59-660: Coruscant ( / ˈ k ɒr ə s ɑː n t / ) is an ecumenopolis planet in the fictional universe of Star Wars . It was first described in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire . The planet made its first on-screen appearance in a scene added to Return of the Jedi for its 1997 re-release. It has gone on to become an important location in the Star Wars universe and appears frequently in Star Wars media. In-universe, Coruscant
118-589: A sound stage . For example, the resort city of Canto Bight located on the planet Cantonica, seen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), was filmed in Dubrovnik, Croatia . The Star Wars galaxy contains several broad sub-regions. Their exact definitions fluctuated somewhat during the Legends continuity, but were later formally updated by the new canon continuity when Disney purchased Lucasfilm. The new canon map
177-588: A planet called Alderaan , a city-planet and the capital planet of the galaxy. In Lucas's 1975 draft, Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars , the capital planet of Alderaan is described as a floating city in the clouds, "suspended in a sea of cirrus methane." This concept was illustrated in early sketches commissioned by Lucas from conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie , and
236-484: A poetic and literary adjective meaning "glittering; sparkling." In French , “coruscant” is also used as an adjective meaning “glittering; sparkling.” As a literary adjective, the French term can be used to describe a decadent and overly complicated language, decorum, or community. The concept of a city-planet in the Star Wars universe originated with the initial drafts of Star Wars when author George Lucas included
295-499: A rare and valuable gemstone, the corusca gem (a fictional gem in Star Wars lore). The lights of the planet-wide city, as seen from space, were said to resemble the glittering of these gems. In the real world, the word “coruscant” originates in the late 15th century from the Latin word coruscant , meaning "vibrating, glittering." It comes from the Latin verb coruscare , meaning “to glitter.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as
354-533: A sequence added to the 1997 Special Edition release of Return of the Jedi , its first onscreen appearance. The sequence depicts the reaction of citizens of Coruscant upon hearing of the death of Emperor Palpatine , where many citizens are seen celebrating with fireworks and pulling down his statue. The 1998 novel X-Wing: Iron Fist included an eyewitness account of this scene. Coruscant was prominently featured in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as
413-556: A space battle in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga . In Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga , players can visit Coruscant's Federal and Uscru Districts. In the prologue of the comic series Dark Empire (1991), set after the original film trilogy, Coruscant is ravaged by battles between warring Imperial factions. Coruscant is seen in the X-Wing series of computer games. Concept art by Ralph McQuarrie served as
472-482: A space station called the Death Star and the name of Alderaan was given to a peaceful world destroyed by the Empire. The Empire's homeworld, Had Abbadon , came up in early drafts of Return of the Jedi . The entire planet was to be a sprawling city. However, concluding that the realization of such a city was impossible at the time, the creators abandoned the idea. Later, in the graphic novel Legacy 29: Vector, Part 10
531-623: A vast, Gothic -style ecumenopolis sometime during the 30th millennium AD after its establishment as the "Throneworld", or capital, of an interstellar superpower known as the Imperium of Man. In Magic: the Gathering , the plane of Ravnica is an ecumenopolis. DC Comics continuity features Darkseid 's extra-dimensional home planet of Apokolips , often depicted as a hellish world covered entirely in industrial sprawl to feed Darkseid's brutal empire. The manga and film of Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei
590-520: Is "surprisingly pertinent" according to geography researchers Pavle Stamenovic, Dunja Predic and Davor Eres, especially as a consequence of globalization . Doxiadis also created a scenario based on the traditions and trends of urban development of his time, predicting at first a European eperopolis ("continent city") which would be based on the area between London , Paris , Rhine-Ruhr and Amsterdam . In 2008, Time magazine coined Nylonkong to link New York City , London , and Hong Kong as
649-626: Is Nar Shaddaa, was a moon ecumenopolis known for being almost entirely ruled by crime lords, was eventually reduced to rubble, broken down, and forested by the Yuuzhan Vong in a galactic wide conflict known as the Yuuzhan Vong War , but it was quickly resettled as soon as the Vong were defeated. Taris was also a former ecumenopolis, but it was wiped out by the Sith Amada in a devastating galactic war between
SECTION 10
