Fort Darwin

Fort Darwin was a minor Terran colony first founded in the late 21st century

Location

Located on the northern edge of Terran space, Fort Darwin is a stable asteroid in the Lalande 21185 Star system, later renamed Darwin's Star during the days of the Federation.  Despite its distant and inhospitable location, Fort Darwin is considered a viable colony location due to the mineral wealth of the asteroids and moons in the star-system

Colonization

Fort Darwin was first colonzied in the year 2082 as a military outpost to keep an eye on the Tazzyn and Vatu border.  The initial base was an orbital riding around the stable asteroid Arjuna but it was later converted into a city cut into the very rock itself.
Thanks to the mineral wealth of the star-system, miners, prospectors and corporate insiders began to move to the system and new settlements were cut into the rocks, spreading out over the asteroids.

Asteroid Field Z-91

The Asteroid field designated by the Scout Corps as Z-91 contains more than 200 asteroids, with many of them containing vast amounts of heavy metals.  The asteroid field, along with the sixteen dwarf moons of Drona, a gas giant nearby, have provided a massive amount of mineral wealth to miners and prospectors

Demographics

As of 2520 the star system is home to 5,700,000 people.

• 5,200,000 humans
• 500,000 Indirians
• 200 other aliens

Fort Darwin has a higher than average Indirian population due to its remoteness and the history of prospecting, scout-work and piracy in the system.

Government

Fort Darwin was a military outpost and ruled by a military governor appointed by the Federation during its first two hundred years.  
During the 1st Terran Civil War, Fort Darwin was part of the Confederacy but played little part in the war.
With the formation of the Federated States Fort Darwin was granted its own governor and a colonial legislature
When the Terran Empire was founded, House Van Teufal were named as governors of the colony.  The Van Teufal family were known to be very liberal.
With the fall of the Terran Empire, Fort Darwin was part of the St Lawrence Compact and then later surrendered to the Free Worlds Protection Pact , though this was to be confirmed by a referendum in 2530.  

Politics

Fort Darwin's politics have generally been very pragmatic and the people who live in the star system want to be protected from pirates and hostile aliens and to be allowed to mine and trade in relative peace.  The voting population generally run towards the libertarian in views but there was sympathy in the system for OMDA and the Union of Socialist Worlds.

Type

Asteroid