Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun.

Overview
Earth is the home of humanity. The corporations have taken over the world from their skyscraper fortresses. At the same time, massive armies of cyborg killers roam the shattered urban ruins of deserted cities. Countries have collapsed in more ways than one. Corporate Wars have ruined the economies and rebuilt them again. The New United States is divided, Japan is the biggest empire on the planet, China has become a rising power, the Soviet Union infights, and the EEC is looking to the stars for expansion.

Corporations like Arasaka, Militech, SovOil, and many more are the rulers of Earth. It may be the homeworld of humanity, but with companies like Orbital Air and Mitsubishi/Koridansu creating new worlds outside, they promise a new positive future for those who go off-world.

Humans' expansion into space started through the ESA (Euro Space Agency) building the Crystal Palace, the Soviet Union followed after with their presence in space being limited but noticeable. The ESA owns much of what can be found in space from the cities on Luna to the space stations. JAB also has a presence in space with many work stations being built by them.

The Arasaka Corporation operates facilities in orbit, one of the more known ones being the Arasaka Orbital Station.

By the 2040s onward to the 2070s, numerous wars ranging from the corporate to the political, as well as myriad ecological disasters, have made much of Earth, from the megacities of Japan to the badlands of the New United States, a dangerous, if not totally inhospitable, place to live. Mass ecological die-offs and extinctions have made things common in the 20th century rare luxuries as of 2045 and 2077, such as fresh water and farm-raised meat. Urban blight and climate change have put massive strain on the remaining nation-states influential enough to maintain some level of clout away from corporate influence; countries considered "developed" as of 2013 and 2020 are now experiencing ecological blight and social collapse, ranging from the New United States being reduced to a third world-tier economy beholden to corporate interests alongside the likes of developing countries like Myanmar, to the densely-populated Benelux region being devastated by freak flooding, creating a refugee crisis.

Many of the mega-corporations of 2013 and 2020 such as Arasaka and Militech remain immensely powerful even by the 2070s, still led by the same CEOs, thanks to cyberware improvements dramatically extending the life expectancy of those with enough Eurodollars to afford such treatments.

North America
North America suffered from many disasters of the 1990s. Economic collapse, bioplague, global warming, and corruption led to the downfall of the the United States of America. By 2045, although no longer a superpower, the NUSA is positioned in the same way as Europe and Asia are after the Fourth Corporate War. Combined Operations Groups maintain the government, but others had seceded from the NUSA, and have become mercenaries, independent kingdoms, or act in their own self-interests. The NUSA itself is reminiscent of the Wild West of the late 19th century, with a civilized East Coast and an uncivilized West Coast. By 2077 the NUSA has undergone a period of semi-stabilization in the wake of the Unification War, but retains barely a fraction of its superpower status, being the 25th largest economy in the world and having a life expectancy of 53.

Central & South America
Central America emerged from the first and second Central American wars as a union of independent states working in mutual cooperation, having expelled the United States from most of the region, aside from the Panama Canal Zone. South America came out of the Fourth Corporate War as a means for nationalist factions to bid for land and influence, shattering an alliance that had only begun to rebuild by 2045. This culminated in the formation of the Organization of American States (OAS), led by Argentina, Brazil, and Chile - a world power on par with the European Union.

Eurotheatre
By 2045, despite being heavily affected by the Fourth Corporate War, the World Stock Exchange and Common Market remained stable, allowing most European nations, excluding Italy, Spain, and Greece, to maintain stable economies, having the corporations supplanted by European business barons. Great Britain suffered major economic troubles, amplified by immigration and antiquated technologies. The rest of Europe was recovering from the Fourth Corporate War, rebuilding financial and industrial hubs affected by the War. The USSR and the rest of New Russia had fallen to a point of being unable to feed the population, as well as a similar lack of modern technology. By 2077, some European countries are implied to be relatively stable, such as Switzerland, which plans on automating its military in a "pursuit of true neutrality", as well as the Nordics, which have recently begun to clamp down on refugees fleeing the rest of Europe, while others remain ecologically devastated and deeply impoverished, such as large swathes of the Low Countries, as well as Great Britain, which is subjected to frequent flooding and acid rain.

