How many worlds are there in the Star Wars films? A guide to the Galaxy

After the long absence from the blog, I bring a hefty article that's meant both for mega-fans of this franchise, but also as a helpful guide for those who don't necessarily know much about it.

The universe of Star Wars has one of the largest settings in fictional media: there's a whole Galaxy to explore. Take in consideration that our own Milky Way is estimated to contain between 100 and 400 billion stars, many of which host planetary systems. Even if only a few of those planets could sustain life (plus some that could be terraformed), the amount of worlds is still mind-blowing.

The Galaxy from Star Wars (it has no other official name than just that, "The Galaxy"; though some fans use the moniker "Galaxy Far, Far Away" or "GFFA") has a relatively similar size to ours, and it's been canonically established that it houses over 3.2 billion of habitable systems. That doesn't mean all of them have been properly charted by space explorers, or even that they're easily reachable through hyperspace: there's the matter of hyperlanes to consider (points in space you can jump from and to).

In any case, the potential for world creation within this franchise is thus infinite and indeed, hundreds of planets have been created through its 44 years history, both within the canon and in the Legends continuity (for the uninitiated, this refers to any material that was created "officially" but outside of George Lucas' control before April 2014. From that date on, mostly everything that is released counts as canon).

But exactly how many of those planets have actually appeared onscreen in the live-action films? I don't mean just mentioned, or explored in other media such as novels or comics, but actually visited by the film-going audiences. Let's count them! There might be more than you think.

A couple of notes: I use the word "planets" at times, but I prefer to say "worlds". While most are indeed technically planets, some of them are actually moons. There's even a couple of inhabited asteroids that simply must be included.

Also, I'm restricting myself to the 11 live-action films. There are many other planets that are seen onscreen extensively on the four TV series released to date, but the number would then grown way too much, and I didn't want to be writing this article for the remaining of the year. I was tempted to include the worlds introduced in The Mandalorian, the only live-action series among the bunch, but I decided against it because a couple of them still remain unnamed. Maybe in a future entry.

I listed the planets in the order they appear, so we'll  obviously start with...

Introduced in A New Hope:

Tatooine is THE Star Wars planet. It has entered popular culture in a way that none other one has, and even people who don't know much about the franchise can recognize its name and many of its features, like the unforgettable twin suns. It's also the only planet to appear in every Saga Trilogy, and in all entries but one of Lucas' original six movies. Not surprisingly, it's the very first planet audiences saw, and the immediate first image of the film following the intro crawl, preceding even the iconic Tantive IV and its pursuing Star Destroyer.

Like most planets in this property, Tatooine has one dominant single biome, in this case a sand desert almost devoid of humidity, to the point in which moisture is one of the world's most valuable commodities. This is the result of the way it orbits around the twin suns Tatoo I and Tatoo II, which makes the surface unusually exposed to heat, turning the planet into a desolate sea of dunes and dry canyons. Yet there is a number of durable creatures who can be found around the planet, from super-predators like the Krayt Dragons and Sarlaccs to a wide variety of smaller animals which the locals use as beasts of burden, such as the Dewbacks and the Banthas.

The two native sentient species are nomadic: the small, scavenging Jawas and their ferocious distant cousins, the Tusken Raiders, who have taken to a more hostile behavior towards outsider settlements. Like many other planets on the Outer Rim, Tatooine wasn't part of the Republic, but was instead unofficially controlled by the Hutt Cartel. It is, in fact, the main seat of power of Jabba the Hutt, one of the major crime lords in that organization. This attracts a large amount of criminals and fugitives to its populated outposts, but there are also many honest families, among them moisture farmers such as the Lars, who went to link themselves to the Skywalkers.

It's indeed the planet's status as the homeworld of the titular clan of the Skywalker Saga which gives it such a prominent place in the canon. Both Anakin and Luke were raised there, and thus Tatooine became the modern epitome of the starting point in the Campbellian Hero's Journey, with a popularity which is only rivaled, maybe, by Tolkien's Shire or Rowling's Privet Drive 4.

Most of Tatooine's scenes for the original film, as well as the prequels, were filmed on Tunisia, a harsh location which was plagued with legendary difficulties for the cast and crew, although other deserts have also been used to portray the planet, such as the Death Valley and Arizona.

One of the quintessential planets in the franchise, Alderaan has barely appeared onscreen, despite its importance to the storyline. It technically made its debut in A New Hope, though it's only seen from space. We wouldn't see the surface until 28 years later, when it was briefly featured in Revenge of the Sith, where it was represented by the Swiss Alps. Other than that, its only other visual appearance so far has been on a sole episode of The Clone Wars.

However, we do know a lot about Alderaan. A cradle of culture and civilization that appears to surpass even Naboo, it's the most similar to an utopian world Star Wars has to offer (maybe that's why it's promptly blown-up).

The planet's terrain is defined by its alpine mountains and placid bodies of water, covered by highly advanced cities that are perfectly in harmony with nature. Alderaanians, who are mostly human, are usually peaceful, educated and just, which explains their opposition to the Imperial rule. A very old member of the Republic, their senator during Palpatine's rise to power was Bail Organa, one of the secret co-founding members of the Rebel Alliance, as well as Princess Leia's adoptive father (he was married with Queen Breha, the ruler of the planet).

Ultimately, the heroic actions of the Organas were the undoing of billions of Alderaanians. Once the planet's real allegiance was discovered by Grand Moff Tarkin, he ordered its destruction, becoming the first and only planet on which the Death Star ever released the full power of its primary weapon. While tragic, the genocide of these peaceful citizens became a turning point for a Galaxy that finally woke up to the real cruelty of the Empire.

As the Princess of Alderaan once said: "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

Another fundamental world in the franchise, Yavin's name lives on in the official dating system for any event in the series. For instance, if you want to know the age of, let's say, Padmé Amidala, you'll find that she was born on "46 BBY" (this is "Before the Battle of Yavin"). Since Revenge of the Sith occurs on 19 BBY, you can then know that she died at the young age of 27.

Yavin itself is a bright orange gas giant planet, technically labeled as Yavin Prime. Though it's fully unable to sustain life, some of its 26 natural satellites can, the fourth one among them.

Yavin 4 is a small moon, and unlike the deathly colossus it orbits, it's boiling with life, mostly of the botanical variety. A large part of it is a jungle, and there's a handful of ruins towering over the vegetation. These ancient temples are the remains of the Massassi, an extinct race believed to be linked with the Sith of old. By the Imperial Era, it's mostly uninhabited, so these abandoned temples became the location of the largest rebel faction of the Alliance. This is the "Rebel Base" Vader was looking for in the original film, after the Rogue One team stole the Death Star plans.

Eventually, Leia was able to bring those plans back to the Yavin 4 base, paying the price of revealing it's location. Before the superweapon was able to fire on the moon, though, Luke Skywalker and his wing mates managed to destroy the Death Star in the unforgettable dogfight finale of A New Hope. This offensive is the "Battle of Yavin" that the dating system refers to, so what we're actually doing is placing an event on its relative position to the original movie (which thus takes place on 0 BBY/ ABY).

