Ceres

A small mining station settled in the first wave of human colonization, Ceres itself has since been tapped out of resources. Instead, the inhabitants continue to mine the nearby asteroids for exportable materials. A small colony, it nonetheless was one of the most important ones for Earth during the Colonial Civil War.

General Information
Population: 32, 000

Demonym: Ceren

Major Cities: Ceres

Settlement
Settled before the development of the Acceleration Gates, along with other colonies in the Sol System, Ceres was a major leap in developing colonial technology as well as helping to provide materials for the effort of further colonization. Settled, to this end, as a partial research station, Ceres helped establish much of the technologies used on the early colonies.

Colonial Era
Throughout the Colonial Era, Ceres served as little more than a mining outpost. Over time, the research facility slowly weaned off its efforts and better facilities became available. Mining became the lifeblood of the colony, and saw the only purpose it had left. Eventually too, though, this began to die down as the resources of the dwarf planet were drained down to a minimum.

Colonial Civil War
During the Colonial Civil War, Ceres regained its importance in supplying minerals to Earth. A reinvestment saw the mining of nearby asteroids become the new focus, using Ceres as a nexus point to mine the Kuiper Belt. Without Ceres supplying resources to the UCA during the latter stages of the war, much of the UCN resistance would have faltered quicker than it did. Ceres was ignored by the ICSA as they pushed towards Earth.

Recovery
Ceres, after the civil war, saw another decline. With a lack of trading partners, mining has slowed to a trickle with only the most desperate or entrenched colonists remaining to call it home. Nonetheless, the spaceport does offer a friendly port of call for any travelling through the Kuiper Belt.

Geography
The geography of the dwarf planet is fairly dull. Consisting of little more than rock and ice, the planet is pock-marked with holes from exhausted mines. The sprawling facility of Ceres, one that has roots far underground, marks the only inhabited part of the colony.

Culture
Consisting of mostly miners or workers of the spaceport, Cerens are not a terribly large of affluent group of people. Acting as a backwater even in its prime, the neglect caused by the Colonial Sphere since the war has driven the facility to become even more isolated. Due to this, most are content to live quiet lives on their little planet. Built around their close-knit families, the people rely on eachother to survive their barren home. These family groups often stretch back to the original settlers, with their own histories and hierarchies between them.

Government
There is no real government on Ceres, though there is a sort of council elected from the heads of the stronger households on the planet. This council helps to dictate and govern the colony, and resolve any disputes that arise.