Keren was the most important trading city on Naboo and a bustling mercantile hub. Planetary as well as interstellar traders could be found in the city, amid a wide assortment of (mostly) legal goods and products.
Keren was home to one of the planet's starports, named Kwilaan Starport, which was located in its own section in the western part of the city. Lake Varum lay on the edge of the city.[1] There was also a canal that curved its way through the middle of Keren, ending at the Keren Grand Arch that overlooked the cityscape. The city was also the site of the Keren Street Race.[2]
Around 32 BBY, Keren was the largest city on Naboo as well as the center of the planet's small underworld, notably Shep Contopault's and Hesh Verbon's operations. Due to several disappearances in the city, it has also been rumored that there was slave trafficking in and around the Kwilaan Starport.[1]
For a time after 0 BBY, Keren became a hotspot of minor skirmishes as the Galactic Civil War intensified. During the Galactic Civil War, one of the Rebel Alliance's leaders, Leia Organa, sent a transmission to all Alliance Fleetcommanders to tell them to rally ships and available ground forces to three cities in the galaxy: Keren, Bestine on Tatooine and Dearic on Talus. Organa thought that, with its high level of commerce and financial influence throughout the Naboo system, Keren was a critical strategic point. Furthermore, as Naboo was EmperorPalpatine's homeworld, she hoped the Alliance would get access to crucial intelligence.[2]