Galactic quadrant

In the television series Star Trek and its spin-offs, the term quadrant refers to an area of the Galaxy. In the original Star Trek, it referred to an area interchangeable with a sector, but in the spin offs created in the 1990s, a system of four Galactic Quadrants, designated by the Greek letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, has been used.

It may be noted that their arrangement is placed neither in a clockwise nor counter-clockwise pattern.

Original usage
The original usage of 'quadrant' appears in episodes such as "The Deadly Years" and "The Squire of Gothos", where numbered quadrants (448 and 904) are given. In other episodes it appears to refer to an entire quarter of the galaxy. The season 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation Writers' Technical Manual asserts that there are 4 quadrants in each sector.

Four quadrants
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Price" introduced the concept of four quadrants of the galaxy, named the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta quadrants.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country implies that the Alpha/Beta border runs through Federation space. The Star Trek Encyclopedia attributes this decision to rationalize a line in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which James T. Kirk claimed that the Enterprise was the only ship in a Quadrant. Maps produced by the art staff for the series (both on-screen and published) show that the Alpha/Beta border runs through the Sol system.

Alpha and Beta Quadrants
Assuming the galactic meridian runs from the center of the galaxy through Earth's solar system, then the Alpha Quadrant is between 0 degrees and 90 degrees, and the Beta Quadrant is between 270 degrees and 360 degrees.

The Alpha Quadrant and the nearby areas of the Beta Quadrant are the primary setting of Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Enterprise. According to the Encyclopedia, the Federation is largely on the Alpha Quadrant side, but with parts in the Beta Quadrant; whereas the Klingon and Romulan Empires are mainly in the Beta Quadrant but extend in part into the Alpha Quadrant. The Star Trek Star Charts have the Romulans and Klingons entirely within the Beta Quadrant, as well as the Gorn Hegemony, the Son'a Solidarity and the Metron Consortium. Star Trek Star Charts further located the First Federation, Breen, Ferengi, Tzenkethi, Cardassians, Bajorans, Talarians and Tholians in the Alpha Quadrant.

Of core worlds, Star Trek Star Charts claims that Vulcan (40 Eridani), Andoria (Procyon), Risa and the Rigel (Beta Rigel) systems are in the Beta Quadrant, with Tellar (61 Cygni), Trill and Betazed in the Alpha Quadrant.

Star Trek Star Charts has the Romulans corewards and counterclockwise from the Federation core, with the Klingons rimwards of the Romulans. Federation territory is shown to expand around the backs of the Klingon and Romulan Empires, further into the Beta Quadrant. Other powers such as the Cardassians, Tholians and Ferengi are on the clockwise side of the Federation. The 1975 Star Fleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph also has a galactic meridian running through Sol, but depicted the Romulans as being counterclockwise, and the Klingons as being clockwise.

Although the Romulans and Klingons are shown by maps as part of the Beta Quadrant, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine did not use this terminology, referring to them as Alpha Quadrant powers. Ronald D. Moore noted that the "Alpha quadrant is firmly planted in the audience's mind as where the Federation, the Klingons, and the Romulans all live so I think we'll stick with that nomenclature".

About 600,000 years ago, the Alpha Quadrant was dominated by the Tkon Empire, which is long since vanished by the time of the Star Trek series.

Gamma Quadrant
The Gamma Quadrant is situated between 90 degrees and 180 degrees.

The Bajoran wormhole bridges the 70,000 light-year distance between the Alpha Quadrant's  Bajor system and the Gamma Quadrant's Idran system. The Gamma Quadrant is explored in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The major native power in the Gamma Quadrant is the Dominion.

Delta Quadrant
The Delta Quadrant is situated between 180 degrees and 270 degrees.

Most of the information about the Delta Quadrant and its inhabitants comes from the show Star Trek: Voyager. Apart from the voyages of the USS Voyager and the USS Equinox, the United Federation of Planets has not explored this quadrant.

The Delta Quadrant is home to the Borg Collective, the Kazon, the Vidiians, the Talaxians, the Ocampa, and the Hirogen. Species 8472 is first encountered in this quadrant, although they are not native to this region or physical dimension. Most of the Borg Collective resides in the Delta Quadrant although they have space in the Beta Quadrant as well.