Romulan Neutral Zone
The Romulan Neutral Zone was an exclusion zone between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire that existed from 2160 until 2387. The Neutral Zone was established by treaty after the end of the Earth-Romulan War. Entry by either side into the Zone constituted an act of war. The Romulans incorporated a map of the Neutral Zone into the Romulan Senate chamber's floor. The Romulan Neutral Zone effectively ceased to exist in the wake of the Romulan supernova. (; ; )

Location 

The Neutral Zone was located in the Beta Quadrant. ()

In 2259, the location of this region was labeled on a stellar cartography chart that was seen on the 's ready room viewscreen. () 

During the Neutral Zone Incursion of 2266, the location of the Romulan Neutral Zone was labeled on a map of Sector Z-6 that was displayed on the bridge viewscreen of the . (, production art)

In 2293, the location of the Romulan Neutral Zone in the Milky Way Galaxy was labeled in a star chart that was in Captain James T. Kirk's quarters aboard the . ( okudagram)

In 2366, the location of the Romulan Neutral Zone was labeled on a tactical intelligence analysis that was displayed on one of the viewscreens of the . ( okudagram)

In 2369, the location of the Romulan Neutral Zone was depicted by a thin line on a Deep Space 9 traffic control database map that was displayed on one of the viewscreens of the Enterprise-D. ( okudagram)

History 
After the Earth-Romulan War, at least eight Earth Outpost Stations were built on asteroids throughout the Zone. In 2266, four of these outposts were destroyed by a Romulan Bird-of-Prey. Commander Hansen was in command of Earth Outpost 4 until its destruction. () Under the terms of the treaty, the Romulans had a legal right to seize and impound any Federation starship that entered the zone. () 

In 2311, the Neutral Zone was reinforced and redefined in the Treaty of Algeron. Deanna Troi recalled this fact when she discussed the Pegasus Incident with Commander Riker. (; )

In 2364, the  was ordered to investigate the Neutral Zone to solve a mystery concerning the disappearance of a string of Federation outposts. It was later established that the outposts were destroyed by the Borg due to a signature technique unique to their technology. A crew member aboard the ship, Worf, described it: "The outpost was just not destroyed, it's as though some great force just scooped it off the face of the planet." Later that year, the Enterprise-D encountered a Borg cube that had obliterated several other populations in uncharted space in the same fashion. ()

In 2365, the Enterprise-D rendezvoused with her Galaxy-class sister ship  in the Neutral Zone before the Yamato exploded. After that, the Enterprise headed to Iconia to find out what happened to the Yamato. ()

In 2366, after receiving intelligence from a Romulan defector about a possible Romulan base at Nelvana III, outposts along the zone received warnings from Starfleet Command. Several independent vessels in nearby sectors received the same warning. ()

In 2367, according to a starship mission status chart seen on the bridge of the Enterprise-D, the  and  were assigned to patrol this zone. ( display graphic)

In 2369, according to a starship mission status seen in the observation lounge of the Enterprise-D, the  and the  were assigned to patrol this zone. ( production art) By this year, the Federation had installed subspace listening posts and gravitic sensor nets along their side of the zone. () For that year, one of the missions of Starbase 12 was as a base for ships patrolling the zone. This mission was mentioned in the Sector Ipai Relay Log. ()

In 2370, FGMS Gyt'aerat arrived to Deep Space 9 on stardate 47556.3 from the Neutral Zone. ( production art)

In 2373, the  was ordered to patrol the Neutral Zone in prelude to a second Borg assault on Earth, as Starfleet Command felt that Jean-Luc Picard's experience with the Borg would make him a risk during the battle to defend Earth, but phrased it so as to indicate that their presence was necessary "in case the Romulans decide to take advantage of the situation." This despite that fact that there had been "no unusual activity along the Romulan border for nine months." As further stated by Data, "It seems highly unlikely they would choose this moment to start a conflict."()

After the Romulans stole the , the Doctor was able to access the ship's navigational logs and determined that they were "at warp 9.9, heading straight for Romulan space," according to the map of the Neutral Zone he was viewing. Once the Romulans who had hijacked the Prometheus were within 40 minutes of the Romulan border of the Zone, their Commander Rekar altered the ship's heading to 118'26, taking them off course to Romulus and on course to a rendezvous with the Tal'Shiar fleet. Thirty-two minutes later, after the ship's EMH's had taken over the bridge, the EMH Mark II noted that they were now "only about eight minutes from the Romulan border" to the Neutral Zone. ()

