Behind the Scenes:
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Some general regions of the galaxy were described in the ''Legends'' Expanded Universe, but they have not yet been confirmed in the new Canon continuity (and thus, applying to ''Star Wars Rebels''). Radiating outwards from the center, they included:
Some general regions of the galaxy were described in the ''Legends'' Expanded Universe, but they have not yet been confirmed in the new Canon continuity (and thus, applying to ''Star Wars Rebels''). Radiating outwards from the center, they included:
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*'''Core worlds''' - the important worlds at the center of the galaxy which contain a disproportionate concentration of most of the galaxy's population, wealth, and infrastructure.
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*'''Core worlds''' - the important worlds at the center of the galaxy which contain a disproportionate concentration of most of the galaxy's population, wealth, and infrastructure. The Core worlds united to form the Galactic Republic about 25,000 years ago.
**'''The Deep Core''' - in real life, the radiation from densely concentrated stars at the center of galaxies would actually make them uninhabitable. The original Expanded Universe therefore later made some concessions to this by explaining that the "Core worlds" like Coruscant are as close to the center of the galaxy as is safely possible, but the "Deep Core" has stars clustered so densely together that it is dangerous, the gravity distortions from high star concentrations resulting in barely any safe hyperspace routes, and the few accessible planets barely inhabitable. Many secret bases, smuggler's dens, and the like are therefore hidden in the Deep Core.
**'''The Deep Core''' - in real life, the radiation from densely concentrated stars at the center of galaxies would actually make them uninhabitable. The original Expanded Universe therefore later made some concessions to this by explaining that the "Core worlds" like Coruscant are as close to the center of the galaxy as is safely possible, but the "Deep Core" has stars clustered so densely together that it is dangerous, the gravity distortions from high star concentrations resulting in barely any safe hyperspace routes, and the few accessible planets barely inhabitable. Many secret bases, smuggler's dens, and the like are therefore hidden in the Deep Core.
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*'''The Colonies''' - the systems that the Core worlds expanded into in their first great wave of colonization thousands of years ago - so long ago that by this point the Colonies are just as powerful as their founders in the Core worlds, in some cases even more powerful. They are only called "The Colonies" as a historical artifact, and the only difference between them and "the Core Worlds" is a matter of prestige. This is comparable to how in real life countries such as the United States, Canada, or Brazil started out as "colonies" of European countries (Britain, France, Portugal, etc.) but over the centuries grew just as powerful as their founders and became independent. Their histories aren't nearly as long and prestigious as their founders, but this doesn't affect raw political and economic power.
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*'''The Colonies''' - the systems that the Core worlds expanded into in their first great wave of colonization thousands of years ago - so long ago that by this point the Colonies are just as powerful as their founders in the Core worlds, in some cases even more powerful. They are only called "The Colonies" as a historical artifact, and the only difference between them and "the Core Worlds" is a matter of prestige. This is comparable to how in real life countries such as the United States, Canada, or Brazil started out as "colonies" of European countries (Britain, France, Portugal, etc.) but over the centuries grew just as powerful as their founders and became independent. Their histories aren't nearly as long and prestigious as their founders, but this doesn't affect raw political and economic power. The Colonies are often thought of as just an extension of "the Core Worlds" in a broader collective sense.
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*'''Inner Rim''' -
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*'''Inner Rim''' - originally known as just "the Rim", when it was the outer fringe of the colonization waves from the Core worlds. This was so long ago that the name "Inner Rim" is largely a historical artifact, as worlds in it are quite developed - though generally not quite as powerful as those in the Core/Colonies. They have a mid-level of importance (in terms of politics, military, population, wealth, infrastructure, etc.), and form a bridge between the Core and the less developed sectors of the Outer Rim.
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*'''Expansion Region''' -
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*'''Expansion Region''' - After several thousand years, a new, massive colonization wave from the Republic burst out into the galaxy, radiating out from the Core and Inner Rim. The new sectors they expanded into became known as the "Expansion Region", in an era of aggressive settlement which soon turned into ruthless colonialism and exploitation dominated by major corporations and the more unscrupulous Core worlds. The whole effort was comparable to the real-life Manifest Destiny colonization wave in North America, pushing west into Native American lands, or the Scramble for Africa by European colonial powers. Over time, however, the Galactic Republic started reining in these abuses, and the Expansion Region had been settled for thousands of years by the time of the Original Trilogy. The Republic learned from these mistakes and sought greater oversight when the Outer Rim was being explored and settled.
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*'''Mid Rim''' -
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*'''Mid Rim''' - The Mid-Rim generally didn't have the vast untapped resources of the Outer Rim, so when a new colonization wave later spread out from the Expansion Region toward the galactic rim, many colonial efforts simply skipped over the Mid Rim to reach the Outer Rim. Planets in the Mid-Rim often have to work hard to survive - though there are still many prosperous planets scattered throughout the Mid-Rim, such as [[Kashyyyk]].
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*'''Outer Rim''' -
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*'''Outer Rim''' - The vast outer edge of the galactic spiral, in many cases frontier planets only settled relatively recently - the Galactic Republic started expanding into the Outer Rim only about one thousand years ago (compared to the 25,000 year history of many of the Core worlds). The Outer Rim has vast untapped resources, with many worlds colonized as mining settlements or farming planets. When the Empire rose to power, however, it began to ruthlessly exploit the Outer Rim: its planets have large amounts of raw resources but are generally too weak militarily or politically to put up much resistance, and they are located far away from the prying eyes of the Core Worlds that might raise some objections. Tatooine and [[Lothal]] are located in the Outer Rim.