Of course, once the battle was over, the Alliance had to evacuate the location, as the Empire now knew they were there, but a small amount of people, mainly ex-rebels, made their home on Yavin 4 after the end of the war.

The moon was shot on the Mayan ruins in Guatemala. Since Poe Dameron's portrayer, Oscar Issac, is Guatemalan, it has long been established in canon that Poe's homeworld is Yavin 4.

Introduced in The Empire Strikes Back:

Much like the original film, Episode V takes place within three worlds. It's also one of the few movies in the series where none of them are revisited locations from a previous one; all planets are new. The first one, the ice planet Hoth, is so iconic that it's almost as remembered across popular culture as Tatooine is, despite appearing far less across the franchise.

Very much unlike Tatooine, Hoth is a frozen wasteland mainly formed by rocky, icy plains and mountains. Attempts to truly colonize the world have been futile due to its climate, but there are a few native species, among them the furry bipedal reptiles known as Tauntauns, which are used as mounts by the rebels, and the large, predatory Wampas, who dwell in caves and who attack Luke at the start of the film.

After their base in Yavin 4 was revealed, the Rebel Alliance managed to relocate to Hoth, which was a harsh temporary home for them. Their time there was a short one, though: they were soon discovered by an Imperial Probe Droid and forced to evacuate in the famous first act of the film. The planet is also close to a dense asteroid field (which the Millenium Falcon crosses in an attempt to shake its pursuers), the reason why it's regularly hit by meteorites.

The production crew filmed the Hoth location scenes at Finse, Norway, during a shot which was as though as the one in Tunisia, but for the opposite reasons. In fact, the snow storms were so severe and the temperatures so cold, that they had to film some takes just a few steps from the doors of their hotel.

Dagobah is a swamp planet with a deep connection to the Force, which is why it's boiling with life: it's full of vegetation and fauna, though it's devoid of sentient settlers. Of course, like in most such places, there's also a gateway to the Dark Side, in this case a cave underneath an old tree.

For most of its history, the planet remained out of the Galaxy's radar, until Yoda was instructed to go there by the deceased Qui-Gon Jinn, who had learned to manifest his consciousness after death. Later, when the Jedi are hunted by the Empire, Yoda choses Dagobah as the location of his exile, and remains there on his own for 22 years until Luke goes to meet him at the bequest of Obi-Wan. Yoda never leaves the planet again until after his death.

Dagobah's bogs mark the first time a Star Wars planet doesn't use location filming for any of its scenes. Instead, bayous and jungles were constructed in an enormous interior set, one of the most impressive of the Original Trilogy: besides featuring a (stinking) water tank, mist, and real-life reptiles, it had to be specially constructed over a complex system that allowed puppeteer Frank Oz to control Yoda and perform in real time with Mark Hamill.

Like Hoth, Bespin is a planet within the Anoat Sector, which is why the passengers of the Falcon escape there when they flee the Rebel base without a functioning hyperdrive. Bespin is a very different place, though. It is a gaseous giant mostly consistent of tibanna gas, a valuable resource in the Galaxy which is used, among other things, as a coolant in blasters and starships. However, there's also a region within its atmosphere that's breathable for humanoid beings, who've established floating mining colonies such as Cloud City, administered during The Empire Strikes Back by Baron Lando Calrissian, who won the facilities during a gamble.

Lando proved himself a surprisingly good enterprising leader, and the City flourished under his supervision, especially while the Empire remained mostly uninterested in their small operation. For a mining colony, the upper levels were remarkably elegant and full of comfort, and doubled as a luxury resort for tourists. Hotels and casinos abounded there, while the lower sections were used to process the tibanna, mostly by Ugnaught workers. Sadly, it later fell under Imperial occupation as a result of Han and Leia's stay there, but the citizens are later seen celebrating the collapse of both the Empire and the First Order.

Bespin was portrayed in Episode V through a mix of sets and matte paintings.

Introduced in Return of the Jedi:

Though there's also three planets in Episode VI, just like in every other film in the Original Trilogy, two of them are returning worlds from the previous two entries: Tatooine and Dagobah. This makes Return of the Jedi the film which introduces the lesser number of new planets, with just one: Endor. Or rather, it's ninth moon, where most of this film takes place.

Like Yavin, Endor itself is a gas giant unable to support life, but orbited by nine small satellites including the one we visit on this film, which is often called Endor too, though it's proper designation would be the "Forest Moon of Endor" or the "Sanctuary Moon". As the name indicates, the terrain mainly consists of thick woodlands, whose tall trees can reach over 1,000 meters. The forests are home to a variety of creatures, chief among them the sentient Ewoks, who form tribes all over the Moon and dwell on wooden villages atop the trees.

The Ewoks are a rare example of a Star Wars race who are incapable of space travel: their grasp of technology is crude at most, though they are ingenious in the craft of wood machinery.

When the Empire researched for a world around which to build their second Death Star, they chose the mostly inhabited Forest Moon of Endor, knowing of the presence of Ewoks, but deeming them as unthreatening. They built a powerful shield projector on the surface of the moon, which allowed them to protect the station while it was constructed. This generator became the necessary first target of the rebel strike against the Death Star II, and the "Battle of Endor", fought both on the surface of the moon and its orbit, is the famous moment when the Empire lost its full control over the Galaxy, allowing for the formation of a New Republic, even though Imperial Remnants would counterattack for another year after that.

Return of the Jedi's location filming was pretty much fully done in the United States (the studio work was done on England), which allowed Lucasfilm to avoid going over budget and over schedule, as had happened with the previous entry. The tall redwood forests of Endor were filmed around Northern California, so those are real sequoias (the largest trees on Earth) you see in the movie.

Introduced in The Phantom Menace:

Again, we visit three planets in this movie, one of which is the usual returning suspect: Tatooine. But before we go there, we discover a new one: Naboo, the main setting of this Episode and which has the honor of the being the first planet we see chronologically on the saga.

Naboo is idyllic: there's plenty of grassy plains and hills, surrounded by magnificent waterfalls and mountains. Human colonizers would build beautiful cities like Theed, the planet's capital, while the native species, the amphibious Gungans, lived underwater bellow the swamps of the world, in cities constructed with organic plasma. Humans and Gungans weren't hostile towards each other, but there was a traditional mistrust between them which finally ended during the respective reigns of Queen Amidala and Boss Nass.

Naboo's human dwellings are unlike anything else seen in Star Wars; clearly technological but with a highly aesthetic architectural style that's a blend of Turkish mosques and classic European. Indeed, beyond what was built on sets or created digitally, a large part of Naboo's sequences were shot at Mediterranean locations such as Seville, Spain and villas found around Italy, like the famous Lake Como.

The Naboo people are artistic and mostly peaceful. Their form of government is a particular brand of democratic Monarchy, and they're often portrayed as a deeply enlightened civilization. Ironically, it's also the home planet of the ultimate evil in the Galaxy: the last Sith Lord, Emperor Palpatine.

