Pern is the name of the planet where the events of the Pern series of books takes place.

The name is derived from the label given it by the original Exploration and Evaluation Corps (EEC) report, Planet Earthlike, Resources Negligible (or Parallel Earth, Resources Negligible).

The planet was isolated from the main trading lanes of the Federated Sentient Planets, and was rich enough in resources for a simple agrarian colony, but not enough to arouse the interests of large mining corporations. It thus proved an ideal location for a "back-to-nature" colony.

It is not clear why no contact was ever made again with the outside galaxy, particularly given the events in Rescue Run, which show that the FSP learned of Thread.