Tatooine: Star Wars Desert Planet — Map, Natives, Filming

Overview

Tatooine is a sun-scorched desert planet in the Outer Rim, circling a pair of suns far from the galaxy's centre. Rain almost never falls, so most settlers make a living as moisture farmers, pulling water out of the air with tall vaporators^[1].

The Republic barely noticed the planet and the Empire barely ruled it. Real power belonged to the Hutt crime clans, and spaceport towns such as Mos Eisley and Mos Espa drew smugglers, bounty hunters and anyone with a reason to disappear^[1]^[10].

That remoteness is exactly why Tatooine keeps coming back. Two generations of Skywalkers grew up in its deserts, and it appears in more films, series and games than almost any other world in the saga^[2].

Outer Rim · R-16 Show on the galaxy map

Who lives here

Jawas
Small hooded scavengers with glowing eyes. They roam the desert in giant sandcrawlers, salvage scrap and broken droids, and sell them repaired — more or less — to the farmers^[3].
Tusken Raiders
The Sand People: nomads wrapped from head to toe who ride banthas and see the settlers as intruders on their land and its scarce water^[4].
Moisture farmers
Settler families like the Larses, who live in sunken homesteads and harvest water from the air. Both Anakin and Luke Skywalker grew up among them^[7].
Hutts
Not natives, but the planet's real rulers. Jabba the Hutt ran smuggling, gambling and slavery from his palace on the edge of the Dune Sea^[10].
Banthas and krayt dragons
The giants of the desert: shaggy banthas carry the Tuskens across the dunes, while the krayt dragon is the most feared predator of the wastes^[1].

Role in the galaxy

Tatooine has no army, no Senate seat and very little law, so it matters as a place to hide and a place to start. Slavery survived here under the Republic, which is how the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn found a gifted slave boy named Anakin Skywalker^[8].

A generation later, Obi-Wan Kenobi hid the infant Luke Skywalker with his relatives on a moisture farm in the same desert^[5]. Meanwhile podraces, cantinas and Hutt-run trade made the planet a crossroads of the underworld, where a farm boy could meet a smuggler with a fast ship^[10].

Chronicle

Events are in story order. Spoilers stay hidden until you open them — or mark the title as watched on the timeline, and they open by themselves.

32 BBY

Episode I — The Phantom Menace

Qui-Gon Jinn and Queen Amidala's party are stranded in Mos Espa. Qui-Gon bets on a slave boy, Anakin Skywalker, in the Boonta Eve podrace; Anakin wins his freedom and leaves to train as a Jedi^[8].
22 BBY

Episode II — Attack of the Clones

Spoiler · Episode II — Attack of the ClonesShowYou've watched it
Anakin comes back to find that Tusken Raiders have taken his mother, Shmi. He reaches her too late, and in his grief he slaughters the whole Tusken camp^[9].
≈ 22 BBY

The Clone Wars (2008 movie)

Anakin and his new apprentice Ahsoka Tano return Jabba's kidnapped son, Rotta, to his father's palace, winning the Republic the use of the Hutts' trade routes^[10].
19 BBY

Episode III — Revenge of the Sith

Spoiler · Episode III — Revenge of the SithShowYou've watched it
With the Republic fallen and the Jedi hunted, Obi-Wan Kenobi brings the infant Luke to Owen and Beru Lars and settles in the desert to watch over him^[5].
9 BBY

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Living as "Ben" and cutting meat at a packing plant, Obi-Wan stays away from his past — until Imperial Inquisitors arrive on Tatooine hunting for hidden Jedi^[5].
2 BBY

Star Wars Rebels

Spoiler · Star Wars RebelsShowYou've watched it
Maul tracks Obi-Wan down on Tatooine to settle their old feud. The duel lasts seconds: Obi-Wan strikes him down, and the former Sith dies in his old enemy's arms^[6].
0 BBY