Unlike other Sith, Palpatine achieved his power through a double life: he was also a politician and eventually a Senator of Naboo. His planet's root didn't meant much to him: he orchestrated an invasion of Naboo which served him to manipulate his way into the highest office of the Galaxy. Even after his death, it was discovered he had ordered the destruction of Naboo through Operation: Cinder, as a way to bury possible secrets of his early life. Luckily, this was stopped by Leia Organa, daughter of beloved Naboo Queen Padmé Amidala.

Naboo would go to appear in every Prequel film, being one of the most important planets of that era. It also makes a cameo in Return of the Jedi, in versions released after the 2004 DVD.

This overpopulated planet served as the capital of both the Galactic Republic and later, the Empire, so it has been the beating center of the Galaxy for millennia. Though unnamed for years, the notion of an Imperial capital city was part of Star Wars from the beginning. When it finally made its debut in The Phantom Menace*, author Timothy Zahn had already used the name "Coruscant" in his Star Wars books of the 90s, and George Lucas decided to keep it.

*Though technically Corscant first appeared onscreen during a brief shot in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi, Episode I was already in production by that time, and serves as the proper introduction to the planet.

Coruscant is the first planet to be fully realized trough digital technologies (excepting the interiors, which are practical sets later enhanced with CGI). It's obvious to see why, as no real location on Earth would serve to portray the ecumenopolis: the whole planet is a city made from towering skyscrapers that are thousand of stories high. In fact, the complete natural terrain of the planet has long been covered: the final piece of actual Coruscanti ground is at the center of Monument Plaza, where a small rock remains symbolically bare. That piece of stone is actually the peak of the highest mountain in the planet, now hidden under level upon level of urbanization.

In-universe, it's believed but disputed that the human race came originally from Coruscant. Whatever the truth is, has been forgotten through ages of interplanetary colonization and, in any case, the world has since then been occupied by alien citizens from all over the Galaxy. Coruscant also provides the Galactic standard for time: as every planet has days of a different duration, there's a need to normalize the measuring of time. Since Coruscant's days and years are roughly equivalent to real-life Earth, Star Wars has a simpler timing convention than it would have otherwise: when we say a month, it's almost one of our months.

Within the planet-wide city, any kind of lifestyles can be found: as usual, the lower levels, where natural light can barely reach, are inhabited by the poorest segments of the population. The privileged classes live in the luxurious buildings of the upper levels, and these include the Galactic seats of power such as the huge dome that houses the Senate and the tall spires of the main Jedi Temple, where the Council resided until their extermination. The Temple went to become Palpatine's Imperial Palace after that.

Though a great portion of the Coruscanti population rebelled against the regime after the Emperor's death, the planet remained one of the final Imperial strongholds, controlled by Vizier Mas Amedda. That was one of the reasons the New Republic capital was established away from Coruscant for the first time in millennia, at first in Chandrilla and then shifting around other planets as a way to avoid the centralization that had occurred in the past.

Introduced in Attack of the Clones:

Kamino is the only planet we see that's actually located just outside the fringes of The Galaxy. It's instead closer to the Rishi Maze, a dwarf galaxy which orbits the larger one where the rest of the series takes place.

The surface of the planet is 100% covered by seawater, and its atmosphere is frequently, but not always, desolated by violent storms. These oceans are the ancestral home of the long necked Kaminoans, and thought they are still amphibian, they now prefer to live above the water, in stilted cities such as Tipoca, the capital.

Kaminoans are extremely intelligent; their dwellings are unusually high-tech for a Star Wars culture. Dark on the outside but clinically bright on the inside, Kaminoan cities double as labs, particularly dedicated to the science they have perfected beyond any other race: cloning. They are externally unemotional and unconcerned by morality, and they offer their service as cloners for financial gain. Their procedures are the cornerstone upon which Palpatine secretly founds his plans for a galactic war: the Sith order a massive clone army seemingly purposed for the Republic, but genetically compelled to ultimately follow Palpatine's commands even against their own wishes. The Clone Troopers, who otherwise have developed personalities of their own can only resist by removing the implanted bio-chip on their brains; something only a handful of them are able to do.

Once the Empire has been established, Palpatine's use for Kamino runs out. Their continued services would be prohibitively expensive, so the new regime opts to train cheaper, if less efficient, conscripted soldiers. The Emperor decommissions Clones and betrays the Kaminoans, destroying their labs. It's implied that their scientist and technologies are forced into Palpatine's services for his next personal project: cheating death on Exegol.

Kamino is a fully digital creation.

Relatively speaking a neighboring planet to Tatooine, Geonosis is also a desert, but a much different one. It's surface is reddish and rocky, very similar to the real-life planet Mars. It's canyons are also reminiscent of the American southwest, and some vistas were indeed photographed there, though always enhanced by miniatures and CGI.

Probably the most distinctive feature of Geonosis is its vast asteroid ring. It also had 15 moons, among them the icy Bahryn. The native dominant species are the insectoid Geonosians, who create large hives within the planet, and who are skilled craftsmen of diverse technologies. They are in fact the initial masterminds behind the dreaded Death Star, though they were never able to crack the planet-destroying capabilities of the superweapon. The enormous city-like layout of the station, though, is of their design.

Geonosis became the theater of the first armed conflict of the Clone Wars, being as it was at the time, the main manufacturer of the droid army of the Separatist forces. Once the Empire took power, Geonosians were forced into resuming the construction of the Death Star in the planet's orbit: a large portion of it is composed of ore extracted from the planetary rings.

As the construction of the station advanced and secrecy became harder to come by, the Death Star was moved and the Empire ordered the biological extermination of the Geonosians, making the race almost extinct. Like Kamino, it showed the Empire had no qualms about large-scale genocide, even with former collaborators.

Though Geonosis and Kamino are the only new planets in Attack of the Clones, the return of Coruscant, Naboo and Tatooine marks the first time a film features more than three planets on its main narrative.

Introduced in Revenge of the Sith:

If Episode II had a then record five planets, the next film laughs in its face. Revenge of the Sith features twelve planets, eight of them new (though four of these appear in a very limited capacity during the Order 66 sequence). Then there was Dagobah, which was excised completely from the final cut. Also, though Alderaan was introduced in Episode IV, this movie marked the first look to its surface, as discussed above.

Utapau is one of the new planets, though its name is very old indeed: it was the original name for Tatooine during Lucas early drafts of the saga, and then he almost used it again for what ended up being Naboo.

As it ended up, Utapau is a greenish, rocky planet full of sinkholes. Two intelligent native species, the small and bulbous Utai, and the tall and gaunt Pau'ans share most of the planet and construct underground cities within the sinkholes, as the surface plains are too windy. An interesting feature of the world is its lack of tress, and thus wood. In its place, the Utapauns use bone, which is provided in great quantities by the sometimes gigantic fauna of the planet. Also, there are massive subterranean oceans that can be accessed through the sinkholes' bottoms.

Against the wishes of its inhabitants, the Separatist leadership used Utapau as a hideout at the time of Count Dooku's death. It was there were Obi-Wan killed General Grievous, so it can be unofficially considered as the planet where the Clone Wars ended. Kenobi was later betrayed by his clones there.