Middle East
The Mideast Meltdown of 1997 left many Middle Eastern nations as radioactive wastelands, with only Egypt, Syria, and Israel surviving due to their ruined states, being left alone during the Fourth Corporate War. By the 2020s, the impacted areas had become safe enough for scavengers, as well as other individuals willing to traverse them, to scavenge and collect hardware and valuables from the ruined fields. By the Time of the Red of 2045, alliances and power blocs were being formed or reformed to ward off invading foreign nations wanting to mine the remnants of Meltdown-afflicted nations. By 2077, radioactive storms from the Iranian and Arabian wastelands regularly cause devastation and misery in Turkey and the Mediterranean. Some human habitation does exist in the Middle East, such as the wealthy, technologically advanced city of New Dubai, built on an offshore platform near the irradiated ruins of the old Dubai.

Asia
The Asian continent saw the rise of new world powers. By 2020, Japan was the largest economic power in the world with many corporations holding much power over the third world nations. The Arasaka Corporation, the most influential megacorp in the world, is headquartered in Tokyo and controlled much of its politics. A united Korea was formed in 2005 as the country saw much success from its economy with the help of it's corporations. China became a rising power and allied itself with the NUSA.

By 2045, the continent had been heavily damaged, recovering from various Fourth Corporate War actions, such as the biological attack and total destruction of Hong Kong, and battles across the South China Sea and Mongolian Plateau for China, Japan was still recovering from the Arasaka Corporation's attempted coup, and North Korea collapsing into warlords and fiefdoms, with South Korea becoming isolationist. The Philippines and Australia had been damaged and isolated from the fighting as well. Despite this, the nations of Asia managed to sustain many necessities and luxuries lost or harder to attain after the Fourth Corporate War. Preparedness for ecological shifts, a conversion from coal and oil power to American-like CHOOH2 algae farms, and birth control programs to reduce excess population growth managed to put Asian cities and nations into a position of comfort and security, although lacking personal freedoms common in other nations.

Africa
New Africa had been reborn by the Fourth Corporate War as a space-dominant nation, being unified by the European nations of the Eurotheatre. The Highrider nation had formed, declaring their sovereignty and space control from the rest of the world, due to most space workers, spaceports, and construction areas being on African soil or otherwise African-related. Major corporations such as the Kenyan megacorp Orbital Air serve as a testament to Africa's increasing focus on space exploration.

Antarctica
Due to the severe effects of global climate change, sections of Antarctica have been made warm enough for human settlement, leading to gradual industrialization and ecological blight along the way. Antarctica according to news media is implied to be relatively "safe" by world standards in 2077, with a homicide rate of 70 per 100,000 people, and is also known as a dumping ground for waste produced by various countries.

Countries

 * Countries of the Earth in 2013
 * Countries of the Earth in 2020
 * Countries of the Earth in 2045
 * Countries of the Earth in 2077

The View From Space
At the Near Earth Orbit Zones, the skies are crowded with much space traffic and very busy Orbital Transfer vehicles unloading cargo into space shuttles as well as spaceplanes docking the various spider-webbed girders of habitats and stations around planet Earth. There are nearly 200 factories in Orbit around Earth, some are owned by the powerful Japanese corporation Mitsubishi.

Not many corporations have entered orbit besides transportation that takes cargo from different parts of the planet. There are plenty of airport stations that will transport people to other colonies in the Sol System.

In Low Orbit
The Low-Near Earth Orbit, commonly shortened to LEO, zone of the Earth contains light traffic, comprised of orbital space fighters and satellites, shifting from the LEO zone to the Geo-Syn zone, dictating everything from communications to battling. The zone ranges from approximately 1,000 to 3,000 miles, or 5 to 5.5 kilometers.

Geosync Orbit
GEO-Synchronous Orbit (22,000/37,000km) is dominated by orbital workstations, small factories, battlesats(US and USSR) and other stable platforms. It is here that ground based spaceplanes and shuttles dock with Orbital Transfer Stations, shifting crew and cargo to outbound Orbital Transfer Vehicles(OTVs)