Alderaan, long considered a center of exploration and culture, has been involved in galactic politics for just as long. Sleek Alderaanian couriers and traders plied many of the most important trade routes in the galaxy, and have resulted in the slow and peaceful spread of the Alderaan people across most of known space. With these colonists came their architecture and artistic approach to living, with their distinct aesthetic apparent in many places one would not necessarily expect to find it. Alderaan itself is considered a beautiful blue-green orb in space, and unlike other core worlds such as Coruscant, Alderaanian society struck a harmonious balance between urban centers and undisturbed wilderness. Once home to a native sentient species that has long since died out, an insectoid culture known as the Killiks, there are hive-edifices called the Castle Lands on the Alderaanian grasslands, left behind after the Kiliks were forcibly evicted by ancient beings known only as the "Celestials".

Much of Alderaan is covered by gently swaying grasslands and prairies, great sections of which are used by artists to create living works of art, planting grasses of different hues and textures along carefully plotted paths. The savannahs support a variety of ruminant life forms, such as grazers and nerfs, and ranching is a common occupation. The few metropolitan areas of the planet are all designed in such a way as to complement their surroundings. The most quintessentially Alderaanian city, Aldera, has a skyline that consists of gently curved, gleaming white buildings forming a subtle bridge between the green grasses and white clouds. Here, students from across the galaxy study at the famed University of Aldera, a learning institution which promotes inspiration and free-thinking. Other centers, such as Crevasse City, meld so perfectly with their surroundings as to be almost invisible from a distance unless you know exactly what to look for. Since the time of the Clone Wars, where the planet was turned into a devastated battleground, Alderaanians decided to outlaw weapons and disbanded their small army. After this decision, the people of Alderaan have experienced an almost unparalleled period of regrowth and have managed to erase virtually all traces of the great battles that were fought on their world. Even going so far as to reclaim their status as living on the "Bright Center of the Universe."