Again, this world is fully portrayed through a combination of miniatures, sets and CGI.

The home planet of the noble Wookiees, Kashyyyk has existed on paper since the infancy of Star Wars (and onscreen on the never-canon Holiday Special). In fact, for a time, Kashyyyk and its Wookiees were planned to debut in Return of the Jedi, in the roles eventually filled by Endor and the Ewoks.

Lucas finally realized the planet for a battle sequence in Episode III, where we see that the arboreal Wookiees indeed live in a lush jungle planet, among huge, wide trees called Wroshyr, whose durable and versatile wood is the species' predilect material. These tree-cities, such as the capital, Kachirho, were often coastal, near bodies of water with geological formations that resemble the karst mountains of Asia. Some of the scenery was in fact shot at China and Thailand before being integrated into the CGI-composed planet.

Kashyyyk has a privileged location, being close to many hyperlanes. For this reason, Wookiees are traditionally well-versed in galactic navigation, and the planet remains highly coveted by many. The usually peace-loving Wookiees have had to fend themselves from many invasion attempts, like the Separatist attack seen in this film, during which Yoda is almost executed by his own troops. Eventually, the Republic soldiers who were supposed to be helping the Wookiees also turned against them and became an Imperial occupation force. Besides knowledgeable, the Wookiees were also incredibly strong, so the Empire turned them into slaves. Rebel forces commanded by one of their own, Chewbacca, eventually liberated the planet in the months after Palpatine's death.

A crystalline, snowy (and possibly ashen) planet under the control of the Banking Clan, it was under siege by Republic forces during the Jedi Purge. General Ki-Adi-Mundi was killed by Clone Troopers there. 

Mygeeto is, along with the other planets featured in the Order 66 montage, the first world in the franchise whose surface we see, but whose outer view from space never appears onscreen.

A frontier world frequently disputed during the Clone Wars, Felucia is a humid jungle. Instead of trees, its vegetation is mostly formed by massive, colorful and translucent flowers and fungi. During the final armed conflict on the planet, Jedi General Aayla Secura was shot in the back by her clone army.

Like all other worlds created for the Order 66 montage, it's fully realized through CGI.

This is not the native planet of the Trade Federation's leaders, the Neimoidians, but rather one of the worlds that were colonized by the wealthy species. The surface is covered by acidic oceans, so they built "bridge cities", which hang across the tall rock cliffs, surrounded by permanent mists. Like most properties of the Neimoidians, these cities are luxurious.

When Order 66 was implemented, Jedi Plo Koon was piloting around the planet. His starfighter was shot down by his own clone wing mates.

Saleucami has one of the biomes that's hardest to describe, neither quite desertic, nor exactly a marsh either. Its surface is mostly defined by the gigantic, unusual forms of both its flora (which look like giant espeletias) and the tall mushroom-shaped rocks.

During Order 66, it's the planet where Jedi Stass Allie (NOT her cousin Adi Gallia) is shot down while riding a speederbike. It's also the planet where Cut Lawquane, one of the earliest Clone deserters, hid out and found a family.

The notion of the lava planet, later known as Mufasta and finally as Mustafar, was a part of Lucas' early conception of Vader's backstory. When it finally came the time to film such a sequence, the planet was realized through an elaborate combination of miniatures, matte paintings, practical sets, CGI and even real lava shots photographed during an eruption on Mount Etna, Italy.

Mustafar is supposed to look like a representation of Hell, where Anakin fully emerges as Darth Vader. The volcanic, tiny planet is in constant geological upheaval due to being trapped between the opposing gravitational forces of the other two planets on the system: the gas giants Jestefad and Lefrani, both of whom seemingly duel to claim Mustafar as their moon. There's also an unusual connection with the Dark Side of the Force within the planet.

The dominant native species, the Mustafarians, have somewhat adapted to the extreme heat, and they've established many mining operations around the planet: the lava is composed of molten but valuable metals that can be reprocessed. Other than this, there's was also a criminal presence during the final days of the Republic Era, as well as a Separatist hideout which became the final resting place of the faction's leadership: their location was betrayed by Sidious, who sent Darth Vader to execute them all.

Obi-Wan Kenobi followed his former apprentice to Mustafar and they dueled over the volcanic facility, where Vader sustained horrific burns. Despite this, or rather for that very reason, the new Sith decided to turn Mustafar into his personal dominion, erecting a castle known as Fortress Vader, where he conducted his dark deeds against the surviving Jedi and spent the necessary time to treat his poor health.

After the fall of Vader, Mustafar remained a place to be avoided by almost every space-traveler, for it had long gained a reputation as a deadly place. An exception were the Dark Side cultists known as the Alazmec of Winsit, who idolatred Vader and planted a "garden" of irontrees around the ruins of the Fortress. Kylo Ren eventually executed them in order to gain access to the castle, where Vader's Sith wayfinder was still stored.

This one isn't technically a planet or a moon, but rather a planetoid; a particularly large piece within an asteroid field.

Once believed to house a proper civilization, the current facilities built on Polis Massa were initially an archeological outpost trying to study said lost culture. The archeologists, from a faceless race known as the Kallidahin, have lived there for so long, that they have come to be known as Polis Massans.

Even though Polis Massa might not be the best known world in the canon, it's still an important one: it's the birthplace of twins Luke and Leia. Padmé dies there as well.

Introduced in The Force Awakens:

A common complaint aimed at J.J. Abrams' films is that he can lean so heavily into homage that he can start getting derivative. In Star Wars, this also applies to some of the worlds he introduced. For instance, there was barely anyone who saw the very first shot of the very first trailer and didn't thought that those dunes meant a return to the iconic Tatooine.

Instead, the planet ended up being Jakku, which looks and has a very similar role to Tatooine, both being backwater worlds where our heroes start their adventures. To be fair, there are some aesthetic differences in the type of desert itself (Jakku was filmed in Abu Dhabi rather than Tunisia), and the main feature of the planet in the finished movie isn't so much its sand as the fact that it's littered with countless wreckages of Imperial Era starships.

Which brings us to its backstory.

Being closer to the Galaxy's Core, Jakku never attracted the same interest among the criminal factions as Tatooine did. It was, at one point, the home of Niima the Hutt, but never to an operation as large as Jabba's. This, plus the fact that before the shipwrecks there was barely any resource to exploit, meant Jakku remained unimportant in the big scheme of things.

Secretly, though, it was the site of one of Emperor Palpatine's secret Observatories, outpost he had prepared for his contingency plan in case he died. When that did happen, Jakku became the final rallying point for the Empire's remains, which where attacked by the New Republic's fleet in the Battle of Jakku, now considered the final conflict in the Civil War, and the site of the Empire's definitive demise. The derelict ships on the surface are what's left of that massive battle.

Of course, the plan was never for the Empire to win, but to create a distraction while some loyalists could flee undetected into the Unknown Regions of the Galaxy. There, they started shaping the First Order, all while Sith cultists tried to bring back their fallen Emperor. Jakku's role in all that explains why the planet both became home to the Force researcher Lor San Tekka and the place where Rey's father, the result of one of Palpatine's genetic experiments, tried to hide his family.