Episode IV — A New Hope

Spoiler · Episode IV — A New HopeShowYou've watched it
Jawas sell R2-D2 and C-3PO to the Lars farm. Stormtroopers hunting the droids kill Owen and Beru, and Luke leaves Tatooine with Obi-Wan, Han Solo and Chewbacca from Mos Eisley^[7].
4 ABY

Episode VI — Return of the Jedi

Spoiler · Episode VI — Return of the JediShowYou've watched it
Luke, Leia and their friends free Han from Jabba's palace. Leia strangles Jabba with her own chain, and the Hutt's sail barge explodes over the Great Pit of Carkoon^[10].
≈ 9 ABY

The Mandalorian — Season 2 The Book of Boba Fett

Spoiler · The Mandalorian — Season 2ShowYou've watched it
Din Djarin trades for Boba Fett's old armour in the mining town of Mos Pelgo. Soon Fett himself is back on Tatooine, sitting on Jabba's throne as daimyo of Mos Espa^[11].
35 ABY

Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker

Spoiler · Episode IX — The Rise of SkywalkerShowYou've watched it
Rey visits the ruins of the Lars homestead, buries Luke's and Leia's lightsabers in the sand and takes the name Skywalker.

Heroes from Tatooine

Anakin Skywalker
grew up here
Grew up a slave with his mother in Mos Espa, building droids and racing podracers^[8].
Luke Skywalker
grew up here
Raised by his uncle and aunt on the Lars moisture farm, dreaming of flight school and the stars^[7].
Owen Lars
home world
Ran the family moisture farm with his wife Beru and brought up Luke as his own^[7].
Biggs Darklighter
grew up here
Luke's childhood friend, who left Tatooine to fly for the Rebellion^[12].

Where to see Tatooine

Every film, series and game in the timeline where Tatooine appears, in watch order.

Filmed on Earth

Real places that played Tatooine on screen.

Hotel Sidi Driss, Matmata, Tunisia
A traditional underground Berber home that played the courtyard of the Lars homestead. Today it is a hotel, and fans can stay the night^[13].
Episode IV — A New Hope Episode II — Attack of the Clones
Chott el Djerid, Tunisia
The vast salt flat near Nefta where the domed entrance of the Lars homestead stood^[14].
Episode IV — A New Hope
Mos Espa set near Tozeur, Tunisia
The town of Mos Espa was built in the desert north-west of Tozeur for The Phantom Menace, and much of the set still stands^[15].
Episode I — The Phantom Menace
Djerba, Tunisia
The island's whitewashed buildings stood in for parts of Mos Eisley in A New Hope^[2].
Episode IV — A New Hope

Did you know?

George Lucas took the name from Tataouine, a town in southern Tunisia he came across while scouting locations^[2].
The shoot in Tunisia in March 1976 was hit by the region's first heavy rain in seven years^[2].
Maul's very first lightsaber duel on screen, against Qui-Gon Jinn, takes place on Tatooine's dunes^[6].

Questions about Tatooine

Is Tatooine a real place?

No — but it was filmed in real deserts, mostly in southern Tunisia around Tozeur, Nefta and Matmata. The planet takes its name from the Tunisian town of Tataouine^[2].

Why does Tatooine have two suns?

Because it orbits a pair of stars, the binary Tatoo system. That is why its famous sunsets are double^[1].

Where is Tatooine on the galaxy map?

In the Outer Rim Territories, grid square R-16 of the official galaxy map, in the Arkanis sector — far from the Core and close to Hutt Space^[1].

Tatooine

Overview

Who lives here

Jawas

Tusken Raiders

Moisture farmers

Hutts

Banthas and krayt dragons

Role in the galaxy

Chronicle

Heroes from Tatooine

Anakin Skywalker

Luke Skywalker

Owen Lars

Biggs Darklighter

Where to see Tatooine

Filmed on Earth

Hotel Sidi Driss, Matmata, Tunisia

Chott el Djerid, Tunisia

Mos Espa set near Tozeur, Tunisia

Djerba, Tunisia

Did you know?

Questions about Tatooine

Nearby worlds

Sources