Tibannopolis held the position of Bespin's second-largest metropolis, second only to Cloud City, on the gas giant Bespin. It served as one of several tibanna gas mining facilities located on Bespin.
Constructed in a close orbit surrounding the gas giant, the city's creators aspired for it to eventually surpass Cloud City in both gas extraction and overall appeal. However, its failure to achieve such competitiveness led to a gradual abandonment by its populace during the intense period of the Clone Wars.
Having been abandoned to drift without purpose, the city became a frequent target for looting by inhabitants of other colonies seeking valuable resources. The remaining sections of the urban area degraded into something resembling a ghost town among the clouds. Although its repulsorlifts remained functional over the years, a malfunction in a power regulator caused the entire platform to tilt slightly.
The bounty hunter Boba Fett once had a meeting with Aurra Sing there, with the aim of retrieving his Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft, known as Slave I, from Sing. Fett, motivated by the ship's prior ownership by his father, Jango Fett, arrived in a cloud car. The cloud car became useful when Sing betrayed the agreement and fled, leading to Fett's successful boarding of her craft after a pursuit.
At one point in time, an IG-series assassin droid sought refuge within the city. A member of the Bespin Wing Guard discovered this during a routine patrol and was tasked with locating and neutralizing the dangerous droid.
Following the Imperial occupation of Cloud City, Tibannopolis was largely deserted. Surprisingly, it remained among the few operational colonies even after its mining operations ceased to be profitable.
During the period surrounding the well-known Battle of Endor, Streen, a Force-sensitive individual, relied on Tibannopolis as a sanctuary during his prospecting activities within Bespin's atmospheric gases.