By that time, Jakku had developed a modest economy based on the scavenging of the derelict ships, but still remained a relatively insignificant point in the Galaxy, little more than a name in historical trivia.

This one is interesting, because Ilum was a planet that originated as part of the backstory of the prequels, and had already appeared in The Clone Wars (even in Genndy Tartakovsky's non-canon version) before it debuted on the films.

When it finally did, it was not called Ilum, but simply Starkiller Base. Still, we always had the suspicion that this base had been constructed on Ilum, because it shared the same size, Galaxy location and some properties of the planet, previously stated in some sources. As the canon developed, the theory was confirmed.

Ilum was an isolated, frozen world sacred to the Jedi Order, because it contained an incredible amount of Kyber crystals (these are the main component of lightsabers). As such, the Jedi built a Temple on its surface, and among the rites of passage of their apprentices, finding a piece of Kyber there was one of the most important.

Of course, as soon as the Jedi were destroyed, the Empire desecrated the planet. Just as other worlds such as Jedha, a savage mining operation began to extract as much Kyber as possible, meant to be used in the two Death Stars' superweapons. The ravaging of Ilum was such that its effects could be seen from outer space.

After the fall of the Empire, the First Order kept exploiting the planet, this time with even more nefarious purposes. Instead of construction a space station, they weaponized Ilum's Kyber core. It was then that the heavily scarred planet turned into Starkiller Base. It's weapon absorbed a sun's energy and, using the crystals in a manner not unlike a lightsaber's, redirected it into a powerful destructive beam that could even travel through hyperspace to obliterate virtually any target. For this reason, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron was forced to destroy the once sacred planet, and Ilum went to add itself to the list of annihilated worlds of the Galaxy. But the Kyber explosion inside the planet created a dwarf star which is named Solo, after the hero who died on Ilum.

Though Ilum/Starkiller is a frozen world, it doesn't look as similar to Hoth as Jakku does to Tatooine. Hoth is completely devoid of vegetation and the ice is much harsher. Instead, the Ilum base is portrayed as containing snowy forests, which were filmed in a complex practical set. Some backgrounds were also filmed on Iceland.

A beautiful planet full of green forests and placid lakes, Takodana was scarcely populated, but a popular port for space travelers as it was the location of the Castle of Maz Kanata, known through the ages as a neutral place where everyone was welcome as long as they respected her rules. The Castle also housed Kanata's extensive collection of rare artifacts.

Takodana's status as a safe place was broken when the First Order attacked the Castle, decided to caught BB-8 at any cost.

The planet's exteriors were filmed at England, both at the Lake District and at Gloucestershire.

As of this date, this is the only planet seen on any Star Wars film that remains unnamed.

The only thing we know is that Luke Skywalker trained his new generation of Jedi there, in a Temple built over grassy hills, and which was eventually destroyed during Ben Solo's turn to the Dark Side.

Here's hoping it actually gets to appear in The Mandalorian someday and its location gets a name.

The central planet of the Hosnian System, and the temporary capital of the New Republic by the time the First Order rises to power, tt's appearance in the finished film is brief, though there was once a longer plot involving the Hosnian Senate.

The planet is also heavily urbanized, but unlike Coruscant, the cities appear more subdued: the skyscrapers aren't as tall and there's some gardens to be found.

Being the seat of power to the New Republic spells Hosnian's Doom. Admiral Hux of the First Order commands the firing of the Starkiller weapon, which destroys the whole Hosnian System and the Republic alongside it.

A lush but uninhabited planet on the Ileenium System, D'Qar hosted the secret base for the Resistance. Originally used by the Rebel Alliance as a minor outpost, Leia reutilized it as the main hub of her new, much smaller organization.

Regrettably, its location was discovered when First Order spies followed pilot Snap Wexley. D'Qar almost became the second victim of the Starkiller weapon, but it was destroyed before it could fire . However, the Resistance had to hastily evacuate the planet anyway, as they were now unveiled, and the First Order sent one of their dreadnoughts to obliterate the base.

D'Qar has a sparse planetary ring as one of its most recognizable features

The base was shot practically on both films it appeared, using the former Royal Air Force base of Greenham Common as a stand-in.

Probably the most important planet in the Sequel Trilogy (though never named onscreen), Ahch-To is, like Tatooine, part of a binary system, which means it orbits around two suns. Other than that, their climates and terrain are vastly different.

Most of the planet's surface is covered by oceans, but there are many small island archipelagos. One such isle is the site where the Jedi Order was born in ancient times, and the site of the first Jedi Temple. When Luke chose exile and decided the Jedi should die with him, he traveled to Ahch-To, partly because the planet's location was a secret to most of the Galaxy. When explorer Lor San Tekka was able to find some information about the whereabouts of the first Temple, his "Map to Luke Skywalker" became highly coveted by both the Resistance and the First Order, and is the McGuffin of The Force Awakens. Eventually, Rey makes her way there, though Luke never leaves the planet phyisically: it eventually becomes his dying place.

The distinctive islands were shot on location at Great Skellig on Ireland, but the two final Episodes also filmed at the nearby village of Ballyferriter, as well as in a faithful replica of Skelling at their studios, because the original island imposed important production challenges.

Ahch-To has a climate that is easily variable, and it's prone to violent storms and winds. The islands themselves are rocky yet full of grass and other vegetation (including the ancient Uneti, or Force Tree). The Jedi of old barely changed the landscape, with the Temple itself being hidden within the cavernous peak of the island, though there are still ruins of their former dwellings, including stone stairways and small huts.

The only current sentient inhabitants are the Lanai, fish/avian aliens who serve as Caretakers of the Jedi legacy and tend to the Temple Island. Other than them, there are many animals like the Porgs and a variety of large sea creatures.

Near the coast, there's also an underground cove with a powerful connection to the Dark Side, known as the Mirror Cave

Introduced in The Last Jedi:

Cantonica is another desert planet, but one unlikely any other seen in the franchise. While most of its surface remains arid and uninhabited, a portion of it was converted into a large artificial ocean called the Sea of Cantonica. This manufactured oasis is the site of the city of Canto Bight, a luxurious travel destination for the very wealthy, mostly consistent of casinos, racetracks and other recreational centers.

Designed as the Star Wars equivalent of European Rivera cities such as Montecarlo, Cato Bight was enhanced with huge sets and CGI effects, but was partly filmed on location at the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Canto Bight remained prioritarily unaffiliated and undisturbed from every political factions in the Galaxy, mostly because influential members of all of them benefited from the pleasures the city had to offer. Indeed, most of the clients were war profiteers who turned a blind eye towards Cantonica's more unglamorous practices, such as the exploitation of the poverty-ridden people who worked the facilities, and which included child slaves.

