Trantor

The capital of the First Galactic Empire and self-styled "Eternal World", Trantor has the distinction of being entirely domed (200 million square kilometers), except for the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Trantor is a world of "unimaginable technological and cultural complexity". Imperial Sector enjoys the highest standard of living anywhere in the galaxy and is populated entirely by government officials. The rest of the planet's forty billion people are divided into 800 semi-autonomous regions whose civilizations and subcultures differ widely. Most places are untouchable by Imperial forces because the technology is so interrelated that the whole planet could be crippled by any given connection being interrupted. Emergency plans are in place to deal swiftly with earthquakes, volcanoes, and storms to keep the planet from tottering. The Empire does not advertise this vulnerability, but as a journalist, Chetter Hummin knows many things that he is not permitted to publish. The...