Thane is a large terrestrial planet in the star system of the same name, named after a city on Earth. It is governed by the Commonwealth of Thane, a member state of the Allied Worlds. The Commonwealth is a federal republic.
Physical Planetography
The planet is higher-gravity than Earth, and was at the time of its discovery extremely hot and arid, with liquid water existing only at the poles. (Though the planet had some water vapor and water bound in minerals.) Imperial terraformers seeded the planet with genetically engineered photosynthetic organisms to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, and dumped millions of tonnes of lightweight, white-colored expanded glasses made from asteroidal materials onto it, raising its albedo. These actions lowered surface temperatures sufficiently to allow the liquid water zone to expand progressively farther from the poles, leading to further proliferation of the photosynthetic organisms and further global cooling as water vapor condensed and removed itself from the atmosphere. (To this day, great rafts of expanded glasses float on the oceans of Thane - pretty much everywhere there is not a mat of oxygen-producing algae - and they are a major constituent of its beaches.) (Note to self -- check to make sure this rapid introduction of oxygen isn't implausible even in light of the reduced capacity to sequester oxygen in oceans vs earth. Can plausible differences in planet composition make its crust much less able to absorb O2??)
As it is now, the average surface temperature is 39C, still very hot, with temperatures in excess of 100C still common in equatorial regions. Life is concentrated at non-tropical latitudes. Genetic enhancements allowing the inhabitants to tolerate higher temperatures are very common. The planet has a 56 hour day, and is very windy. The atmosphere is moderately thicker than Earth's, with an atmospheric pressure of about 2 bar at the surface. The air is breathable, though only at low altitudes (where colonization is naturally focused.) Oxygen supplementation - usually portable concentrators based on molecular sieves - is used at higher altitudes.
Thane is comparatively poor in surface metals.
Culture and History
Thane was colonized mainly by Muslims who rejected M. bin Zayed of Taumenst's claim to be the Mahdi, and who were accordingly expelled from Taumenst. They joined a earlier colony on Thane which was struggling at the time, and succeeded in turning things around. By the time M. bin Zayed's rebellion was put down by the Empire, the colony was prospering and most of the exiles had put down roots on Thane, deciding not to return to Taumenst.
Most inhabitants today are Muslim (60%, mostly followers of the Grand Fiqh) or secular/non-religious (32%). There are substantial minorities of other faiths. Rimward Arabic is widespread as a liturgical language, and the local dialect of Standard Imperial has definite phonetic and lexical influences.
Thane is quite populous, with almost eight billion human inhabitants. The oceans are too hot for Biran, even near the poles. Thane has no ice cap and relatively little seasonal variation. Its oceans are discontinuous, "sea level" is quite low on Thane.
Economy
Thane has a highly developed economy and is self-sufficient. Colonists from Thane live on several other worlds in its system, and there is well-developed space infrastructure including propellant mining. Thane has a robust biotechnology sector and many notable universities.
The Allied Words Space Force has a training facility for the Spaceborne Infantry on Thane. The combination of a breathable atmosphere and harsh conditions is identified by the Infantry Training Command as providing an environment which is "very rigorous, but forgiving of mistakes, making it especially suitable for training purposes." "Forgiving" is obviously relative.