Gentes is known to most only as the homeworld of the Ugnaughts, industrious pig-like creatures common on Bespin and other planets in the sector. Once a swampy paradise, sadly the planet has suffered from environmental damage from slave traders. In attempts to make the Ugnaught population more willing to be transported off their home planet, the slave traders dumped toxins into the rivers and oceans, killing off many of the basic food species that the Ugnaughts relied upon, and though it is still a life-supporting planet, the life that remains is but a shadow of the rich diversity that blossomed there before. In recent years, a prospering ecumenopolis has developed that works to reverse the damage by methodically collecting the environmental toxins.

The planet has two icy polar caps which vary little in size as the seasons on Gentes are not extreme, due to its small axial tilt. Most life on the planet is found along an equatorial landmass that is bordered north and south by seas. There is a little active volcanism, which is mostly slow lava flows rather than explosive volcanoes. Gentes has a high gravity for a planet of its size, because of a high proportion of dense elements in the core and mantle. This may be responsible for the stumpy physique of its populace.