Description: Reptillian, Bipedal   Size Medium   Skin Pigment: Gold/Tan   Hair: Black   Series:  TNG: "The Wounded", "Ensign Ro", DS9: all   Planet of Origin: Cardassia Prime   Quadrant: Alpha
Distinguishing Features	Extensive facial ridges.  "Square" look to face.

HISTORY	The Cardassian Union has been the most unstable of the Alpha Quadrant powers. Introduced to viewers in TNG's "The Wounded", they quickly established themselves as one of the most brutal and devious enemies of the Federation. But they weren't always like this....
	Long ago, the Cardassians were peaceful, spiritual people. They collected some of the best works of art in the entire Quadrant, along with Jewels and other treasures, and it was home to many legendary ruins and treasures, but the planet itself was devoid of natural resources. Within years, the population was starving to death and disease was rampant. There seemed to be no end to the suffering.
The Military, (which would become known as the Central Command) had grown upset at how weak their culture had become, and seized control. They proposed that the only way Cardassia could survive was to expand. Soon, warships were invading nearby worlds and stealing their resources, territory and technology. The Union began to grow stronger, as its borders expanded. The planet which suffered the most from the Cardassian re-birth was Bajor. The Bajorans, like the Cardassians, were peaceful, spiritual people. When the Cardassians came to their world, the Bajorans accepted the promises of help and support from their neighbors.  The Cardassians annexed Bajor, and 50 years of occupation began, during which an estimated 10 million Bajorans lost their lives....
Sometime before the year 2347, the Cardassians tried to expand their territory into Federation space. Soon war broke out, to date, the exact reason why this war started has never been stated, but the fighting continued for over 20 years.
The Bajoran citizens were not content to rely on their Prophets to see through the brutal occupation of their homeland. Over the years Resistance Groups, like the Shakaar, had sprung up, and conducted terrorist activities against the Cardassians. While the Central Command was successful at taking the majority of Bajor's resources, the constant attacks by the Resistance were slowly beginning to effect public opinion back home on Cardassia Prime.
	By 2367, the Union had become very strong, but not strong enough to overpower Starfleet, and negotiations were called to end the War. Eventually a peace treaty was signed, but there was a serious lack of trust within Starfleet about the true motives of the Cardassians - some people thought that they only signed the treaty so that they could regroup and rearm their forces for a new assault on Federation Space. On Stardate 44429.6, Captains Picard and Maxwell discovered that the Cardassians were making preparations to launch an attack against the Federation, once this was discovered by Starfleet, the Union backed down, for now.
On Stardate 46360.8 the Cardassians designed an elaborate trap for Captain Picard by leaking disinformation to Starfleet. The Union hoped that Picard would know Starfleet's defense plans for Minos Korva, a Federation planet close to the Cardassian border which the Union attempted to annex during the war. Their plan was partially successful - they did manage to kidnap Picard, but were unable to gain the defense plans. The Cardassian Interrogator ignored Interstellar law and tortured Picard to get the information. The Captain was only released after a Cardassian Invasion fleet was threatened with destruction by Starfleet.
Around this time, the Cardassians had grown weary of the Bajoran terrorists, and the leaders back home gave the order to withdraw from Bajoran space. Some officers in the Central Command were furious, the withdrawl not only left many remaining resources on Bajor, but they also left a Mining Station called Terok Nor in orbit over the planet.  The Union carried out its promise however, and ended the occupation of Bajor. The Bajoran Provisional Government, aware that their shattered world was defenseless, asked the Federation to establish a Starfleet presence within the Bajoran System.  Starfleet agreed, and on Stardate 46379.1 the Federation and Bajorans were in control of the old Mining Station - which was retitled Deep Space Nine.  Soon after the withdrawl, Starfleet officers from DS9 discovered one end of a stable wormhole  within the Bajoran System.  The other end emerged 50,000 light years away in the Gamma Quadrant, an area unexplored by any Alpha Quadrant race, and no doubt full of new treasures and resources. Thanks to Starfleet, Bajor was able to claim the rights to the Wormhole - or as the Bajorans called it, The Celestial Temple.  Just over a year later, the Cardassians were nearly successful in forcing Starfleet to leave Bajor by helping a Bajoran extremist group oust the Provisional Government from Power, which would have left Bajor wide open for the Cardassians to reclaim the system, and the Wormhole.
