The Federation Expansion, also known as the Federation Protectorate, and most commonly known as the Lunix Colonies, is the hundred-lightyear wide cooridoor of space which represents the official sovereign and political boundaries of the United Federation of Planets interests in the SW-1138 Galaxy. For the sake of simplicity, while the Federation Expansion technically refers to both the Federation-controlled space and entirety of the space given to the Federation via the Treaty of Naboo, this article will only focus on the aspects of the Expansion that have been officially colonized, and the recognized political boarders of Federation Space, not the entire unexplored ceded territory. 
Overview
The Expansion exists as the Federation's central outposts and space on the alien side of the Route of Ages. Located roughly two days away from the Tatoo system at high warp, the space is made up of three sectors and includes everything the Federation needs to make a self-sufficient colony-protectorate in the event of being cut off from the Alpha Quadrant, as was done during the battle against the Peacekeepers. This includes several entirely self-sufficient colonies, several antimatter refueling stations, and their own shipyards and mining operations, including a working Particle Fountain.
Politically, the Federation Expansion is located in what was previously neutral territory held between New Republic and Hutt fleets. While the Expansion may technically hold a number of inhabited worlds, Starfleet has yet to establish a presence, or even encounter, many of these planets. While the Hutts and other forces recognize the Expansion and legitimate, pirates and other spacers see the Federation colonies as encrouching on their own territory, and often ambush ships and attack colonies without provication. It is only through the efforts of Starfleet, and the pirates sheer lack of experience with Warp-capable vessels, that these attacks have not grown past minor skirmishes. The Expansion is by and large protected by the 1st Intergalactic Fleet, an offshoot of Starfleet's 19th Fleet.
History
Following the Treaty of Naboo, The New Republic happily handed over a wide spot of barren space along the Corellian Run to the United Federation of Planets for exploration and colonization. Unhappy with the Hyperspace-Route-based charts that they were given, Starfleet began their own mapping expeditions. The Lunix colony was originally designated as a port of call and refueling depot for Starfleet vessels. As more and more settlers and colonists migrated to the new Galaxy, Starfleet discovered a number of uninhabited star systems which neither the Hutts or any local warlords saw for having any value. by 2383, Starfleet began a lengthy teraforming process along a number of unclaimed boarder worlds, including Lunix 2, Calvos, and Brannel IX. They even found a single M-Class planet which was quickly termed New Archer.
However, not all colonization ran smoothly. Late in the year, the Brannel IX colony was anihilated by a race of insectoid creatures known only as the Bugs. Communication proved disasterous at first, but eventually an understanding was reached. Starfleet has since declared the Brannel system off limits. Likewise, the Rennack System Hyperspace Research Fascility was outright destroyed in a Goa'uld attack.
Following that tragedy, in early 2384 there was an aggressive push past the previous boarders, which led to the creation of half a dozen new colonies, both planetside- - New Mokar, Vernak's Hope, Xarnis III and Whelan II —and space-station based outposts, including Research Station Adobe-8, Starbase 984, the Midas-Zeta long range subspace telescope, and the Raxxel V Particle Fountain.
2386 would prove to be a rough year for the Protectorate. The Goa'uld System Lord Thel attacked New Archer, holding it for several months before he was forced back with a combined Starfleet and Kukai Foundation fleet. At the end of 2386, The Expansion was cut off from the Alpha Quadrant, leaving them on their own. While communications could still be established due to the Kukai Foundation's proximity to the Route of the Ages, resources-wise the Expansion was on it's own. In March of 2387 the Peacekeepers began attacking colonies. While a cease-fire was orchestrated after the SuperGate Bomb incident, skirmishes continue, as well as a number of Goa'uld attacks on Raxxel V.
Important Notes
The centerpoint of the Expansion is the Lunix system, which leads to the Expansion being coloqially referred to as the Lunix Colonies. Lunix itself contains a large shipyard as well as an orbital space station, and a now fully teraformed planetside colony. While it was originally the largest port of call for merchants and other vessels coming and going throughout Federation space, Vernak's Hope is rapidly replacing it due to it's proximity to Republic space.
