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I’m of the understanding that the canon Star Wars movies are set in the relative past (18th and 19th century in our time). Yet looking up the biographies of characters like Padmé Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker etc their species is listed as ‘human’.

If they are indeed, human beings as you and I, how did they manage to end up in the far reaches of space hundreds of years ago, when we don’t have to technology to travel long distances in space even today?

Martin Bean
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    I'm guessing here, but I think Lucas tried to find Rodians, but none came for the casting call... – Iceman Jan 15 '16 at 10:24
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    it wa a long time ago far far away so 18th to 19th century is probably wrong – Eumel Jan 15 '16 at 10:28
  • @Eumel Is the 18th century not a ‘long time ago’? ;) – Martin Bean Jan 15 '16 at 10:34
  • Why can't humans develop independently in the galaxy far far away? – user931 Jan 15 '16 at 10:34
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    not long enough ;) – Eumel Jan 15 '16 at 10:35
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    The best estimates for the beginning of unintended colonisation of Earth by human crash survivors is currently set at 2-5mya or earlier, so these events must have occurred much earlier than that. – thegreatjedi Jan 15 '16 at 10:57
  • @MartinBean You realize that there are people living now—lurking on this site for all we know—whose grandfathers were born in the 18th century? So, no, the 18th century is not a "long time ago". – user14111 Jan 15 '16 at 11:11
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    @user14111 you realize that the 18th century is from 1700 till 1799 right? so it NOT possible to having a living grandparent born in the 18th century. But I Agree I wouldn't say it's that long ago – Ivo Jan 15 '16 at 11:27
  • @user14111 Like Ivo Beckers says, the 18th century is 1700-1799, so if you do know living people whose grandparents were born then, I’d love to meet them. – Martin Bean Jan 15 '16 at 11:28
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    @MartinBean Look up the Wikipedia article on John Tyler (1790-1862), 10th president of the United States, and read about his two living grandchildren. – user14111 Jan 15 '16 at 11:48
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    @IvoBeckers I didn't say "living grandparent". I said living person whose grandfather (long gone of course) was born before 1800. Please read this and this and this. – user14111 Jan 15 '16 at 12:00
  • @user14111 yeah, the living grandparent was a mistake, but I actually didn't think it possible have a grandparent born in the 18th century. Learnt something new today :) Apology for that – Ivo Jan 15 '16 at 12:06

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Humans in Star Wars are not the species homo sapiens that we find on Earth. And they also don't speak English. There is deliberately no connection between "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away" and any place or time that we know of. So the word that is translated into English as "human" is simply the word that they use to refer to the species in the Star Wars universe that looks like homo sapiens.

Mike Scott
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