About 4 months later, the Cardassians and the Federation agreed to 'redraw' the border between the two powers. This realignment left some Cardassian planets in Federation Space, and vice versa.  People on both sides had to be re-located, and a buffer zone between Cardassian and Federation space was set-up.  This was called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Hard-liners within the Union were unsatisfied with this agreement, and Cardassian operatives began doing all they could to make life uncomfortable for the Federation colonists living close to the Cardassian side of the DMZ in hopes that they would leave their homes and allow the Union to reclaim them. This attempt to gain new territory would eventually backfire on the Cardassians, the Federation colonists were already angry that their own Government had betrayed them, and the Cardassian attacks were the final straw. They created the Maquis, a new terrorist group and began carrying out attacks against the Cardassians.
On Cardassia Prime, the Cardassian Intelligence Service known as the Obsidian Order, was slowly gaining power, to the point that not even the Central Command were always aware of what the Order was up to. On Stardate 48467.3 the Maquis grew worried about reports of a secret Cardassian fleet which was going to be used against them.  A Federation Starship was temporarily captured by During this time, and it was revealed that the Order had a fleet of top-of the line warships under their control.  This was against an agreement made between themselves and the Central Command.  Despite this the Order appeared to answer to no-one.
	The Order came to a unexpected end when it joined forces with their Romulan Counterparts, the Tal'Shiar, and began a pre-emptive strike against the new enemy from the Gamma Quadrant; The Dominion.  The joint attack was a complete loss destroying the Obsidian order and severely weakening the Tal'Shiar.  But the loss of the Obsidian Order sparked new hope within the Cardassian Underground Movement which soon pushed the Central Command out of power.  A new Civilian Government was established, the leaders of which were called the Detapa Council.

On Stardate 49011.4, The Klingon Empire believed that the Detapa Council had been infiltrated by the Dominion, and a Klingon fleet lead by General Martok, launched a full scale invasion of Cardassia. While the invasion was eventually aborted, the after-effects would leave a lasting impact. For the first time in decades the Cardassian Union was in a weakened state. Several of the outer colonies had been captured by Klingon forces, most of the fleet had been destroyed defending the homeland, and the economy was shattered.
All of this meant that the Cardassians had to request help from their old adversaries, the Federation. Luckily, the vast Alpha Quadrant alliance agreed, and soon Starfleet was escorting Ship Convoys and giving the Union Industrial Grade replicators to replace those lost in the Klingon invasion. However, the Maquis, who had taken advantage of the Union's misfortune would be successful in claiming some of the replicators for themselves.   By Stardate 50013.9, the Klingons had declared War on the Federation. Soon afterwards, it was discovered that one of the Dominion Founders had infiltrated the Klingon Empire. This Founder had not only been responsible for encourging the war to start, but had also encouraged the Klingons to invade Cardassia for the Dominion's own ends. With this discovery the Federation-Klingon War was over, but Klingon forces still occupied Cardassian Space. Unknown to most people, an ambitious Cardassian, Gul Dukat, was carrying out secret negotiations which would result in the second resurrection of his people....
Shortly after Stardate 50560.1, news reached Starfleet personnel on DS9 that a Dominion invasion was imminent. Captain Sisko, the CO of DS9, prepared to close the Bajoran wormhole to prevent the Jem'Hadar from entering the Alpha Quadrant. However, a Changeling which had replaced Dr. Bashir sometime earlier, sabotaged the closing of the passageway, enabling the Jem'Hadar fleet to enter the Quadrant.   At this point, everyone thought that the Dominion would attack DS9, Bajor, or some other planet within the Quadrant. Gul Dukat soon made the situation clear for everyone when he revealed that he had been conducting secret negotiations between the Cardassian Union and the Dominion - and seven days earlier, Cardassia had agreed to become part of the Dominion. Dukat then left the Bajoran system in his Bird-of-Prey, along with his new friends, the Jem'Hadar.  This news came as a great shock to most Cardassians, and there was another surprise to follow when Gul Dukat  made himself the leader of the Cardassian Union. On his way back to Cardassia, he explained to his people, and to the rest of the Alpha Quadrant, why he had made his people into Dominion Citizens : "You might ask, should we fear joining the Dominion. And I answer you: Not at the least. We should embrace the opportunity. The Dominion recognizes us for what we are, the true leaders of the Alpha Quadrant. And now that we are joined together, equal partners in all endeavours, the only people who'd have anything to fear would be our enemies. My oldest son's birthday is in five days. To him, and to Cardassians everywhere, I make the following pledge: By the time his birthday dawns, there will not be a single Klingon alive inside Cardassian territory. Or a single Maquis colony left within our borders. Cardassia will be made whole, all that we have lost will be ours again.  And anyone who stands in our way will be destroyed. This I vow with my life's blood, for my son, for all our sons."
