Culture

Astropolitics

The New Lhasa colony's system - and a handful of star systems around it - are a negotiated UFP enclave within Tholian space. Another result of negotiations is that the enclave is a somewhat demilitarised zone, with highly armed ships not allowed outside the system itself or a defined corridor into Federation space. This is about as popular in some quarters as the treaty of Algeron which prevents Starfleet from developing cloaked ships.

The corridor is in the direction of the nearest heavily populated Federation world, Cestus III.

Demographics

The original colonists were almost entirely human, but subsequent waves of astropolitical upheavals and wanderlust have sent other species to the frontier. About half the inhabitants, nearly all of them entirely human, can trace descendants to the original colonists. The non-humans represent around 3m, and are divided between many different species from "accross and beyond" the UFP. Most races are represented on this Colony.

New Lhasa Syndrome

Soon after the repopulation of the planet, some colonists began to develop Psi abilities and many others developed mental illnesses. The first officer of the Starfleet presence at New Lhasa, Cmdr. Chenier, sabotaged the Brunel and killed some fellow officers. The syndrome has been linked to a particular species of bacteria which is common on New Lhasa, and although a cure has been found, it has not yet been used to wipe out the syndrome.

Tibet

The first colonists of New Lhasa were from the old Terran nation of Tibet, and although this no longer dominates the cultural life of the planet, it has left its mark in the shape of place names and some planetary festivals. The major moon of New Lhasa, for instance, is named after the Himalayan mountain of "Anapurnna". When the caretaker government removed the head of state role from the Dalai Lama there was little dissent other than from the now limited Tibetan Buddhist community.