Belter's Union

History: The belt was first colonized in first decade of the 22nd century. Several earlier attempts had been made to take advantage of the natural resources of the asteroids, but it was not until after the Airlock Rebellion that the growth in the colonies was vigorous enough to justify the expense. Ceres was found to be metal-poor, but Pallas turned out to be a treasure trove of iron, titanium, copper, silver and other rare metals. A thriving industry was founded on the tiny planetoid. Eventually, Vesta became the nominal captial, due to the shipbuilding industry located there. Unlike the other colonies, the belt was too dynamic a structure to use the Colonial Charter system. No one actually lived on the surface, the gravity was just enough to be a nuisance. People lived in orbital stations and worked on the surface. Also, there were so many stakeholds on the surface of Pallas and the smaller asteroids, that it would have been a bureaucratic nightmare to manage it all. Eventually ,Vesta Shipyards and the three largest mining concerns were given permanent seats on a Belt Senate. The rest of the Senate seats were dependant on making a particular quota from a mining or manufactruing operation. The Senate only really acts when there is a problem that affects the Belt as a whole, things like invasion, economic trade policies, treaties, etc. The governemnt of the belt thus resembles that Periclean Athens, with a strong central cultural center (Vesta) surrounded by a lot of independant city-states. Each mining or manufacturing concern is run by a separate company or individual; the variations are endless. Each Belt habitaion has its own inner government, usually a highly centralized one run by a hard set of rules. The controller of each settlement is the final authority in all disputes. Despite all of this diversity, the Belt has a strong cultural identity, and they pull together in times of crisis.

People: Belters
Belters are a fiercely independant bunch. If their governemnt could be loosely described as Periclean, the culture is definitely remeinsicent of the American Old West. Fortunes are made and lost regularly in the belt, and the law is often settled by judiscious use of a hand laser. Belters work hard and play hard. They can be a rather diverse lot, due to the wide variety of mini-governments, but most Belters share a variety of physical and cultural traits.
Appearance: Belters are very tall and thin, seven feet being not unusual. The average Belter is completely hairless, having used a depilatory treatement at age of majority. Hair is a nuisance in microgravity and in spacesuits. Tattoos are common and sometimes quite elaborate.
Cultural traits. Belters have developed a number of tratits in response to their environment. Firstsly, they are neat. Living in small artificial environments in low or zero gravity means you develop habitual neatness or die.
Secondly, they have a somewhat existential viewpoint. Death happens frequently in the Belt, and Belters realize that the universe is a hostile place that isn’t going to do them any favors. Despite this attitude, they remain a fairly upbeat, friendly and likeable people.