Utapau

Name: Utapau
Type: Terrestrial
Temperature: Hot
Atmosphere: Type 1
Hydrosphere: Arid
Gravity: Standard
Terrain: Desert
Length of Day: 29 hours
Length of Year: 300 local days
Sapient Species: Utapauns (Pauan, Utai)
Starport: Standard
Population: 500 Million
Planet Function: Homeworld, Manufacturing, Service, Trade
Government: Pau'an Government
Tech Level: Space
Major Exports: Weapons, Starships, Livestock
Major Imports: Fuel, Food, Technology

Description:

Located in the Tarabba sector, Utapau is an old world that fostered a primitive interstellar civilization prior to the formation of the Republic, almost sixty millennia before modern times. The planet had steadfastly avoided galactic prominence during all that time, steadfastly avoiding politics and war with a stance of quiet neutrality. Utapau only entered into notable offworld trade agreements within the last few decades, when offworld water- mining companies had discovered that the waters of the polanet were rich in dissolved trace elements said to foster health and longevity.

Despite appearances, Utapau was not a true desert planet. An underground ocean circled the entire planet, pulled to and fro by the tidal forces of nine moons. The movement of this sunken ocean eroded away at the porous crust, causing frequent groundquakes that collapsed sections into plunging sinkholes.

It was in these subterranean levels that the native Utai carved an underground society, while on the surface plains, the taller Pau'ans developed. As climactic changes forced the Pau'ans to follow the water and animals below ground, and avoid the ever- increasing hyperwinds that swept the surface, the Pau'ans and Utai made first contact and eventually established a peaceful and mutually beneficial society.

Ringed by numerous moons, the remote sanctuary of Utapau is a planet pitted with enormous sinkholes. Its windswept surface is dry and desert-like, but deep in the porous crust, at the bottom of the sinkhole are pools of life-giving water. Many of the sinkholes on one of the planet's small continents are lined with intricate cities that stretch deep into caves and crevices beneath the planet's surface.