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*'''Wild Space'''
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*'''Wild Space''' - "Wild Space" is a somewhat inconsistently used term applied to systems that haven't been formally colonized, beyond the Outer Rim. They are on the true fringe of the galaxy, in sectors where star systems are few and scattered. While they are unexplored, they are not ''uncharted'', and a few basic hyperspace routes into the area are known (in contrast with the Unknown Regions). Basically the difference between Wild Space and the Outer Rim is that a system in Wilde Space hasn't been formally explored and colonized yet - once it has, it is then just considered part of "the Outer Rim".
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*'''Unknown Regions''' -
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*'''Unknown Regions''' - The Unknown Regions are vaguely defined as parts of the galaxy which haven't been explored or charted at all. The definition evolved over time in the original Expanded Universe, before more official maps of the galaxy were worked out. Originally the Unknown Regions were just the extreme fringes of the galaxy, on the other side from Wild Space - "Wild Space" was itself somewhat of a later term, and often overlapped with the "Unknown Regions". As more formal maps of the Star Wars galaxy were developed towards the late 1990's, however, major revisions were made to the Unknown Regions and galaxy as a whole. Essentially, there were fewer new opportunities to introduce entirely new interstellar races and empires for new storylines if ''virtually all'' of the galaxy had already been explored. In the original conception, the Galactic Republic/Empire controlled nearly all of the explorable galaxy, save for a few neutral pockets such as the Hutts, and the "Unknown Regions" beyond the Outer Rim were scattered fringe worlds. New galaxy-affecting political powers couldn't really originate from such meager areas, however, so new story revisions were introduced: the Galactic Republic and Empire did not actually explore and control 90-99% of the galaxy, but only around two thirds to three fourths. The explanation given was that most of the major stable hyperspace lanes leading out from the Core worlds led into the galactic "east", so colonization waves from the Core didn't actually radiate outwards in a perfect circle but were lopsided towards the east ("east" defined as if you put Coruscant at the "north" end of the Core Worlds). The result of this was that instead of the Unknown Regions just being the meager outer fringes of the galactic spiral, now large swaths of the galaxy remained to be explored in the galactic "west" - roughly around a fourth to a third of the galaxy. Thus new and powerful alien empires could be introduced from within the Unknown Regions, such as the Chiss. In time, "Unknown Regions" came to refer more and power to this unexplored quarter-slice of the galactic circle, while "Wild Space" tended to be used more for the scattered systems beyond the Outer Rim.
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**'''The Western Reaches''' -
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**'''The Western Reaches''' - When the explanation was developed that roughly the western fourth to third of the galaxy was unexplored and part of the "Unknown Regions", this introduced a discrepancy in terminology. The colonization waves radiating outward from the Core were lopsided towards the east (and also north and south) of the galactic spiral, and only stopped when they reached the physical fringe of the galaxy: the Outer Rim. Thus the "Outer Rim" is both the ''physical'' edge of the galaxy, as well as the "outer rim" of the colonization waves. In contrast, the outermost colonization waves to the west, the borderland frontier worlds facing the Unknown Regions, might be the edge/rim of explored space, but they are not ''physically'' on the "outer rim" of the galactic spiral. To this end, the new term was developed to refer to these borderlands as "The Western Reaches" (also known as the Western Fringes, the Western Marches, etc.) Politically and economically they are basically frontier worlds just like the "Outer Rim" proper (or might be thought of as a sub-region of the Outer Rim), but they are also close enough to the Unknown Regions to be threatened by powerful alien empires that might exist there. The starship graveyard planet Jakku, introduced as a major location in the Sequel Trilogy, is located in the Western Reaches - in fact, Han Solo even mentions the term "Western Reaches" in dialogue in the movie, establishing it as also part of the new Canon continuity.
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In the original Expanded Universe, after Endor the surviving Imperials were pushed back to a handful of sectors at the north end of the Outer Rim, bordering the Unknown Regions, where they became entrenched as the "Imperial Remnant". Maps produced for the new Canon continuity also place the First Order (a spiritual successor of sorts to the old EU's Imperial Remnant), in this same general location.
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[[Pablo Hidalgo]], one of the producers on ''Star Wars Rebels'', released the first new Canon continuity map in the ''Force Awakens Visual Dictionary''. Generally, many planets which were introduced in the movies themselves are located where they used to be in the old Expanded Universe - the map is just simplified to cut out thirty years' worth of other EU-exclusive planets. For example, Tatooine is still located in the galactic "southeast", as it was in the ''Legends'' continuity; Geonosis and Naboo are also located nearby (the Prequel trilogy established that they were located relatively close to each other). Hoth, Bespin, and Endor are located to the galactic south. Hutt space is in the galactic east, in the Mid Rim along the border with the Outer Rim. [[Kessel]] is located due east from that in the Outer Rim. Mon Cal is located in the galactic northeast in the Outer Rim; Kashyyyk and Mandalore are also in the northeast, though closer to the interior than the Outer Rim.
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The exact galactic location of the [[Lothal system]] within the Outer Rim has not yet been established. The fact that the ''Ghost'' crew are able to make reasonably short trips to Kessel and Kashyyyk (as well as Mandalore's colonies such as Concord Dawn) may somewhat imply that it is in the galactic northeast - not near Tatooine in the southeast, and not in the northwest which will later be controlled by the imperial remnants that reorganize into the First Order; however, further confirmation is needed from Hidalgo.
[[Category:Locations]]
[[Category:Locations]]