United Nations (Reach)
| File:Reachtitle.png This article is part of the "Reach" sci-fi series. |
| Capital | New York City |
|---|---|
| Currency | UN Credit (UNC) |
The United Nations, abbreviated as the UN, rarely referred to as the Union, is one of the sovereing nations of the solar system. Along with the Martian Federation, it is one of the two superpowers of human colonized space, often competing with its rival in technology, science and living standards.
Originally, it was formed after World War II as an organization facilitating international cooperation and peace-keeping. Over time, mainly during the initial and middle phases of the Martian colonization, it became more similar to a federal government, creating its own joint millitary in 2093.
After the last international conflicts died down, humanity chose to unify all of its national administrations into one planetary federal government, whose structure mimicked that of the United Americas, but with its particular functions and election cicles.
History
Founding in 1945
Originally, the United Nations was formulated as an intergovernmental organization, seeking to eliminate the tensions between the nations of the world, as well as suggest and achieve co-operation, in order to prevent another global conflict from unfolding. During the International Conference on Organization, which took place on April 25, 1945, the UN was officially established primarily between the "Big Four" of World War II (the United States, the Soviet Union, China and the United Kingdom), after which many other states joined, to the point where the entirety of the planet was part of the UN.
Cold War era
Because of the division between the world's two superpowers, the US and USSR, the United Nations was nearly paralysed, intervening only in conflicts unrelated to the tension between the two leading nations.
Post-Cold War era
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism, the UN was resurrected and expanded its peace-keeping duties, solving numerous conflicts that arose around the globe. During the last quarter of 2021, the UN's power was increased drastically, in an attempt to mimick the European Union.
Martian colonization era
After the accession of more and more nations to the Joint Forces Pact, the multi-governmental aerospace organization was included as a branch of the UN in 2063. This helped reduce tensions between the United States, Europe and their eastern rivals, Russia and China.
Following the unification of the US and Canada into the United Republic of North America, the United Nations saw an increase in its intergovernmental powers, such as imposing one monetary value, the UN Credit, and demanding more millitary cooperation. This was, at first, very bashed upon, especially by China and Russia. Eventually, after realizing the benefits of this new structure of the UN, conflicts died down, with the tensions between the Sino-Russian and the North American-European blocs to an all time low.
Joint millitary era
Eventually, the United Nations saw the creation of a international millitary branch, divided between land, sea and air forces. The two last pre-global unifications, the United Americas and the Sino-Russian Republic, strengthened this idea, implementing a global space navy for the entirety of Earth. The Peace Accord of Berlin, signed in 2099, officially ended all political stress and division between the Eastern and Western Blocs. Following the signing of the treaty, the UN expanded its frontiers even further, including a strengthened cooperation branch, meant to completely erase any lasting conflicts on the planet, no matter how small.
Unification
Two years later, on August 7, 2101, the Treaty unifying the United Nations is signed in Buenos Aires, ending all national administrations and unifying Earth into one planetary federal republic. The treaty dictated the division of the planet into 87 federal sectors, each with their own local government, which were subordinated to the federal government, seated in New York City. The millitary is restructured into three branches: the planetary defenses, the surface forces and the space navy.
Superpower of the solar system
After Mars achieved independence and formed the Martian Federation, the UN and its former colony became the two dominant nations of the solar system, competing with each other in science, millitary capacity, colonization and living standards.
Astrography
The United Nations stretches over two planets, four planetary moons, and a good portion of the Asteroid belt. Its jurisdiction also includes 45.16% of Saturn's rings. Considering the territory's use, the UN's possessions over Saturn's ring system is not included in the nation's total area.
The principal planet of the UN is Earth, the original homeworld of humanity. It hosts the capital city, New York, a cultural and socio-economic center, whose population exceeds 60 million people. Earth's flora and fauna is the most varied of all the solar system's human settlements, with only Mars truly being a real competitor to Earth's title, and even it is not natural, but a result of a massive terraforming project. Earth's landmass is divided into seven continents, which are separated by large oceans, seas and/or straits.
Europe and Asia, Earth's most culturally diverse continents, are separated by a mere mountain chain, a relatively small sea, and two straits. Because of this, many geographers consider the two continents as the two halves of Eurasia, a proposed supercontinent. Some include even Africa to the mix, due to the continent's loose separation from its neighbors.
