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"I left for the Unknown Regions, determined to lose myself. I learned that unknown was not the same as empty."
―Darth Krayt to Cade Skywalker[src]

The Unknown Regions, Unknown Space, Unknown Sector, or Unknown Territories was the collective term for all regions of the galaxy not formally charted; it differed from Wild Space in that Wild Space was usually minimally charted, but not fully explored.

The Unknown Regions was broadly defined as areas not connected with the skein of reliable or well-known hyperspace routes spanning the galaxy, did not look to Coruscant as the ultimate center of civilization, or were not under the broad hegemony of the Galactic Republic before the Galactic Civil War. Beyond the region’s outer edge lay the hyperspace disturbance beyond the edge of the galaxy.

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[edit] History

"There are a hundred different threats out there that would freeze your blood if you knew about them."
―Stent to Mara Jade[src]
Killiks moved from Alderaan to the Unknown Regions.

The reach of civilization extended at least nominally to the edge of the Galactic disk—for instance, the territory of the Corporate Sector extended to the end of the Tingel Arm. The galactic disk and some satellite galaxies were mapped well enough that the omission of thirty-seven systems (including Kamino) from stellar charts were obvious gravitational anomalies, even when scanning from afar.

The large galactic volume designated as the "Unknown Regions" included uncharted areas in dense nebulae, globular clusters, and the galactic halo. 15% of the galaxy's stellar mass was estimated to be contained within the Unknown Regions.[1][2] Many governments repeatedly sent scouts into the Unknown Regions. General Wedge Antilles once remarked that "If you continue to map the Unknown Regions, you'll have to call them something else."[3]

The Unknown Regions included a unique section of the galactic disk to the "galactic west" of Bakura, Bilbringi, and the Imperial Remnant. A web of hyperspace anomalies in this section impeded galactic exploration by the Republic for millenia.[2] Important powers in this area of space included the Chiss Ascendancy, the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium, the Vagaari, the Killik Colony, and the Empire of the Hand, but it was also home to species such as the Croke, the Ebruchi, the Nagai, the Tofs, and the Eickarie.

One hypothesis by a noted scientist suggested that a mass of dark matter intersected the galaxy in this region, creating gravitational anomalies that hindered navigation. However, the lack of any tidal disruption of the galaxy's spiral form (as shown in Jedi Archives) may have disproved this supposed dark mass. Alternate theories included "hyperspatial gravitic ripples", or the intentional construction of a barrier, possibly by the Celestials to hedge the expanding Infinite Empire. What was known for certain is that the division between explored space and the Regions was almost precisely at the midline of the hyperspace disturbance that surrounded the galaxy.[2] It was clear, moreover, that much of the Unknown Regions were passable to determined travelers—for instance, Corellian traders had been in contact with the Chiss for many years before their "discovery".[4], and the planet Ilum was reachable by force sensitive navigators.[2]

Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn, a native of these parts, was dispatched aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Admonitor to the Unknown Regions during the years of the Galactic Civil War, ostensibly on a simple mapping expedition, but in reality to explore and subjugate entire sectors for the Galactic Empire. While there, Thrawn appeared to have encountered the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong. He also created a shadow Empire, the Empire of the Hand. Normalized relations between the Chiss Ascendancy and the New Republic were established following the Galactic Civil War, and the portion of the Unknown Regions existing in the galactic disk was essentially eliminated thanks to the availability of Chiss starcharts.[2]

[edit] Political divisions

[edit] Sectors

Due to the very fact that the region was "unknown," it presumably had not been charted and divided into sectors.

[edit] Systems

[edit] Planets

[edit] Races

[edit] Other locations

[edit] Behind the scenes

The depiction of the Unknown Regions varies from source to source. Some fans would like to limit the term to areas outside the plane of the galactic disk, and this hypothesis is not contradicted by any canon or EU evidence. It is supported by movie canon, which describes a Galactic Empire, and in which the entire galaxy can be surveyed for any lost planet, fugitive, or Rebel base.

In Vision of the Future, the space known to the Old Republic, Empire, and New Republic is not specifically assigned to any section of the galactic disk, nor are the Unknown Regions. They do appear adjacent on the map, which includes the disk. The territory under the hegemony of the Empire of the Hand, while by no means comprising all of the Unknown Region, seemingly embraces as much as 240 sectors, roughly a quarter of the volume of known space. Although huge, this volume is emptier than the galactic disk, since the combined total of the Unknown Regions contains no more than one percent of the galaxy's stars.[6]

In contrast, The Essential Chronology and New Jedi Order series, as well as the associated galactic map, have bulked the Unknown Regions on one side of the galactic disk, and this seems now to be a geometric projection of sub-volumes above the disk. However, it should be noted that most fans subscribe to a two-dimensional interpretation, in which the Regions actually touch much of the disk. Worlds such as Kamino, lying "beyond the Outer Rim" on the opposite side of the galaxy, in a dwarf satellite galaxy 70,000 light years from the galactic center, might also be considered as lying on the edge of this zone.

However, recent sources such as The Essential Atlas, describe this area as being located at the edge of the galactic disk, with the area beyond known as the Intergalactic Void.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Sources

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ↑ Force Heretic II: Refugee
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Essential Atlas
  3. ↑ X-wing: Starfighters of Adumar
  4. ↑ Outbound Flight
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1  "Unusual Suspects" - Star Wars Gamer 6
  6. ↑ Galaxy Guide 8: Scouts p24; Tales of the Bounty Hunters p301

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Unknown_Regions"