#1732869334297708-579: Is a politically and strategically important planet, serving as the capital and seat of government for the Republic and the Galactic Empire , as well as the headquarters of the Jedi Order . It is depicted as a bustling, yet highly stratified planet-spanning metropolis. Throughout the city's centuries-long development, new city blocks were built on top of old ones, forming levels. Coruscant has 5127 levels, with
767-516: Is a prominent setting in the Andor series. All of Mon Mothma's scenes take place on Coruscant as well as the majority of Dedra and Syril's scenes. In Tales of the Jedi , Coruscant appears prominently in three of the six episodes. Count Dooku and Mace Windu attend the funeral of Council Member Katri at the Jedi Temple, Ahsoka Tano is shown extensively training for combat in the same location, and
826-547: Is also referred to as the Legislative District , Government District , and Government Center . The Alien Protection Zone is referenced as a walled ghetto on Coruscant of an unknown location, housing the planet's non-human population. Neighborhoods within the zone are shown representing the cultures of these minority groups. The Alien Protection Zone was constructed in 19 BBY by the Galactic Empire and opened by
885-443: Is broadly similar to the later versions of the Legends galactic map. As a general rule, most of the galaxy's wealth, power, and population are concentrated near the middle of the galactic circle – the "Core Worlds". The first major interstellar powers in the core are stated to have risen many millennia ago, gradually coalescing into the early Galactic Republic , with its capital at Coruscant . Waves of colonization (and conquest) by
944-526: Is featured as a New Republic capital. On Coruscant, we are re-introduced to Dr. Penn Pershing and Elia Kane , a former communications officer on Moff Gideon's cruiser, who are now revealed to be a part of the New Republic Amnesty program. We are also introduced to the Shipyard Depot, a salvage yard where decommissioned Star Destroyers are being dismantled. Coruscant appears as the background of
1003-590: Is known as the Rishi Maze, but they are very lightly settled or explored. The canon map depicts a top-down view of the galactic disk, with "north" as the side of the galactic center that Coruscant is located on. As the capital planet of the Republic and later the Empire, Coruscant is used as the reference point for galactic astronomy, set at XYZ coordinates 0-0-0. Standardized galactic time measurements are also based on Coruscant 's local solar day and year. According to
1062-440: Is owned by a fictional in-game company of the same name. As of March 2024, its current implementation in the game is a de facto ecumenopolis. However, as development continues, it is expected to feature oceans and small parts of undeveloped land. A central setting in the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000 is a portrayal of Earth in the far future, where it is known as "Holy Terra" and is described as having been transformed into
1121-574: Is set in a far future in which Earth has become the ruins of planet-covering city, which is suggested to be so large that it has consumed most of the Solar System as well, it may also be along the lines of a hollow-world or dyson shell. Some of his other works also take place in this same setting. Bespin The fictional universe of the Star Wars franchise features multiple planets and moons . While only
1180-476: Is the hypothetical concept of a planetwide city. The word was invented in 1967 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis to represent the idea that, in the future, urban areas and megalopolises would eventually fuse, and there would be a single continuous worldwide city as a progression from the current urbanization , population growth , transport and human networks . According to Doxiadis, it
1239-619: The Millennium Falcon , fleeing the Imperial Navy. They jump to hyperspace without doing calculations and find themselves in the middle of our Solar System, overpassing Saturn , Jupiter , and Mars while decelerating and landing in Northern America . Han is killed by Native Americans , and a mourning Chewbacca leaves the Falcon to live in the trees, where the natives believe him to be
SECTION 20
#17328693342971298-955: The Federal District ) is located on the planet's equator, and is known to contain numerous notable sites such as the Ambassadorial Sector (canonically home to 500 Republica and the Senate Apartment Complex), Embassy Mall, the Coruscant Opera House, the Galactic Museum, the Heorem Complex (where the Heorem Skytunnel is located), Judicial Plaza (home to the Glitanni Esplanade and the Judicial Arcology),
1357-650: The Galactic Empire and was Republic City (or the City of Spires) under the Galactic Republic . The planet was code-named Triple Zero during the Clone Wars . The demonym and adjective form of the planet's name is Coruscanti. Many native citizens of Coruscant speak with the Received Pronunciation accent (known in-universe as Coruscanti ). In the Star Wars universe , the planet Coruscant derives its name from
