Valo System
The Valo System is located along the fringes of Cardassian space, just inside the Bajor Sector and not far from the Demilitarized Zone. The system is built around a small G-class yellow star and contains three Class M planets, all inhabited. The Bajorans first settled the system in the late 2280s, but colonization was difficult due to the great distance and use of sublight ships. The settlers had to become self-sufficient rather quick, and agriculture was the primary means.
During the Cardassian occupation of Bajor (2319-69), many residents fleed to the Valo System. The three planets could not support such an influx of refugees, and they were forced to live under poor conditions. Once the occupation was over, the Federation stepped in to help return many to Bajor and assist on building each planet an infrastructure.
Valo I: the smallest of the three planets. Its soil is a purplish-color due to the unique mineral composition, which in recent years has been found to be an excellent fertilizer. The planet has three moons, one of which hid a secret Bajoran resistance base during the occupation.
Valo II: the largest of the three and the most populated. Despite a successful agarian base, Valo II was overwhelmed by refugees over the fifty-year occupation. Bajorans, even the original settlers of the planet, were ultimately forced into squalor in camps around the planet. During a visit by the USS Enterprise in 2368, these conditions were recorded first-hand by Starfleet, prompting immediate (and secretive) humanitarian assistance by the Federation. As of 2385, the planet has a modern capital called Holza and is home to the Bajoran Geoscience Institute.
Valo III: a semi-desert world with two moons. Because water was scarce here, most of the settlers lived along the few rivers and lakes found on the surface. Once the refugees poured in, these small populated places swelled beyond the planet's ability to provide. After the occupation, the planet was deemed an ecological disaster. A joint Bajoran-Federation terraforming project began in 2370 to reverse this, but it had to be abandoned in early 2374 when the Dominion overran the sector. Fortunately, the system was---for the most part---ignored during the war.