The Moon is the Earth's only natural satellite and the first celestial body that humanity colonized. It is the most advanced of the colonies with a sizeable population, major economy, and large export system that contributes to Earth.
Settlements on the Moon consist of a series of large Dome-ciles: massive domed shelters that recreate Earth's environment inside. The Dome-ciles are connected by Ultra-Corridors that allow for transportation of goods and ease of travel without having to be exposed to the lunar atmosphere. The largest city on the moon is Huóli City. It is humanity’s third largest city with a population of over 20 million people. Included in the city is the Shackleton Dome: the first settlement that could house more than one-thousand people.
Huóli started as a mining town and grew to prosperous heights because of the discovery of Helium-3. The element became fuel for one of the Paradisian movement’s greatest legacies ultra-clean nuclear power plants. This started a H3 rush that led to mass migration to the Moon for people looking for work. Soon, other industries cropped up on the Moon making it the highly populated and diverse colony it is today. The Helium-3 industry is still the number one economic driver, but the industry has lagged over the past several years as their has been a decline in demand. As clean-nuclear energy processes have become more refined and efficient, less Helium-3 has been needed sending some lunar stockholders in to free fall. Aside from Helium-3, the Moon's other largest economic driver is tourism.
The Moon has both colonial legislative and city governments. The colonial government is called the Lunar Council. However, the Great House, the city government of Huóli, holds essentially as much power as the Lunar Council given that Huóli has the majority of the Moon's population and is the biggest economic centre. The head of the Great House is Mamata Modi, an Indian expat who runs the city's government in a manner that has been described as authoritarian.
Both the Lunar Council and the House represent the interests of major Earth powers China, India, and the Wester African Union, as well as space-faring upstarts, The New Confederacy and Poland. These often-bickering powers have trouble agreeing on things leading to frequent disarray on the largest space colony. Increasingly destabilized, the only thing they seem to be united on is the belief that higher labour standards are too costly. As of right now, an tenuous alliance between India and the Western African Union have led to controlling interests for the two nations. This has brought some relative stability and also great wealth to those two nations who broker sweethearts deals for their country's back on Earth.
While income inequality on Earth has steadily decreased over the decades, the Moon has staggering levels of income inequality that is evident in the difference between Dome-ciles. Xingyun is a playground for the rich with massive parks, spiralling high-rises, and a man-made lake, while New Phoenix, one of the oldest Dome-ciles, has become an overpopulated and rundown container for the downtrodden. The problem is exacerbated by the steadily increasing immigration to the Moon, as many of the new people arriving are those looking for jobs that just don't exist. These factors have led to increased violence, high crime rates particularly involving human trafficking rings, and the rise of autocratic political powers.
This has caused a reaction human rights and labour groups that culminated in the foundation of the Federation for Equality, Liberation and Accountability (FELA). The group uses protests and strikes to fight to end indentured servitude contracts, improve worker safety, and gain voting rights for all regardless of their working status. These protests are often violently suppressed by the Civic Soldiers, the Moon's armed police forces and has led to clashes that have ended in fatalities. The epitome of this struggle was symbolized with bombing of a Helium-3 mine that punctured the original Shackleton Dome and killed nearly four dozen people. In response, Modi and the House declared martial law and jailed hundreds without trial. This action spurred further protests which are currently being carried out on the Moon.
The majority of Lunar citizens belong to the Colonist subfaction: normal citizen who, for varying reasons, have decided to live in space. Since it is the most populated and developed Colony, the Moon is home to every manner of Off Worlder.
The Western African Union, in a strategic alliance with India, has a controlling presence on the Lunar Council. This has led to an influx of wealth to the rapidly ascending Union. However, the amount that the Union has been able to impress any sense of Paradisian values on the Moon is seemingly negligent.