In late 2374, before the Romulans joined the Dominion War, the bulk of their fleet was deployed along the Neutral Zone. () The  disappeared and was presumed destroyed by the Dominion near the Neutral Zone. It was believed that the Dominion ships had crossed the Cardassian-Romulan border to strike the Cairo from the Romulan side of the Zone, a pattern the Dominion employed frequently and which the Romulans ignored due to their nonaggression pact with the Dominion. ()

In 2379, Praetor Shinzon attempted to fool Picard into believing he wanted the Neutral Zone to be abolished. ()

In 2380, a rescue team from the  made an incursion through the Neutral Zone and into Romulan space so as to rescue Imperium Magistrate Clar, who was captured by them. ()

After the evacuation of Romulans threatened by the Romulan supernova ended, the Neutral Zone collapsed. Subsequently, people like Seven of Nine, who worked with the Fenris Rangers, felt called to maintain a semblance of order on the worlds the Federation left behind. ()

In an alternate future, the Neutral Zone had ceased to exist as a result of the Romulan Empire being taken over by the Klingons by 2395. ()

Holodeck simulation – Captain Riker 

In 2367, while exploring a cavern on Alpha Onias III, Commander William T. Riker was rendered unconscious by gases. While unconscious, neural scanners scanned Riker's brain. The scanners used elements of Riker's reality and constructed a holodeck simulation with those elements interspersed throughout, so that it felt real to him. What Riker wanted, the scanners made possible.

In one of these simulations, on stardate 49472, Captain Riker, the commanding officer of the , was ordered to patrol this zone and provide tactical support for Starbase 384. In 2383, this zone was mentioned in Riker's service record that was on display in his quarters on the Enterprise-D. ( okudagram)

Sectors 
 Gamma Hydra sector
 Kaleb sector
 Sector 004/11 - 010/35
 Sector 009
 Sector 023
 Sector 030
 Sector 031
 Sector 045/34 - 052/32
 Sector 130
 Sector 134
 Sector 142
 Sector 1045
 Sector Z-6

Systems and stars in the Romulan Neutral Zone 

The following systems and individual stars were located in the Romulan Neutral Zone:
 Devron system
 Epsilon Legato
 Moore's Star
 Nelvana system
 Sigma Nelvana
 Nelvana III
 System uncertain
 Iconia
 Theta Curry

Systems and stars near the Romulan Neutral Zone 
Additionally, the following systems and individual stars were located near the Romulan Neutral Zone:

Federation territory 

 Alpha Onias system
 Alpha Onias III (uninhabited)
 System uncertain
 Algeron IV (likely inhabited, affiliation unknown)
 System uncertain
 Angel I (independent)
 System uncertain
 Arloff IX (likely inhabited, affiliation unknown)
 Barradas system
 Barradas III (uninhabited)
 Calder system
 Calder II (Federation planet)
 System uncertain
 Dessica II (independent)
 Draken system
 Draken IV (Federation planet)
 System uncertain
 Galorndon Core (uninhabited)
 Gamma Hydra
 Gamma Hydra II
 Gamma Hydra IV (Federation planet)
 Kolarin system
 Kolarus III (independent)
 System uncertain
 Vendor (independent)
 System uncertain
 Yadalla Prime

Romulan territory 

 Beta Hutzel
 Systems uncertain
 "Eden"
 Romulan planet near Neutral Zone

See also  
 Romulan-Cardassian border
 Romulan-Klingon border

Appendices

Background information
According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 66), the first outposts were the Earth Outposts. There were 23 of these outposts, which were established in 2160. The first seven outposts were built in what had been the Romulan War Theater of Operations. Additional outposts were built over the centuries. There were four Tango Outposts in the Bolarus sector, six Sierra Outposts in the Kaleb sector, three Romeo Outposts in the Taugan sector, and six Quebec Outposts in the Hyralan sector.

An okudagram map seen in Starlog Press publication  depicted a portion of the Romulan Neutral Zone. On the map, the locations of Outposts 1-7 were depicted in Federation space. Outposts 41 and 42 were depicted in space claimed by the Klingon Empire.

External links 
 
 

bg:Ромуланска неутрална зона
de:Romulanische Neutrale Zone
es:Zona Neutral Romulana
fr:Zone Neutre Romulienne
ja:ロミュラン中立地帯
nl:Romulan neutrale zone
pl:Romulańska Strefa Neutralna
Regions
 Romulan Neutral Zone
Cartography