Due to the lack of habitable landmass, Neona was not largely settled for many centuries and Human colonists lived in floating cities with a single spaceport for the entire planet. That changed once Hanson Mining Consolidated surveyed the planet's sea floor, discovering large mineral deposits. The consortium of mining companies secured mining rights to the planet and settled the world with its resident-employees, placing them in undersea mines while towing the floating cities over the projects. Some were linked together or attached to new spaceports as in the case of Newland, a large city formed aroung the original spaceport that became the planet's capital.
The various mining operations were highly lucrative and Hanson's subsidiaries paid their citizen-employees well. However, once the hyperlane known as the Giju Run was established, intersecting with the Procopian Shipping Lane that passed by Neona, the planet became a popular real estate venture for the Tapani Noble Houses. This influx of credits weaned the planet off its economic dependancy on selling the variably-priced ore.
The Rebel Alliance cell, the Pelagia Freedom Force, maintained a listening post on Neona.
Neona was a voting member of the League of Tapani Freeworlds.
In addition, Hanson monopolized the mining rights to several surrounding star systems with ore-rich planets not fit for terraforming or settlement.
Neona was a temperate world in the Neona system. Located within the Tapani sector's Freeworlds Territory, it had two barren moons. Due to a geologic warming period that melted the polar ice caps, the world's landmass was slowly engulfed in the rising tides. Only one ice-continent at each pole were spared, though the weather on both was cold and harsh, forcing what few settlers came to colonize the planet in floating cities with only one spaceport for the whole planet. An extensive cave system sat on the southern continent and intricate ruins left behind by the planet's extinct sentient species, riddled the undersea surface.
After Hanson Mining Consolidated, a conglomerate of mining corporations, discovered the sea floor was rich in ore deposits and bought the mining rights to the world, it took governmental control of the territory. More floating cities were created to house their move-in citizen-employees and were linked with existing cities, relocated above the newly-constructed mines. Newland was one such collection of cities—centered around the original, no longer exclusive, spaceport—became the largest of all and was named the planet's capital.
In Player's Guide to Tapani, Neona is incorrectly referred to as "Leona" in one instance.
- Player's Guide to Tapani
- Lords of the Expanse
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Essential Atlas