Earth's longest river is Amazon, defeating its immediate inferior, the Nile, by just 39 kilometers. Amazon is also the largest river by drainage area and discharge on the planet, surpassing all other by a great margin.
The other planetary and subplanetary possessions of the UN lack definitive features such as Earth's, the only other planet classifying as such being the terraformed Mars. Although initially inhospitable, the UN overcame these obstacles and succeeded in settling on planetary moons with trace atmospheres, and even in the upper parts of the Venusian atmosphere.
Demography
The UN is the most populous nation to date, serving over 15 billion people, of which nearly 520 million live off-Earth. The majority of Earth's and Venus' cities easily exceed the one million mark, placing the UN as currently also the most densely populated nation.
Urban demography
The most populous city of the UN is New York City, the capital and the principal spaceport. Several other cities on the planet exceed twenty million citizens, each representing former capitals or principal cities of former states that existed before the global unification of 2101.
| Rank | City | Planet, System | Population (2196 estimate) | Population (2198 estimate) | Growth rate per two years (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City | Earth, (inner) Sol | 59,952,000 | 61,026,000 | 1.79 ↑ |
| 2 | Tokyo | Earth, (inner) Sol | 41,208,780 | 42,520,100 | 3.18 ↑ |
| 3 | Shanghai | Earth, (inner) Sol | 36,657,000 | 36,987,000 | 0.9 ↑ |
| 4 | London | Earth, (inner) Sol | 34,125,000 | 35,090,050 | 2.83 ↑ |
| 5 | San Angeles | Earth, (inner) Sol | 24,605,000 | 24,612,000 | 0.02 ↑ |
| 6 | Columbus Prime | Venus, (inner) Sol | 21,958,200 | 22,474,070 | 2.34 ↑ |
| 7 | Killian City | Venus, (inner) Sol | 19,737,540 | 20,455,000 | 3.64 ↑ |
| 8 | Magellan City | Venus, (inner) Sol | 19,872,660 | 20,451,000 | 2.91 ↑ |
| 9 | Sydney | Earth, (inner) Sol | 18,010,900 | 18,998,000 | 5.48 ↑ |
| 10 | Paris | Earth, (inner) Sol | 17,882,000 | 18,651,000 | 4.3 ↑ |
Planetary demography
Grouped by the planetary and subplanetary bodies in its possession, the United Nations' most populous astronomical object remains Earth.
| Rank | Body | System | Population (2257 estimate) | Population (2259 estimate) | Growth rate per two years (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Earth | Sol | 16,505,000,000 | 16,582,000,000 | + 1 |
| 2 | Reach | Tau Ceti | 4,920,000,00 | 5,110,000,000 | + 3.8 |
| 3 | Venus | Sol | 1,003,000,000 | 1,044,000,000 | + 4.08 |
| 4 | Lux | Tau Ceti | 688,000,000 | 740,000,000 | + 2.83 |
| 5 | Tribute | Proxima Centauri | 13,005,000 | 29,000,000 | + 7.55 |
| 6 | Indris | Epsilon Eridani | 7,770,000 | 9,000,000 | + 16.88 |
| 7 | Ganymede | Sol | 8,120,000 | 7,650,000 | - 5.79 |
| 8 | Callisto | Sol | 15,700,000 | 6,882,000 | - 56.17 |
Government and administration
Governmental structure
The UN government is divided into three major branches, each wielding power over one aspect: the executive brach, represented by the Secretariat, tasked with carrying out laws, led by the leader of the government, the elected Secretary-General; the legislative branch, represented by the High Congress, whose purpose is to formulate new laws; the judicial brach, represented by the Supreme Court and other local federal courts.
This governmental organization model was inherited from the United Americas, which, pre-unification, was thought to be a nigh-perfect federation.
Administration
The United Nation is a federation, its territory being divided into 133 federal sector and one special district, the district of New York.
Each sector is administrated by a local semi-autonomous government, led by governors. The governments are partially free, and can impose particular laws. However, they are directly subordinated to the federal government.
Each astronomical body in the UN's possession, regardless of the number of sectors, is governed by a High Governor, which acts as a leader of all of the sectors on that planet. Earth doesn't have a High Governor, considering the presence of the Secretary-General, which could be considered as so.