A mineral planet, Crait's surface is covered by a layer of salt. The underground caves are full of large crystals and ore, all deeply red. Even the fauna's biology is crystalline on Crait:

Completely devoid of interest and unviable for long-term settlements, the planet has remained uninhabited, though the beginnings of a base for the early Rebellion were erected on a cave by Bail Organa. Eventually, the place was evacuated, though most of the equipment remained in place. Later on, Princess Leia attempted to recover the base for the Alliance, but the endeavor was again unfruitful.

Leia visited Crait for a third time in her life at a desperate hour. Fleeing from D'Qar with the Resistance, and with the First Order on pursuit, she and the survivors tried to hide out in the abandoned base. Understaffed and underequipped, most of the Resistance was wiped out. The survivors were only able to escape thanks to Luke Skywalker, who managed to project himself into Crait, all the way from Ahch-To.

The salt flats of Crait were shot in the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, the largest on Earth. Due to the difficulties of shooting such a complex sequence in a real salt pan, most of it was filmed on a set. The with and red coloration of Crait makes it one of the most visually distinctive worlds introduced in the Sequel Trilogy.

Introduced in The Rise of Skywalker:

Exegol is the main McGuffin of this film, a sort of dark reflection of Ahch-To in Episode VII.

A planet aligned with the Sith Order since ancient times, it has secretly housed the Dark Side cultists known as the Sith Eternal for millennia. While not Force users themselves, these zealots live and die to serve the regnant Sith Lords.

The world is appropriately dark, little more than a barren gray rock with nothing on its surface but the huge Sith Citadel. Exegol's atmosphere is ridden with static storms created by its dust. The planet is also surrounded by a gaseous barrier that is almost impossible to navigate, unless you knew the secret path inside. This, along with its obscure location within almost unexplored space, made the planet almost a legend, unfindable by anyone except for the Sith Lord and his apprentice, each of whom possesed a Wayfinder, an ancient navigational artifact which pinpointed the planet's location.

While Exegol had been used for Palpatine's secret plans for years before then, it was after his death that it really proved its use. As part of a pre-planned Contingency, the Sith Eternal used dark alchemy to manipulate midichlorians and bring back Palpatine's Force spirit, which inhabited cloned copies of himself. However, never having learned from his master Darth Plagueis the proper process to truly avoid death, these clones deteriorated, becoming little more than machinery-assisted carcasses.

Depite this, the devious Emperor still managed to manufacture the First Order in his weakened form. Exegol is the birthplace of his proxy Snoke, a genetically engineered creature which he used to lead the Imperial loyalists who fled Jakku and to turn Ben Solo to the Dark Side. The many underground fissures on the planet also house the shipyards where the Sith Eternal have been constructing a large fleet of powerful Star Destroyers for decades.

In the end, Exegol's barrier, which had kept it protected for thousands of years, spelled the doom of the Sith's plans. The secret fleet could only leave the planet's atmosphere slowly, using a careful guidance system out of the space phenomena that surrounded it, but they never were able to do it: the Resistance had managed to reunite thousands of ships from the citizens of the Galaxy, who hit back at the Star Destroyers and annihilated them. They plunged into the surface of Exegol, destroying every remnant of the Sith Eternal.

As it's name states, this isn't actually a planet, but a large ice comet that got caught in the orbit of a star. A mining colony was stablished within the celestial body, where they extract a valuable mineral found within its frozen water.

The Glacier is seen in one of the film's opening scenes, and it's there that Finn and Poe find out there's an informer within the First Order.

A moon so large that it has two smaller satellites of its own, it's surface was a virgin jungle of high humidity. First charted by Alderaanian envoys, its location was hidden from the Empire.

It was on Ajan Kloss where Luke Skywalker taught his sister Leia the ways if the Force until she decided not to be a Jedi. Decades later, when the Resistance was run out of D'Qar, Ajan Kloss became the most feasible place to erect a new base. Hidden within the large caves in the jungle (some big enough to contain spaceships such as the Tantive IV), the recovering rebels had found the perfect place, despite inconveniences such as the moisture and the amount of insects, as well as the lack of proper physical buildings: things were conducted in tents or within the larger ships.

The Skywalker legacy also came to full circle on the moon, for it was the place where Leia resumed Rey's Jedi training. It also became the location of the Princess' death.

Despite the realistic appearance of the jungle, Ajan Kloss wasn't filmed on location, but mainly inside a set on England, which is among the largest ever build. It even housed full-sized replicas of the Millennium Falcon, the Tantive IV and other ships.

Unlike Jakku and Tatooine, the desert world of Pasaana is lively and colorful. Its native inhabitants are the Aki-Aki, a gentle species who also welcomes immigrants into their planet. Their main economic activity is the farming of spores, which are blown in the sandstorms that regularly occur on the planet.

Thought they possess technology, the usually reject spaceflight, so they're rarely seen beyond Passana. The simple life of the Aki-Aki also means that most of the outworlders that come to live on the planet do so looking for an isolated kind of life (such as Lando in his elder years), though there are some tourists to be found around the time of the Festival of the Ancestors, a celebration that is only held every 42 years and which displays the Aki-Aki love for colors.

There are extensive underground tunnels in Pasaana, many of them bellow treacherous sinking fields. These areas are thoroughly avoided by the natives, such as the dunes where Ochi of Bestoon, Palpatine's assassin, lost his life.

The Pasaana portion of the film was the main location shooting for The Rise of Skywalker, and took place in the desert of Wadi Rum, Jordan (also used for Jedha in Rogue One), including ambitious scenes such as the sink sands and the skimmer chase. The Aki-Aki festival was also shot practically, with hundreds of extras taking part.

Another frozen world, but unlike Hoth or Ilum, this one was fully colonized. Instead of tundras or forests, Kijimi is formed by mountain ranges which seem to have an Himalayan inspiration. The style of the villages is also clearly based on Asian architecture with a Star Wars flavor.

Once a monastic planet, Kijimi is now inhabited by citizens of dubious allegiance to the law. It's effectively an anarchic world, with no real form of organized government, but its cities, built on the mountainsides, were traditionally controlled by whichever criminal enterprise had the most power at any given time. For the final years of the planet, this role fell to the Spice Runners, a locally founded smuggling operation.

This was the organization where Poe Dameron worked briefly as a rebellious youngster, before joining the New Republic military. Poe would eventually return to look for the services of droidsmith Babu Frik, but his involvement there made Kijimi the first planet chosen by the Final Order to be destroyed. Although a few citizens had managed to escape, this became the last in the growing list of worlds obliterated under Sith rule.

The streets of Kijimi were built as an indoor set.

Kef Bir is another of the nine moons of Endor. After seeing the Sanctuary Moon, home to the Ewoks, this makes Endor the first system with more than one world featured onscreen.

Just like that one is formally called "The Forest Moon of Endor", Kef Bir is also known as "The Water Moon of Endor". In fact, the term "Kef Bir" is the name the Ewoks give to this particular satellite.

Indeed, the orb is a mostly oceanic body, but there are also landmasses covered by tall grasslands. The stormy seas are marked by monstrous waves that could surpass 120 meters.

