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The out-of-universe reasons Star Trek is not as diverse as Earth overall are obvious.
But it has always striven to be.

Yet if I think about all the places portrayed on Earth, they are overwhelmingly in North America (and Europe).

Are there any counterexamples?

Some locations on Earth which come to mind off the top of my head:

  • San Francisco (Starfleet Academy, 19th century Guinan, Star Trek IV)
  • New York (TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever")
  • New Orleans (various episodes related to Sisko men)
  • Iowa (young Kirk)
  • London (Star Trek Into Darkness)
  • France (Picard's vineyard, Federation President's Office)
  • Los Angeles (Voyager "Future's End")
  • Nevada (DS9 "Little Green Men")
  • Pennsylvania (ENT "Carbon Creek")
  • Montana (Star Trek: First Contact)
  • "The Arctic" (ENT: Regeneration) -- based on the names of the researchers, I'm going to assume this is Alaska or Canada, but at any rate, there is no other Earth culture here
  • Florida (ENT Xindi incident)

Clarification: Portrayal means an actual on-Earth scene occurs in a location.

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  • 1
    Does "portrayed" mean actually appear on screen? In the Xindi incident, we see Florida from space only, I believe.
    – Praxis
    Nov 7, 2015 at 0:03
  • @Praxis: Portrayal means appear onscreen. I thought Tucker visited Florida, but I could be wrong.
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 7, 2015 at 0:10
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    TOS: The City on the Edge of Forever and several ENT episodes show the Gizeh pyramids. However, this is all through Guardians of Forever and other timeywimey tricks; basically they appear on a "screen" in the scene. Not sure if this counts.
    – Junuxx
    Nov 7, 2015 at 2:09
  • 1
    Does Central America count? If so, the Rubber Tree People of "Tatoo" (VOY 2x09) would be the perfect answer.
    – user41473
    Nov 7, 2015 at 11:38
  • 1
    @StefanWalter, okay, my mistake. But we're still talking about an imaginary culture, right?
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 7, 2015 at 20:22

4 Answers 4

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34

In Voyager's first episode, "Caretaker", Janeway fetches Tom Paris from the Federation Penal Colony in New Zealand.

enter image description here

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17
  • 3
    Yes, this is a valid answer. I'm still a little disappointed that it's just Paris and Janeway in a forest and that New Zealand is still essentially a culture of European origin. Anything else?
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 7, 2015 at 0:13
  • 4
    backpackerguide.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/maori.jpg I think they might disagree about the European origin, and I sure hope that by the 24th century, they would have regained equal rights and status!
    – Jörg W Mittag
    Nov 7, 2015 at 0:50
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    @ThePopMachine : I was going to say something similar to Joerg --- New Zealand is a non-North America, non-European location with a culture that predates European contact.
    – Praxis
    Nov 7, 2015 at 0:54
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    @JörgWMittag, while technically true, this is neither here nor there. Just like there are indigenous peoples in North America. Unless and until you can demonstrate that somehow the Maori have taken over as the dominant culture in New Zealand in the 24th century, the smart money's on the assumption that New Zealand's primary culture is of European origin.
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 7, 2015 at 1:01
  • 2
    @TheDoc, I'm not saying no influence. Has there been a shot of a restaurant in India? A town in China? A Starfleet facility in Nairobi? Anything?
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 7, 2015 at 6:45
34

In the first episode of Enterprise, Capt. Archer travels to Brazil to persuade Hoshi Sato to leave her teaching post early to join the crew of the Enterprise. She is shown teaching a language class outdoors in a heavily wooded area.

enter image description here

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1
  • 1
    Good addition! I took the liberty to add a picture from Memory Alpha.
    – Junuxx
    Nov 7, 2015 at 1:54
18

Yes, this girl in this scene.

In a flashback seen in TNG "Violations", we see Keiko Ishikawa interacting with a Japanese cup used to wash calligraphy brushes by her Obachan(grandmother). This is clearly Japanese culture. And it almost certainly occurs in Japan.

In "Emissary":

O'BRIEN: When my wife Keiko saw our quarters, she started talking about visiting her mother in Kumamoto

While not conclusive, there's no indication the scene is not in Japan, and her mother (still) apparently lives there.

enter image description hereenter image description here

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7
  • "Portrayal means an actual on-Earth scene occurs in a location." - are you sure this scene is actually meant to take place in Japan?
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Nov 7, 2015 at 1:19
  • 3
    +1...definitely a non-European cultural portrayal. But I'm not sure about the location of the scene. The dialogue doesn't explicitly say it occurs in Japan (chakoteya.net/NextGen/212.htm)...it could have happened anywhere on 24th Century Earth, for all we know.
    – Praxis
    Nov 7, 2015 at 1:22
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    This is a flashback to her young childhood (you can see her hands) with her grandmother. She was a native of Japan. It's a very safe assumption.
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 7, 2015 at 1:26
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    @ThePopMachine : Fair point.
    – Praxis
    Nov 7, 2015 at 1:39
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    @ThePopMachine : I wasn't meaning to send you down the technicality road (I myself try to veer away from that sort of thing). I just felt the Japan location remark needed independent confirmation. I think your "Emissary" reference about Kumamoto is worth putting in your answer. :-)
    – Praxis
    Nov 7, 2015 at 1:53
3

Memory Alpha tells us a few things about what countries existed on Earth during the eras portrayed in Star Trek. These include the African Confederation, a political entity with member states including Somalia, preceded by the United States of Africa, which was a country in the 23rd century.

However, the Memory Alpha pages on Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, and Antarctica list various mentions of these locations throughout the series, but no actual appearances onscreen. I am forced to conclude that Praxis's answer is the only example of what you are looking for.

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  • 2
    I'm asking about actual portrayal of a site, but just the mention that it exists.
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 7, 2015 at 0:10
  • A good list nonetheless. +1
    – Praxis
    Nov 7, 2015 at 0:12
  • @ThePopMachine I've overhauled my answer to address your question better - what do you think now?
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Nov 7, 2015 at 1:01
  • Not portrayed, but mentioned. Spock was said to be Chinese, injured in a mechanical rice picker accident in City of the Edge of Forever.
    – johnny
    Nov 8, 2015 at 20:57
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    @Dave, well, that's fictional, holodeck, and Europe.
    – ThePopMachine
    Jan 20, 2021 at 18:15

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