1416-495: The Star Wars films or other canon media. Rogue One ' s director, Gareth Edwards , has described the location as "a Mecca or Jerusalem within the Star Wars world". It is also a homonym for Jeddah , the principal gateway to Mecca. In the VR game Vader Immortal , it is revealed that Mustafar was once forested and very populous, but was left devastated by an ancient battle. It later begins to slowly heal itself, and, by
1475-600: The Clones . Another notable area of Coruscant is 500 Republica, an area where the elites of the city, such as politicians and diplomats, gather. In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith , Coruscant is featured in a space battle (known as the Battle of Coruscant) during the opening scene. Separatist cyborg, General Grievous kidnaps Chancellor Palpatine and uses the Separatist fleet to help assault
1534-637: The Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. On its upper levels, it hosts the Galaxy's Opera House. The district's lower levels were collectively referred to as the Entertainment District. The Outlander Club, seen in Attack of the Clones and mentioned in Jedi: Fallen Order , is in the Entertainment District. Coruscant also appears as one of the in–ride "destination planets" in
1593-578: The Harkonnens' home world of Giedi Prime is a heavily polluted ecumenopolis infamous for its gladiator arenas. The concept is depicted in the video game Stellaris , where players are given the option of transforming planets into ecumenopolises, which provides a great deal of housing and space for industrial production through the construction of arcologies , at the cost of making the planet's natural resources inaccessible. The video game Star Citizen currently features an ecumenopolis called ArcCorp which
1652-579: The Imperial Palace is located at the site of the former Jedi Temple, where Palpatine resides. In The New Jedi Order series (1999–2003), Coruscant is the capital world of the New Republic until, in The New Jedi Order: Star by Star , the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong overwhelm the New Republic defenses in three attack waves led by Warmaster Tsavong Lah who takes over the planet, destroying
1711-430: The Jedi included some unrealized designs for the imperial capital, Had Abbadon. During the production of The Phantom Menace , it was decided that scenes would be set on the capital planet, now called Coruscant. Artist Doug Chiang was tasked with designing the imperial city for which he turned to McQuarrie's original concept art. The appearance of the cityscape has been described as a " retro-futuristic metropolis", and
1770-530: The Jedi and Sith. Sometime after the Jedi Civil War , it became a vast swampland of ruins but was slowly rebuilt over the following four millennia. Both of the latter two city worlds had historically rivaled Coruscant as centers of interstellar trade, but in their later history when the trade lanes shifted, Nar Shaddaa and Taris had suffered from severe deindustrialization . This was long before they were put to rest with brutal orbital bombardments. In Dune ,
1829-1072: The Legislative Borough, Senate Plaza, the Avenue Of The Core Founders, the Republic Executive Building, the Galactic Senate Building, Hospital Plaza, the Galactic Senate, the Palace District (home to the Imperial Palace and Senate Hill), Quadrant A-89 (home to the CSF HQ), the Fellowship Plaza, the Galactic Justice Center and the Temple Precinct (home to the Jedi Temple), Sector H-52, Sector I-33,
Coruscant - Misplaced Pages Continue
1888-562: The New Republic and creating the theocratic Yuuzhan Vong Empire. After surrendering, the Yuuzhan Vong agreed to help the Alliance rebuild Coruscant. The new Coruscant is a combination of technology and organic life representing the peace between the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances (Galactic Alliance) and the Yuuzhan Vong. James Luceno's novel Labyrinth of Evil (2005) introduces a deserted manufacturing area known as 'The Works' as
1947-661: The New Republic in 6 ABY. Sah'c Town , also known as Sah'c District or Quadrant H-46 , is an area described as situated on the Equator, named after and controlled by the wealthy Sah'c family. It was home to an emergency bunker where the chancellor of the Galactic Republic or New Republic ruled in case of emergencies. The area also contains Sah'c Canyon, which is the exit point of the Senate District's Heorem Skytunnel. Uscru District The Uscru District appears in Attack of
2006-545: The Republic gradually spread outward from the Core, into the sparser systems at the galaxy's edge, such as Tatooine. Worlds of the Outer Rim are rich in raw resources but lack the population, infrastructure, or political power of the Core. Major galactic sub-regions are further divided into quadrants, sectors, etc., down to individual star systems and planets. The galaxy has at least two companion-satellite dwarf galaxies , one of which
2065-753: The Uscru Boulevard, Westport and Xizor's Palace. The Senate District is depicted as the de facto capital of Coruscant, the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, the Galactic Federation Of Free Alliances, and the One Sith. It is shown bordering the Financial District and the Sah'c District and is also adjacent to The Works (an industrial sector on the planet). The Senate District
