Plures Mundos (Scenario)

This is a scenario set in the distant future (post-2700s) of our solar system in a world without faster than light travel, such that little to no communication with extrasolar colonies is possible. Instead, the focus of this scenario is on the many different civilisations, societies, and nation-states of the solar system and the many ways in which humanity has changed or remained unchanged by the 28th century.

This scenario will have detailed worldbuilding, with a focus more on snapshot details than on a longitudinal timeline so as to imagine a world with more depth and breadth.

Earth
There are 171 countries on Earth, most of whom belong to one supranational union or another to facilitate trade, movement, and (in the past) space exploration. The total population of Earth stands at 9.4 billion, down from peaks of over 11 billion in the 2070s and 2300s. All nations of Earth belong to the League of Earth (LE) and all but 1 belong to the United Nations (UN), both of whom are intergovernmental organisations meant to facilitate dialogue, aid international cooperation, and avoid war.

Moon
There are a total of 47 independent countries on the Moon, most of them city-states that control large amounts of surrounding territory. Additionally, there are 14 territories with various designations (eg. state, territory, province, etc.) that belong to nations on Earth; some of these territories will be listed below. Below is a list and brief description of the Moon's major nation-states and regional coalitions. The total population of the Moon stands at 350 million people. All lunar countries are members of the League of Earth (they maintain a strong affinity for and connection with Earth) and the United Nations.

Mercury
Due to the extreme temperature fluctuations on the surface of Mercury, only the poles are settled, where the temperature remains roughly constant year-round. The ice-rich North Pole is controlled by the Kingdom of Arezzo, while the South Pole is settled by a broad mix of cities (including a number of extra-terrestrial territories of Earth-based nations) surviving on imported water, payed for with mining exports. Additionally, a large number of mining facilities exist scattered throughout the Mercurian surface, mining the planet's abundant supplies of silica for export. Some of these facilities are burrowed deep into the ground where temperatures are stable, but most are now "mushroom facilities", large mining facilities built on stilts to avoid heat loss/gain via conduction, covered by a large hemisphere of mirrors, piping and solar panels to reflect or absorb the Sun's scorching heat. Some of these are operated by non-Mercurian powers, much to the chagrin of the Mercurians. The total population of Mercury is 14 million.

Venus
The total population of Venus numbers around 92 million. At present, there are no nation-states built directly on the Venusian surface due to the danger and cost of living surrounded by the high pressure corrosive atmosphere. As such, all Venusian nations and territories of non-Venusian nations consist of floating or orbiting cities. Most cities are organised into a larger nation (ie. a federation or confederation) but others are simply members of one of the planet's 3 alliances or are entirely independent. There are 160 nations on Venus, 115 of whom are city-states, and a majority of the remainder are small groupings of 6 to 12 cities while a number of nations contain more than 25 cities. There are also 28 territories of non-Venusian nations, mostly consisting of 2 to 4 cities in Venus' atmosphere and/or orbiting the planet. Most Venusian nations are part of the United Nations (UN) and the Security Council of Venus (SCV).

The plentiful carbon dioxide and sulphur in Venus' atmosphere continues to be its main export while also supporting its large chemicals industry, facilitated by the continuous source of energy its cities possess due to the ability of most cloud/floating cities to stay in sunlight all year round. Intense CO2-rich growth environments are also possible for its many greenhouse farming cities and tourism-focused garden cities. Additional major industries include tourism and entertainment.

Throughout the 25th century, as the First Golden Age of Venusian Cloud Cities saw a rapid increase in the number of cloud cities, the planet suffered from a massive piracy problem which was initially dealt with by their home countries, relatively ineffectively. In the aftermath of the various independence movements of the early 27th century, the Security Council of Venus (SCV) was formed to coordinate the air forces of the newly independent Venusian countries as well as the Venusian contingents of the armed forces of the Venusian territories remaining loyal to their off-world home nations.

As the 29th century begins, a new Golden Age of Venus has been promoted by Venusian governments and media as the cost of building cloud and orbiting cities plummets around the inner solar system.

United Cities of Vermillion
WIP

The largest components of the United Cities' economy are tourism and entertainment. This is large part due to the cities' strong historical and continued emphasis on aesthetics during construction, and its thriving arts and entertainment industry. Of particular note are the many cathedral cities which have massive neo-Gothic cathedrals built into their very heart, and the country's garden cities, each a unique environment with its own specific biosphere specialisations.

Nova Erua (Commonwealth Realms)
Named by its founder Spencer Taumata, after his New Zealand hometown of Erua, Nova Erua is unique in being a major territory of 5 floating cities and 3 orbiting cities governed by an intergovernmental union (Commonwealth Realms) instead of a single nation.

New California Republic
WIP

The NCR has complete control over Mars's moon Phobos. WIP

Republic of Alucra
(turkic)

Republic of Medyysia
(ukraine - name: anglicised exonym)

United Federation of Khai Shayer
(indian - name: anglicised exonym)

Republic of San Fernando
(predominantly Filipino & other Christian southeast Asians - cultural capital)

Uranus
As of the 29th century, no sovereign nation has established itself on or around Uranus due to the extremely few colonists and largely automated resource harvesting of its moons, atmosphere and rings. The remoteness of the planet and its cold moons has led to it becoming a favourite location for scientific outposts and corporate research labs. Individuals employed, either by resource extraction companies, corporate laboratories or government scientific institutions are usually employed under renewable multiple-year-long contracts. Thankfully, the 2 hour 40 minute one-way communications delay to Earth makes the experience bearable.

Dream Labs Inc - Midsummer Research Outpost (defunct)
The so named Midsummer Research Outpost used to be a secretive but highly productive research laboratory of the now defunct American computer technology company Dream Labs Incorporated. On June 27th 2492, a whistle-blower working at the Outpost sent an encrypted message to various Inner System media outlets and independent journalists revealing that Midsummer R.O. was experimenting with advanced biological computing, and had successfully grown a human brain in a test tube and built it into a computer capable of above average computing functions, with a particular speciality in pattern recognition. In addition to being very much illegal in almost all jurisdictions in the solar system, the revelation that Dream Labs had been experimenting with biological computing drew the ire of leading animal and human bioethics organisations, politicians, and the general public of most nations. The transmission was soon followed by news that the Midsummer Research Outpost had been lost to a catastrophic meltdown of its fusion power reactor due to sabotage from the whistle-blower. Later investigations revealed the whistle-blower to be Adam Calloway, a human purist investigative journalist and activist associated with the International Association of Human Purity, an organisation opposed to human-machine cyborgization. In any case, most governments responded to the subsequent widespread protests and human purist movements by enacting stricter legislation against biological computing technology and cyborgization. In some jurisdictions (particularly in Islamic nations), such research is completely outlawed, while in others (such as America and Dagmar) such research is heavily restricted and anything involving mammalian-brain computation is illegal, though implants continue to be legal. Nonetheless, fewer and fewer people around the solar system now choose to have neural implants, partly due to the strong stigma against neural modification and partly due to the industry entering a period of stagnation, which led to a resurgence in the popularity of wearable technology.

Neptune
Much like Uranus, but even more severely so, Neptune is extremely isolated from the rest of the solar system and is not controlled by any independent nation. Instead, a number of corporations and governments have established outposts and research bases orbiting the planet and its largest moon, Triton. Additionally, a number of largely automated resource harvesting operations also operate in the planetary system.