Earth

Earth is the terran homeworld, often referred to as "Old Earth".

History
Humanity developed an international power structure defined by military superiority, as well as the acquisition of capital.

The Decline of Western Civilization
During the twentieth century, the development and exchange of technology and culture spread rapidly. By the end of the twenty-first century, radical new technologies offered increased access to advanced computers and informational databases to even the most destitute nations. Communism was eradicated from the eastern nations and nuclear weapons quickly became available in abundance. Third-world nations rose to challenge the economic and military might of the world's superpowers, blasting apart the international power structure.

Militant humanist factions and hard-line religious groups challenged the rights of private interest corporations who profited from genetic experimentation as cybernetics, cloning and gene-splicing rose steadily into the public forum. Many of the fundamental humanist factions panicked as multitudes of people were were augmented with cybernetic implants while others manifested slight physical mutations ranging from heightened senses to advanced telepathy.

As technology continued to evolve and spread, world leaders sought ways to stem the growth of their nation's inhabitants. Despite this, Earth's population grew to an estimated twenty-three billion by 2301. Pollution and a lack of natural resources and affordable fuels added to the fire. As overpopulation and genetic alteration swept across Earth, popular sentiment held that it was plummeting towards an inevitable catastrophe.

Many core international economic systems folded in upon themselves and shut down as tensions rose regarding the use and capitalization of cybernetics and genetic mutations. Acts of terrorism and violence erupted between the corporate sector and the humanist factions, resulting in forced police actions across Earth. Civil chaos was already rampant in many of the larger countries, but media coverage of the police actions spurred it. The precarious balance of world power ultimately exploded into international pandemonium.

The United Powers League
On November 22, 2229, the United Powers League was founded upon the basis of 'enlightened socialism'. It accomplished that which the now defunct United Nations never could by unifying humanity. The UPL encompassed and controlled close to ninety-three percent of Earth's population, failing to bring order only to a few volatile countries in South America. The UPL often resorted to fascist police actions to maintain the public order. With its control lasting for nearly eighty years, the UPL sought to unify the various cultures of humanity. It went to great lengths to eradicate the last vestiges of racial separatism and designated English as the common language of Earth, banning many ancient languages in their native countries.

The Unitariate Commissions officially banned religions, but the UPL held an almost zealous belief in the supposed 'divinity of mankind', which called for the immediate eradication of any non-vital prosthetics or mutations amongst the pure-strain human gene pool. Hard-line UPL proponents and scholars argued that genetic alteration, cyber technology, and the use of psychoactive drugs all led to humanity's eventual degeneration.

The UPL leaders set Project Purification in motion. UPL troops scoured every nation, rounding up dissidents, hackers, synthetics, the cybernetically enhanced, tech-pirates and criminals of every kind. Nearly four hundred million people were executed, but the world-media was under the UPL's strict control and downplayed the violence, keeping the general populace of Earth unaware.

The UPL reopened fields of research that had lain dormant for decades, including the American and Russian space exploration programs which had previously been abandoned due to drastically reduced budgets and incessant political sabotage. After the ability to travel through warp space was developed, Doran Routhe used his political connections and personal fortune to secure fifty-six thousand prisoners that were slated for mass execution under the edict of Project Purification.

The prisoners were transported to Routhe's private laboratories, where the forty thousand who were deemed viable to survive the rigorous conditions of long-term cryogenic hibernation were loaded onto four supercarriers and launched toward Gantris VI, but they veered off course and crash-landed in the Koprulu sector. The UPL recorded their every move, content to observe them without directly interfering in their affairs.

The United Earth Directorate
The discovery of the protoss and the zerg in December 2499 caused widespread panic throughout the UPL and brought the dissident countries into its fold, thus expanding its powers and causing it to be renamed the 'United Earth Directorate'. The UED bent all of its considerable resources towards studying the aliens and their maneuverings and spent the next several months monitoring them, gathering data on their strengths and weaknesses.

In 2500, the ruling council of the UED received word that a new Overmind was growing on Char and formed an expeditionary force under Admiral Gerard DuGalle with orders to enslave the Overmind. Before leaving Earth, every member of the expeditionary force was briefed on their objective to conquer the Koprulu sector. News of their defeat reached Earth shortly before the fleet was eradicated.

Due to the infestation of UED personnel, including Alexei Stukov, the zerg are aware of Earth's current status and have determined its location for future infestation. For now, though, the zerg are focused on the Koprulu sector.

Locations
Earth is divided into seven continents, locations of note including:


 * Africa
 * Antarctica
 * Asia
 * Japan
 * Europe
 * Aegean Sea
 * Germany
 * Italy
 * Rome
 * Venice
 * Russia
 * North America
 * United States of America
 * Oceania
 * South America