2124-591: The basis for the pyramidal Imperial Palace, depicted in The Illustrated Star Wars Universe (1995) by Kevin J. Anderson , which claims it is "the largest structure on Coruscant, perhaps on any planet". According to the Star Wars Encyclopedia (1998), it is located next to the Senate building. Although this version of the Imperial Palace appears in a variety of Expanded Universe works, in canon,
2183-510: The capital and cover his escape. The planet's cityscape is then prominently featured throughout much of the movie with Chancellor Palpatine's office as well as the Senate building being the primary two settings on Coruscant. A theatre in 500 Republica is where Anakin Skywalker and Palpatine watch a ballet; during the show, Palpatine encourages Skywalker to ally with the Dark Side by telling him of
2242-451: The desert world Tatooine . The hot, molten worlds of Kepler-10b and Kepler-78b are comparable to the volcanic planet Mustafar. OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb , a cold, remote exoplanet, is like the ice planet Hoth . Kepler-22b , thought by scientists to be an ocean planet , is compared to the planet Kamino . According to NASA, there are also similarities to Alderaan and Endor in the real-world universe. Two non-canonical works also feature
2301-648: The design very closely resembles Cloud City , the floating city featured in The Empire Strikes Back . In Lucas's third draft, the Imperial City of Alderaan became the homeworld of the Sith Lords , where Darth Vader held Princess Leia captive. Lucas continued to hone his script, aided by screenwriters Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz . By the fourth draft, scenes on the Imperial capital planet had been moved to
2360-489: The early 21st century. In 2015, the US space agency NASA published an article which stated that many of the newly discovered astronomical bodies possessed scientifically confirmed properties that are similar to planets in the fictional Star Wars universe. Kepler-452b , a rocky super-Earth -type planet, is said to be similar to the Star Wars planet Coruscant . Likewise, the planets Kepler-16b and Kepler-453b , planets discovered orbitting binary stars probably resemble
2419-412: The ecumenopolis has become a frequent topic and was popularized in 1999 by the fictional city planet Coruscant in the Star Wars franchise, which is the capital of the Galactic Republic (later Empire ) and home to the Jedi Order . In addition to Coruscant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens features the planet Hosnian Prime , the capital world of the New Republic. Originating in Star Wars Legends
Coruscant - Misplaced Pages Continue
2478-412: The eperopolis of the Americas , Euro-Africa and Asia-Pacific respectively. Before the term had been created, the concept had been previously discussed. The American religious leader Thomas Lake Harris (1823–1906) mentioned city-planets in his verses, and science fiction author Isaac Asimov used the city-planet Trantor as the setting of some of his Foundation novels. In science fiction ,
2537-423: The feature films and selected other works are considered canon to the franchise since the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company , some canon planets were first named or explored in works from the non-canon Star Wars expanded universe , now rebranded Star Wars Legends . In the theatrical Star Wars films , many scenes set on these planets and moons were filmed on location rather than on
2596-434: The final lightsaber duel between Master Yaddle and Count Dooku takes place in Darth Sidious ' manufacturing-district lair. In one scene, Dooku remarks upon the fact that Coruscant is a planet of "Steel and Stone", lacking much in the way of wild nature; Qui-Gon Jinn , who was born there, had never seen a tree before visiting the Jedi Temple for the first time as a boy. In the 19th episode of The Mandalorian , Coruscant
2655-468: The first time in Timothy Zahn 's Heir to the Empire . In various novels, characters aligned with the Empire refer to Coruscant as the "Imperial Center". Within the stories, this is explained as an administrative renaming undertaken to emphasize the differences between the Old Republic and the Empire. Coruscant was in some early sources called "Jhantor" in homage to Isaac Asimov 's Trantor . Production artwork produced by Ralph McQuarrie for Return of
2714-427: The headquarters of the Jedi Temple and the senate. In Rogue One , Jyn Erso has a flashback of her young self on Coruscant. In Obi-Wan Kenobi , Coruscant makes its first extensive live-action appearance in the Star Wars saga since the prequel trilogy. Coruscant is prominent in a montage of footage from the Star Wars prequel films, and the Jedi Temple of Coruscant is the setting of several scenes. Coruscant
2773-413: The location of the Galactic Republic Senate building and the central Jedi Temple. There is a speeder chase through the skies of Coruscant in Episode II: Attack of the Clones that eventually leads to a nightclub in the bowels of Coruscant's Uscru Entertainment District. Another area of Coruscant shown is Coco Town (short for "collective commerce"). Coco Town is the site of Dex's Diner in Attack of
