You’re not just going to let anyone in and you’re not going to conquer or blockade them either.
Yeah, I think there’s a lot more complexity to the reality of what space might look like, and if anything I’m more excited by what AI’s might be able to assist in visualizing for us in the future.
Thin disk is a little misleading though. It’s still over a thousand light years high and thousands more beyond that in the thick disk. That’s a lot of space to be claiming for every light year you go in any 2D direction. So I think there’s a lot over overlap of space we just don’t see in most maps.
That's the limitation of a 2D image. You're only able to view a specific Z-Axis, and the one we're viewing is probably fairly close to the common Galactic Plane or Z-Axis = 0 plane.
When we can get better common 3D images that are fully interactive, then it'll be easier to portray things in 3D.
Something as vast as any of the larger powers I think are more like giant lattices or sponges with a lot of space between worlds and installations. Most of it unused and some of it off limits for pre-warp protectorates and peoples who don’t want in to the Federation or are wanted for it. You’re not just going to let anyone in and you’re not going to conquer or blockade them either.
The Flat Sponge Analogy makes sense, it's a fairly good analogy to the real 3D structure.
From the top, it looks like a solid piece that you can't penetrate, but in reality there are tons of gaps in between.
But how strong of a "Territorial" enforcement is up to UFP Border Patrol, I'm sure we have a sensor net surrounding all of UFP space and any 'Un-Authorized' vessels entering in will be questioned by UFP Border Patrol forces.
Imagine how large the UFP "Coast Guard / Border Patrol" equivalent has to be to defend so much territory in 3D. That's ALOT of 2D Surface Area combined if you were to make it a block like cut-out.
#_#
Yeah, I think there’s a lot more complexity to the reality of what space might look like, and if anything I’m more excited by what AI’s might be able to assist in visualizing for us in the future.
It's not a matter of AI, but more of making a good simple "Google Earth/Maps" equivalent of 3D space and protraying everything correctly to scale. Stellar Cartography has got to be one of the busiest Governmental Departments in the entirety of the UFP given how vast our Universe is and how much data they need to add/retain, especially historical data from the past to the present. Imagine that once the UFP gets a formal Time Travel department, it'll probably send in stealth probes to map the expansion of the Universe and see how our Universe was "REALLY Formed" over the countless billions or trillions of years, the temporal data must be "Astounding" for our Universe alone, much less any other adjacent Universe or Parallel Universe. The vast amount of Stellar Data would be Astounding.
Anyways, we basically need a "Google 3D Space Maps" w/o the "Google Part" and have the UFP Government create a formal department to do it in a simple as possible system so even the average citizen within the UFP can use it to map their simple trip amongst the stars in their AstroMobile when they feel like going on a drive across UFP space to visit their friends who might live off-world.
I prefer mapping our local Milky Way Galaxy, and every relative Galaxy using a set of nested Cubes.
That's why I prefer making a 3D space map using basic 3D Cartesian Coordinates to seperate everything into a series of nested cubes. If you try the other 3D Coordinate Systems, you'll probably come to the same conclusion when it comes to usage for Stellar Cartography of Star Systems.
Cylindrical Coordinate Systems are good for local reference frames like Sensor Range and relative positioning of your Star Ship vs target you want to inquire or act upon.
Spherical Coordinate Systems are really good for mapping a Spheroid Astronomical Object like a Planetoid / Star, not nearly as good for maping relative Star System locations and simplifying it for the general masses to understand and use. There's just TOO many Star Systems laying about and that would clutter up the 3D Map and make it hard to navigate / specify things down to a simple system.
However, when you need to map Galaxies and the relative distance between Galaxies...
This is the scale that you should use a Spherical Coordinate System IMO.
Anyways, back to 3D Cartesian Coordinates.
It makes everything ("Very Easy" / Simple) for all citizens amongst us to understand how space is structured and how vast everything is, along with how to map / find everything.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
1x Cubic Block = 1,000 ly on each side
Within each Cubic Block are 50x Cubic Sectors on each of the 3x Axis, ergo
(1x Cubic Block = 50³ Cubic Sectors)
If you factor in the size of the Galactic Halo, there are 601 x 601 x 601 cubes in a 3D grid pattern
- Grid numbering: (±300, ±300, ±300) with Galactic Center Point (0, 0, 0) = Center Block for Central SMBH.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
1x Cubic Sector = __20 ly on each side.
Within each Cubic Sector are 20x Cubic Chunks on each of the 3x Axis, ergo
(1x Cubic Sector = 20³ Cubic Sectors)
Cube Sector coordinates are specified in (x, y, z) with a range of (-25 to +25) for numbers on all 3 axis.
- Sectors hitting (±25, ±25, ±25) share Cubic Sectors with adjacent Cubic Sectors/Blocks
- 0 is center block along the central plane while ±25 links to Sectors in adjacent Blocks.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
1x Cubic Chunk = ___1 ly on each side.
Each Cubic Chunk represents 1 ly³ Cube of space.
The Coordinate Range for each Cubic Chunk of Space has (-10 to 10) with 0 in the center.
- Chunks hitting (±10, ±10, ±10) share Cubic Chunks with adjacent Cubic Chunks/Sectors
- 0 is center chunk along the central plane while ±10 links to Chunks in adjacent Chunks/Sectors.
You normally describe the Coordinate Cubic Block with a range of (±X, ±X, ±X)
The # 10 is represented with a stylized Roman Numeral X for brevity, clarity, & 1-Digit coordinate fields
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The Full 3D Cubic Coordinate Systems: [NOTE: Remember to include 0 padding in front]
Cubic {Block (±xxx, ±yyy, ±zzz) > Sector (±xx, ±yy, ±zz) > Chunk (±x, ±y, ±z)}
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
They use a very good method of showing all Star-Systems relative location to a common Z-Axis plane.
This makes things easy to understand.
Perhaps there is a UN-like structure in place, but the Federation is not enough of a serious galactic power yet to be invited to that table. (A major pet peeve of mine is how Trek often underrepresents the scale of the galaxy and the sheer amount of exploration to be done.)