Once the Jem'Hadar arrived in Cardassian space, they kicked out the Klingon forces which had occupied Cardassian territory for the last 18 months. Dukat then attempted, along with his Dominion friends, to trigger a supernova explosion of the Bajoran Sun, which would have destroyed DS9, Bajor, and a large Federation/Romulan/Klingon fleet in the area at the time. Thanks to some good timing from Starfleet personnel trapped within the Gamma Quadrant, the Dominion's plan failed.   The countdown to a Federation-Dominion war had begun... 5 days after Dukat's speech, the Maquis were slaughtered by the Dominion (DS9 Staff Writer Ron Moore has said that at this point, the DMZ no longer exists). The Cardassian people and military meanwhile, started the adjustment of living under Dominion rule. However, not all Cardassians were pleased with what Dukat had done. One of them was Tekeny Gremor, a friend of DS9 First Officer Kira Nerys and a former Legate who had been forced to flee Cardassia when his connections to the underground movement were discovered by the Obsidian Order 2 years ago (DS9's "Second Skin").    Kira thought that Tekeny Gremor would be able to lead an opposition movement from DS9 for other Cardassians who were also unhappy to be Dominion citizens (broadcasts into Cardassian space, to correct Dominion propaganda, etc etc) However, Tekeny Gremor was dying, thanks to natural causes. Dukat arrived at DS9 to persuade Gremor to spend his remaining days back home, and the Gul brought with him the Dominion's liaison to the Cardassia Union, a Vorta called Weyoun. While at the station, Dukat attempted to kill Gremor to stop him telling Kira about Dukat's enemies on Cardassia. Dukat's attempt failed, and Gremor was able to tell Kira a great deal of information more before he died of natural causes.
	Shortly after Stardate 50862.3, the Dominion took the first steps to fortifying their new Alpha Quadrant foothold by sending the first of five Jem'Hadar convoys to Cardassia, via the wormhole. Just after the fifth convoy entered the Alpha Quadrant on Stardate 50975.2, Starfleet decided to mine the entrance to the wormhole, to stop the continued build-up of Jem'Hadar forces in Cardassian space. Weyoun was sent to DS9 to convince Captain Sisko to reconsider mining the wormhole, but deep down, both men knew that war was just around the corner.
Weyoun returned to Cardassian space, picked up Dukat and a large Dominion/Cardassian fleet, and headed back to the Bajoran system to help Dukat 'regain' Terok Nor - preferably before Starfleet had time to finish laying the cloaked, self replicating minefield. While the attempt to take the station was successful (Starfleet's personnel leaving in the process), the Dominion failed to stop the minefield being activated.