2832-411: The meeting place for Sith Lords Darth Sidious (Palpatine) and Darth Tyranus . With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company , most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were re-branded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014. The Senate District (also sometimes referred to as
2891-412: The name Had Abbadon was given to a lost mythic planet in the Had Abbadon System of the Deep Core. This mythic planet was covered by dry fields, linked to the birth of the Jedi, and the location of a planned assassination attempt by Cade Skywalker on Darth Krayt . It was also the home to an Imperial. The Empire's homeworld first appeared in the Star Wars Expanded Universe and was called Coruscant for
2950-439: The real-life Solar System 's planets. Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas (1993) contains a feature, presented as a clip from a gossip column, in which a pair of Duros are abducted by humans and taken to "Urthha" (Earth), where they create havoc by misunderstanding terrestrial objects and food. In issue #19 of the comic series Star Wars Tales (2004), the story " Into the Great Unknown " finds Han Solo and Chewbacca in
3009-405: The second season's fourth episode, "The Siege", a classroom is briefly shown on a planet in the Outer Rim, in which a lesson on galactic astrography is being taught by a protocol droid. The teacher not only lists off each of these major regions from the Visual Dictionary, but lists them in the exact same order, from the Outer Rim to the Core: The following list names prominent planets and moons from
SECTION 50
#17328693342973068-414: The streams of floating vehicles traveling between soaring skyscrapers is thought to have been partly inspired by Fritz Lang 's 1927 film, Metropolis . In Attack of the Clones , the depiction of Coruscant was expanded greatly. Chiang created a more urban, apocalyptic environment for the street level, taking inspiration from Ridley Scott 's 1982 hit film Blade Runner . Coruscant is the location of
3127-426: The supposed Sith ability of resuscitation. After a failed attempt by the Jedi to arrest Palpatine when he divulges his true identity as Darth Sidious to Skywalker, Palpatine appoints himself Emperor of the first Galactic Empire in the Republic Senate Building on Coruscant. Coruscant features prominently in both the 2003 traditionally-animated Clone Wars series and the 2008 animated The Clone Wars series, as
3186-523: The theme park attraction Star Tours – The Adventures Continue in Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida , and Disneyland Park at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California . Footnotes Citations Ecumenopolis Ecumenopolis (from Ancient Greek οἰκουμένη ( oikouménē ) 'the inhabited world' and πόλις ( pólis ) 'city'; lit. ' world city ' ; pl. ecumenopolises or ecumenopoleis )
3245-438: The time of The Rise of Skywalker , trees appear to have regrown on Mustafar's surface. These are planets with multiple appearances in the Star Wars Expanded Universe , now rebranded as Star Wars Legends . The accompanying works were declared non-canon by Lucasfilm in April 2014, following its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in October 2012. The discovery of exoplanets in the real-world universe gained pace in
3304-440: The top being the wealthiest and the lowest being the poorest. Coruscant has four moons and is the sixth planet out of the eleven that make up the system of the same name. It lies within the Coruscant Subsector of the Corusca Sector, located in the Core Worlds galactic quadrant region. The sun, Coruscant Prime, is the zero coordinate of the Star Wars galaxy (as opposed to being its galactic center ). In Legends , Coruscant
3363-432: The updated Visual Dictionary series made by Pablo Hidalgo for the Sequel Trilogy, these are the general regions of the galaxy spreading outward from the Core: Apart from these broad regions radiating out from the galactic core, there are also several major galactic sub-regions of note: This official galactic astrography was later re-confirmed for the first time in on-screen, live-action dialogue in The Mandalorian . In
3422-421: Was once referred to as Notron or Queen of the Core. It was renamed Imperial Center during the reign of the Galactic Empire (as depicted in the original films ) and Yuuzhan'tar during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion (as depicted in the New Jedi Order novel series). Initially, the planet's capital city was Galactic City (built at least in 100,000 BBY, partially destroyed in 27 and 44 ABY). It was Imperial City under
3481-462: Was the fifteenth level of ekistic units and the most significant one as the uppermost echelon of the classification. The term "Ecumenopolis" comes from two Greek words, "oikoumenē" which means "inhabited world," and "polis," which means "city." This concept was already current in science fiction in 1942, with Trantor in Isaac Asimov 's Foundation series . When made public, Doxiadis' idea of ecumenopolis seemed "close to science fiction", but today
#296703