under surveillance. The Cardassians became imperialistic, waging war with other races and occupying their territory to exploit resources. The Cardassian empire is known as the Cardassian Union. Occupation of Bajor In 2328, the Cardassians invaded Bajor, occupying it for forty years, during which time they forced many Bajorans into slave labor, using them in their various mining operations. This forced many Bajorans to flee and live in refugee camps away from Cardassian domination, while other Bajorans became involved in the resistance movement, engaged in guerrilla warfare organising terrorist attacks against Cardassian targets. The Federation would not intervene in the situation, due to Prime Directive considerations. In 2369, the Bajoran resistance forced the Cardassians off Bajor, after which the Bajoran Provisional Government invited the United Federation of Planets to set up base on the former Cardassian mining station of Terok Nor, renaming it Deep Space Nine. Dominion War During the Dominion War, the Cardassian Union joined the Dominion in opposition to the Federation alliance, taking a main role below the Dominion's rulers, the Founders. They were supplanted by the Breen Confederacy and, after some of their territory was promised to the Breen, the Cardassians rebelled against the Dominion, and were instrumental in defeating the Dominion and ending the war. Ironically, it was a Bajoran, Colonel Kira Nerys of the Bajoran Militia, who trained the Cardassians in guerrilla warfare to defeat their own occupiers. Reception In 2017, Den of Geek ranked Cardassians the 4th best aliens of the Star Trek franchise, behind the Borg but ahead of the Bajorans. Some of the top-rated television episodes featuring Cardassians in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine include "Improbable Cause", which features an intriguing story centered on Garak, and also "Duet". In cosmology In cosmology, the concept "Cardassian expansion" is a term used for a modification to the Friedmann equations. It is named after the fictional Star Trek race by the original authors, Katherine Freese and Matthew Lewis. In their 2002 paper (which has been cited more than 330 times), a footnote on the "Cardassian term" states: "2 The name Cardassian refers to a humanoid race in Star Trek whose goal is to take over the universe, i.e., accelerated expansion. This race looks foreign to us and yet is made entirely of matter." See also The Star Trek Encyclopedia References Footnotes Bibliography External links Star Trek species Fictional reptilians Fictional elements introduced in 1991 de:Völker und