Back when Lando destroyed the second Death Star, pieces of debris were dispersed all over the Endor system. The largest of them all, which included the ruined Emperor's Throne Room, impacted the surface of Kef Bir. There it remained for over three decades until it was visited by Rey and her companions. The otherwise unpopulated Kef Bir was also the hidden place of a group of former Stormtroopers who had defected from the First Order.

The grasslands of the moon were filmed on the hills of Ivinghoe Beacon, on Britain, while the seas were added in postproduction, with the help of massive water sprays.

**Aditionally, there are three very minor places introduced during the hyperspace skipping sequence. There's very little information on them, and we don't know if some of them are planets or moons, or if all of them are space-based locations, which is what I personally believe.

The first of them is Cardovyte, which looks like a reddish rocky body full of long, mineral spikes called the Crystal Chaos. Then there's Ivexia, which seems to be a city composed of white towers and built over a reflective surface (they're aptly named Mirror-Spires). And finally there's the green Typhonic Nebula, where the Falcon encounters a living creature within it's Megafauna Chasm.

So there you have it, there are 34(ish) worlds onscreen within the Skywalker saga! But wait, I promised all the films, so the list enlarges a lot with the two anthology movies.

Introduced in Rogue One:

The film opens on the ringed planet of Lah'mu. Instantly set apart for its humid atmosphere and black-sanded beaches contrasting with verdant mountains, the world remained relatively uninhabited because it was far away from most hyperlanes. There were a few settlements far and apart across the surface, most of whom farmed the geothermal soils.

Among those inhabitants was the Erso family, who had been hidden on Lah'mu by their friend Saw Guerrera after realizing the Empire was using Galen to build a planet-killing weapon. Unfortunately, they were tracked down by Director Krennic.

The Lah'mu prologue was beautifully shot on the south of Iceland.

Its terrain is a mix of mud and snow, and access to the planet is made difficult by a thick space cloud. It becomes the perfect place for the Empire to establish one of their labor camps. Jyn Erso is a prisoner there at the start of Rogue One.

Fun fact: Wobani's name is an anagram of Obi-Wan, a wink from the filmmakers to the iconic character.

This desert world is different from the others: it has a cold climate and its sands could sometimes feature a thin layer of snow. Jedha is a holy moon for most Force-based religions, and its conception was based on cities like Jerusalem and Mecca, where many faiths meet. Indeed, beyond the geographical similarities (it was shot on Jordan, in Wadi Rum but in a different area than the later Episode IX did), the architecture is very much inspired by Middle Eastern constructions.

The main site of peregrination is the capital, Jedha City or NiJedha, which was built over a large mesa. There stood the Kyber Temple, erected over a substantial natural deposit of these crystals, and traditionally protected by the warrior monks known as the Guardian of the Whills. The narrow streets contain multicultural marketplaces and housings. All over the desert, there are other settlements and remains of the many religions who worshiped the moon, including the Jedi Order, like catacombs, shrines and even colossal statues.

Jedha became one of the main points of collection of Kyber crystals when the Empire constructed the Death Star. The city was promptly occupied and the temple desecrated, but this also attracted the attention of the violent group of rebel partisans led by Saw Guerera, who spent a lengthy campaign sabotaging the imperial operations on NiJedha.

Once Grand Moff Tarkin discovered that there was a potential leak of the secret Death Star on the planet's surface, he ordered the superweapon to be fired on Jedha City. Wanting to overshadow Krennic, he prohibited the full display of the station's capabilities, though.

In any case, the powerful attack on this single point of the world left it devastated and fractured, forever desolated by natural cataclysms. The Empire blamed the tragedy on a mining accident.

Not a planet, but rather a heavily inhabited asteroid belt. The colony itself was a trading post build between two of the largest planetoids that form the Kafrene Belt. They're both connected by a cylindrical superstructure which serves as its main docking bay. Each asteroid seems to have its own artificial gravity system, which means their buildings look upside down from the point of view of the opposite one. The upper surfaces of both bodies have been urbanized with towering structures and a breathable atmosphere has been created around the cities.

Kafrene is the place where Cassian Andor learns about the existence of an Imperial superweapon from an informant he is tragically forced to terminate.

This planet is technically able to sustain life, but it can't be a great place to live. The surface is mainly made out of spires and cliffs, while its atmosphere is permanently plagued by rainstorms which barely let the sunlight in, even at daytime. On the other hand, it's a very convenient place to hide Imperial secrets: Eadu is where Galen Erso and his team have the labs where they develop the Death Star's weapon and it's also where the Kyber crystals extracted elsewhere are refined.

The facilities are attacked by the Rebel Alliance, having learned its location from defector pilot Bodhi Rook, who made frequent cargo runs between Jedha and Eadu, and who was converted to the cause by Galen.

Besides the Imperial laboratories, the few native Eaduans who inhabited the planet were nerf herders. The location elements of the planet were also shot at Iceland.

One of the most beautiful planets seen in Star Wars, Scarif was closed to the public, with the Empire going as far as implementing a planet-wide deflector shield which could only be accessed through a small gate. These measures were put in place in order to protect the facilities inside, which included the Citadel Tower, an enormous vault which contained top secret Imperial files, among them the Death Star's plans. There were also other sensitive installations such as the training camp for the elite Death Troopers and some offices of the Imperial Security Bureau.

Other than these buildings and landing platforms, Scarif remained untouched by civilization, and remarkably paradisal. With a comfortable climate and blue skies, the surface was mainly covered by turquoise, mostly shallow oceans and flat island archipelagos of white sand and palm trees, with some denser jungles at places.

Being the only location of the Death Star's plans meant the Rebellion had to break into the Citadel in order to find the location of the exhaust port planted by Galen Erso, which constituted the only weak point of the destructive station. Though the Alliance didn't sanction the risky mission, the "Rogue One" team leaded by Jyn Erso defied orders and transmitted a copy of the file to the rebel fleet during the pivotal Battle of Scarif.

Trying to stop the transfer of information, Tarkin ordered the Death Star to fire upon the Citadel. He was too late, though, and the plans managed to find their way into the hands of Princess Leia. However and despite the fact that, like in Jedha, the weapon was fired at low capacity, the entire Rogue One team was killed on Scarif and the planet's ecosystem was severely damaged.

The events on Scarif would deeply impact the Galaxy. Not only would they contribute to the destruction of the Death Star, but they directly resulted in the Emperor's long-expected dissolution of the Senate.

Scarif's shooting mostly took place at the idyllic Maldives, where there are plenty of uninhabited isles and atolls. The interiors of the Citadel were partly filmed at the Canary Wharf Tube Station, on London. Despite the extensive set dressing, many viewers will recognize it.

Introduced in Solo:

Solo is very interesting, because despite taking place on planets that hadn't appeared in any film before it, basically all of them come from from old established Star Wars lore.

Chief among them is Corellia, a world which has been referred to since the original movie. We always knew the planet specialized on the manufacturing of ships, and that many skilled pilots, like Han and Wedge had been born there.

Indeed, as finally introduced in Solo, Corellia is mainly devoted to its shipyards, which at the time the film takes place are pretty much consecrated to the expansion of the Imperial Fleet. A large percentage of the planet was covered by oceans, and many cities such as the capital, Coronet, were built above water. In fact, the Corellians' love of ship-building had its origin in ancient times, way before space travel was possible, when they created seafaring vessels to brave their seas. Fishing is another commercial trade of grand importance.