Over the next three months, the Dominion and Cardassians were winning the war to such an extent that is seemed only a matter of time before the Federation would have to surrender - at least, that's what Dukat thought. However, there were the odd signs of tension between the Cardassians and their new friends - Weyoun had to stop Dukat from ordering his forces to occupy Bajor during the retake of the station, and later the two men disagreed about the Bajoran security forces being allowed back onto DS9 - Weyoun won that argument as well. The Vorta, and a female Changeling who arrived on the station shortly after Stardate 51145.3, were also displeased at the amount of time it was taking Dukat to bring down the minefield which was preventing thousands of Jem'Hadar ships from joining the war effort.   It was thanks to Dukat's aide, Gul Damar, that a way was finally found to dismantle the minefield, despite an attempt by a Ferengi on the station to sabotage the equipment needed for this task. Field tests for destroying the mines were successful a few days later, and around this time, Dukat and Weyoun discovered that the Federation were upto something. They suspected that Starfleet would attempt to retake the station before the minefield came down, and they were right. A large Federation fleet was met a few light years from DS9 by an even larger Jem'Hadar/Cardassian fleet. Battle commenced and Dukat was still confident of victory at this point. Even when the U.S.S. Defiant (Captain Sisko commanding) broke through the Jem'Hadar/Cardassian fleet, a Dominion victory still looked likely, as the minefield was finally dismantled and 2,800 Jem'Hadar ships prepared to enter the Alpha Quadrant.However, Dukat's hopes were shattered when Captain Sisko managed to use his influence as the Emissary of the Prophets to persuade the wormhole aliens to make the Dominion's reinforcements disappear. Worse was to follow for Dukat when Damar killed his daughter, Tora Ziyal, for helping a resistance group led by Major Kira to escape from custody. Gul Damar, Weyoun and the rest of the Dominion and Cardassian forces withdrew back to Cardassian territory as Terok Nor was left to the Federation to reclaim as DS9. Dukat suffered a mental breakdown thanks to the events leading upto this defeat and he stayed on the station as a prisoner of war. Damar quickly settled into his new role as the leader of Cardassia, but Weyoun was the person with the real power behind the throne, and he was the driving force behind the Dominion's attempt to gain some more Ketracel White for the Jem'Hadar when the Dominion met the Federation for 'peace talks'. (DS9 Staff writer Ron Moore has said that the Prophets are preventing any more Dominion ships coming through the wormhole). The talks were eventually called off. Later, the former leader of Cardassia, Gul Dukat, escaped from Starfleet custody. His whereabouts are at the moment, unknown.
Later on, a Cardassian defector contacted Starfleet - the defector had information regarding the whereabouts of the Founders throughout the Alpha Quadrant. He was killed by the Jem'Hadar while waiting for two Starfleet Officers to meet him in Cardassian space.  The Cardassian dream to rule the Alpha Quadrant then suffered another setback when the Romulans broke the non-aggression pact they had signed with the Dominion towards the end of last year. Romulan Warbirds attacked 15 outposts along the Cardassian border, and its believed that they will join the Federation and Klingon war effort in the near future. With a mad and unpredictable Gul on the loose who has vowed to destroy Bajor, and the leader of the Cardassian people merely a puppet of the Dominion, the future of the Cardassian Union doesn't look too bright. Add the fact that a Changeling told a former Obsidian Order operative that "Cardassia is dead" two years ago, plus the Romulans breaking the non-aggression pact, and one could say that this race of Alpha Quadrant Solids could at the very least find themselves back in the dark ages of many years ago, with the people starving to death and disease once again rampant. Or perhaps the future for the Cardassians will be even worse then that...

People
    Population: 710,924,000,000
    Species Divisions: Cardassian 58%; Other-Humanoid 36%; Other-Non-Humanoid 6%
    Religion: none 13%; other 13%
    Language: Kardassi and Vorta, both official; small minorities speaking Federation Standard English
    Labor Force: 426,544,000,000

Government
    Full name: The Cardassian Union
    Type: protectorate
    Administrative Divisions: 79 Sectors
    Independence: 1871, formation of Cardassian Union; 2373, annexation by the Dominion
    Constitution: N/A
    Legal System: based on combination of traditional Cardassian law and Dominion law.
    Executive Branch: the Founders; governor
    Legislative Branch: Council of Detapa
    Judicial Branch: Cardassian Justice Tribunal
    Leaders: Chief of State: The Great Link; Head of Government: Governor Gul Dukat
    Suffrage: none
    Defense Forces: Cardassian Militia; Jem'Hadar

Economy
    Overview: Few details are known. Since their alliance with the Dominion, little information of Cardassian activity has been shared.
    Unemployment Rate: 0%
    Budget: 3.00 Trillion Credits (FY 2372); 33.2% military
    Industrial Production: growth rate +0.6% (2372)
    Industries & Agriculture: large-scale replication, starship/space-station construction, pharmaceutical and food agriculture, asteroid mining, anti-matter production, deuterium refining

Communications
    Spaceways: 26,500 LY charted spacelanes
    Spaceports: 108 Major Spaceports, 1012 Minor Spaceports, 3179 Space Stations
    Merchant Marine: 959 ships, 7811 unmanned cargo drones
    Telecommunications: 106,638,000,000 com terminals; 7156 subspace comn relays