Though it had been an influential and relevant Core World for much of it history, the Imperial-exploited Corellia had turned into an impoverished place whose sole value to the government was as an industrial site. This left many desperate citizens with no option but to look out for themselves on the streets, which lead to the rise of vast crime syndicates in the planet, including Lady Proxima's White Worms, who inhabited the extensive Corellian sewers and forced orphans such as Han Solo into their service.

The Corellia opening of the film was created through CGI and models, with design inspirations such as Venice and industrial docks. Some elements like the speeder chase were also shot practically, in the out of commission Fawley Power Station in Southampton.

Mimban is one of the oldest planets in the franchise, having its origins on the earlier drafts of the original film, thought by then it lacked a name and was just known as "Bog Planet". As A New Hope was being shot, back when success and a film sequel were far from certain, Lucas commissioned a continuation novel from author Alan Dean Foster. It was published in 1978 under the title "Splinter of the Mind's Eye", and it has the distinction of being the earliest release of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. As you might have guessed, the book's storyline took place in the bog planet, by now called "Mimban".

Although not canon, Foster's novel remains an iconic staple of the franchise, and thus Mimban was well-known among the fandom for years, before being finally canonized through a mention in an 2008 episode of The Clone Wars. It wouldn't be until Solo that we would finally get to see the planet, though it was briefly considered for Rogue One too, standing in for the place that eventually became Jedha.

Mimban is little more than mud. but there are some valuable mineral deposits in the interior of the planet. Despite its humid, uncomfortable environment, some species do dwell on the world, including the sentient Mimbanese, adapted to life on the muddy swamps. They form an uprising against the occupying Imperial forces in the battle after the time-jump in Solo, though they can be barely seen. If you want a proper look at a Mimbanese, you can catch him in the fourth episode of the second season of The Mandalorian. He's the red mechanic who spies on Djarin for the Empire. (After what they did to your planet! How could you!)

Anyway, the battle site, trenches and military camp seen on Solo were inspired by classic World War I fronts, and were filmed in mud-filled sets. Mimban is the planet where Han meets Chewbacca for the first time, and where he becomes a deserter and an outlaw.

Also known as Vandor-1, this is another world that has its origins in the now defunct Legends continuity, thought this one is much more recent, first appearing on a roleplaying game in 2003. Back then it was another planet in the Coruscant System, but now it's canonically a part of its own system on the Mid Rim.

Though filmed on the Dolemites on Italy, Vandor, which is a world made out of snowy mountain ranges, is also meant to resemble Southern Colorado as seen on some classic Western films, for Solo consciously tries to evoke that genre, which is also highlighted by two of the notable features on the planet: a train and a lodge.

The Empire uses a conveyex, a transport on rails, to carry the volatile coaxium, a valuable hyperfuel, which Han and his new allies attempt to hijack in cowboy style. Later on, he meets Lando (and his beloved Millennium Falcon) for the first time on Vandor's major settlement, Fort Ypso.

This village was erected on the mountainside, and uses wood as its main material, which gives it a true Revisionist Western vibe (the hanging bridges in particular were suggested by the ones in McCabe and Mrs. Miller). The Lodge was the main gambling site of the Fort, and features diversions such as Sabacc tables and droid fighting pits.

Another legendary planet in the canon which remained unseen for years, Kessel was in fact the first world mentioned in the opening of the original Star Wars film, when C-3PO fears to be "sent to the spice mines of Kessel". Later on the same film, Han Solo famously introduces the Millennium Falcon as "the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs." Despite its fame, it wouldn't be until 37 years later when we would see the planet for the first canonical time (it had been featured on the Legends continuity before that, but in very different ways).

Technically this debut happened four years before the world appeared on Solo. Kessel was actually a significant location in the premiere episode of the canon animated series Star Wars: Rebels, and thought the projects were developed independently from one another, the look and culture are remarkably consistent, for both of them used conceptual designs created by George Lucas years earlier. In any case, Solo is the first time that the planet has been in a live-action production, so for the effects of this list, I'll count it here.

As established by C-3PO, Kessel is a mining planet whose main export is spice (a mineral narcotic that has both legal and illicit usages), but other elements such as coaxium can also be extracted. While a part of the southern hemisphere, home to the administrators, is highly verdant, most of the planet is yellowish and full of sulfuric fumes, which makes its mines a feared punishment place for both organics and droids. The mining has been going for so long that the surface is full of pits and shafts, and is highly industrialized and polluted thanks to its many refineries. These operations on the planet are controlled by the Pike Syndicate, who have allied themselves with some Imperial factions.

Despite its exploitable riches, Kessel's location is inconvenient, for the planet is inside the Akkadese Maelstrom, a deathly space cloud whose only charted way out is a very narrow route, known as the "Kessel Run", which can't be crossed in less than 20 parsecs by most ships (A parsec is a distance unit, not a time measure. This is because in Star Wars, ships can't travel in straight lines due to the likely collisions with celestial masses, so the navigation abilities of a pilot/ship can be measured in accordance to how many parsecs they're able to brave through). Han is able to make the Run in -slightly over- 12 parsecs thanks to his recklessness, the Falcon's maneuverability and L3's superior navigational database, which allows him to cut through the Maelstrom.

The surface of Kessel was filmed on a set, based on the imagery of places such as the Ethiopian Dallol sulfur volcanoes and the Spanish copper mines, where they couldn't actually shoot due to the danger.

You might have caught the trend with this film: this planet is yet another reference to a place born in old Star Wars sources. In this case, it's a reference to "Savareen brandy", a beverage first mentioned in 1993 Legends material. Indeed, once they get to the planet, Beckett does ask for such a drink.

Savareen had large oceans and sandy landmasses. Unlike the lush beaches of Scarif, these were barren and mostly devoid of vegetal life. There are very few inhabitants in the planet, among them the humans who run a fuel refinery that's now mostly non-functional. The criminal organization Crimson Dawn had used the refinery in the past and cut out the tongues of every Savarian villager when they tried to protest. However, it was the only refinery close enough to Kessel in order of Han's team to process their stolen Coaxium before it exploded.

The scenes set on Savareen were shot in Spain, mostly the Canary Island of Fuerteventura, and were also purported to conjure imagery partially reminiscent to the American West.

This planet only appears in the final scene, and it's the only one on this film that isn't taken from anywhere else in the lore. Despite this, it quickly earns an important place in the canon: it's the place where Han Solo finally gains ownership of the Falcon.

A haven for outlaws, Numidian Prime was a warm jungle, with major rivers crossing part of its surface. There's a stone outpost where gambling is conducted, and which is the only location of this planet we get to see in the film,

So that's it, we're just four planets shy from 50. Maybe we'll get there with Rogue Squadron. Or, if you want to count the worlds from The Mandalorian, we've already surpassed that number as far as live-action goes.

I hope you enjoyed the article, and hopefully learned something new.