Homeworld: Population blog - AmDDRed

In this article I'd like to gather some numbers and to theorize a bit where it's possible.

Contents

1. The Sources
2. The Dark Times
3. The Old Times
4. The Exile
   • Pre-Kiithid
   • Religion
   • Matriarchy
5. After Kharakian Sandfall
   • The Great Desert Landing
   • Kharak Desertification
   • The Xenodigestion Question
   • Pre-launch Population
   • Kiithid Population
   • Mothership Population
   • Survivors of Kharak
   • The Seeds of Siidimism
6. Kadeshi Population
7. After Hiigaran Landfall
   • Hiigaran Kushan Population
   • Hiigaran Taiidan Population
   • Taiidan Population
8. Age of S'jet
   • Kiithless & Kiithid
   • Imogen & Isaac
9. Outro
10. Changelog
11. Read More

The Sources

• HW1 - Homeworld 1, manual, game
• HWC - Homeworld Cataclysm/Emergence, manual, game
• HWCO - Homeworld Cataclysm, outtakes
• HWWOS - HW and HWC ship descriptions, well of souls
• HW2 - Homeworld 2, manual, game
• HW2PR - Homeworld 2, Prima Official eGuide
• HWDOK - Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Expedition Guide, game
• HWR - Homeworld: Revelations RPG
• HWRS - Homeworld: Revelations RPG Story Seeds
• HWM - Homeworld: Mobile, homeworldsource.net
• HW3 - Homeworld 3
• HWDST - Homeworld Dust Wars drafts

Changelog

• 15.03.24 - updated mouse picture
• 31.12.23 - finalized v1.0
• 10.01.24 - added a HWC quote about "good Taiidani is a dead one"
• 23.01.24 - added a question about Kathedral of Kadesh
• 02.02.24 - added part about Survivors of Kharak
• 22.02.24 - added a Hiigara Paradox text
• 02.04.24 - added few videos about Atmosphere Ignition Theories
• 05.04.24 - added calculations of Hiigaran vs Taiidan Space Fleet
• 08.04.24 - added the burning of Per Doine to the Human Rights Watch list
• 18.04.24 - added Karan S'jet as the Great Mother and Imogen S'jet as a player of Game of Kiithid
• 19.04.24 - added info about Hiigaran individualism and S'jet shadow cardinalism
• 26.04.24 - added info about known consequences for Kushan prisoners

The Dark Times

Well, it all begun with the Progenitors or Sajuuk himself seeding humanity in at least 4 galaxies - OG, Nimbus, Eros and Aurora, and vanishing in a sort of a Civil War.

God's leaving his children on their own - a kind of a modern Zeitgeist. Like, God is Dead (c). Again.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (c) Matthew 27:46

The Old Times

We do not know much about the pre-Exile period, nor about the Hiigarans, nor about the Taiidans or anybody else. But we do know that there were 16 Empires, including Hiigaran and Taiidan Empires (not certain, if the Bentusi are included in this premium list).

But we do know that the Hiigaran Empire consisted at least of a few worlds, and for sure Taiidan Empire had all of them later with a few fatal exceptions:

Every planet along the way was given the choice: join the Taiidan Empire, or be annihilated… every planet but one. Thinking that the Hiigaran people would not take their threat seriously, Riesstiu ordered the first planet in their path razed and its sacrifice used as an example to the rest of the Hiigaran Empire. It worked: few worlds chose destruction over subjugation, and the Taiidani fleet continued inexorably towards Hiigara
(c) HWR, p.236, C8 Galactic Community, Taiidan, Imperial History, A Cycle of Violence

So, it's not entire Hiigaran Empire was exiled but only the capital of it, roughly speaking, the HQ, the ones who were responsible for the... how to call it... Old Taiidan War. But basically, Old Hiigaran Empire enriched the Taiidan Empire with its population!

After that Taiidan Empire influence would grow up to the half of the galaxy, but people's number counting themselves as nominal Hiigarans would shrink to the Exile convoy ships passengers.

The Exile

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, hand whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.
(c) Genesis 4

The stern of the ship faced the Solar System, where the sun was by now no more than a yellow star just a bit brighter than the rest. The peripheral spiral arm of the Milky Way lay in this direction, its stars sparse. The depth and expanse of deep space exhibited an arrogance that left no support for the mind or the eyes.
“Dark. It’s so fucking dark,” the captain murmured, and then shot himself.
(с) Liu Cixin, The Dark Forest

And thus a millennium journey (GSY 6510-7500 (c) HWR) has begun. Not sure, why so long if they had a hyperdrive, and why so fast if they had not. But it's not the topic of this issue. Let's go on with people.

Of course, there is no data how many people were onboard of each Khar-Toba class ship,

we can only assume, that compared to other ship crews and situation depicted it must have been around 100k - it would be a great irony if only 5 reached the Kharak, and the pretty much the same number of people returned back to Hiigara

but for sure, there were a lot of them, how many ships (though there is a repeating texture of [UO-125] on a nose of Khar-Tobas), and part of them exploded while the journey, part of them settled in the Great Nebula, to be known as Kadeshi, another part settled on Kharak to be known as Kushans.

But a journey in isolated ships to nowhere for sure created a somewhat culturally crippled society.

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
(c) "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy

Pre-Kiithid

FIRST, the kiithid system: while it wasn't yet the one we knew from Kharak End Times, it started to form exactly this time. You know, family gangs, functional guilds and so on, what you might find in this soft but still a prison. People do like to divide others on 'us' and 'them', especially when they are short on resources, and people always require more resources. And probably, as percentage of sociopaths are higher among the power players, and as we already understood, the Exile ships were full of those, the division and corruption has begun quite fast. And the dull cruise ceased to be tedious.

Interpretation of ancient legends and translations of texts found in the ruins of Khar-Toba suggest that our ancestors' journey to this world was arduous enough to break down all social structures except the most basic family bonds. When the power plant at Khar-Toba failed, refugees in all probability fled in small groups of friends and relatives. Harsh conditions and the passage of hundreds of years hardened what was originally a practical system, taking care of your own loved ones first, into a ritualized system of alliances and loyalties we have come to know as the kiith system.
(c) HW1, Historical Briefing, p.21, The Kharakid Social System

Reading Homeworld Revelation RPG book, it seems that some of HWR writers were not very attentive, and tried to make the kiithid system a Hiigaran all-the time feature despite the strong message from the very HW1, but you can read more about this in the Stranger Things, Homeworld 2: Too Ancient Kiithid LiirHra.

Religion

SECOND, isolated space with no escape is a great base for a dogmatic religiosity rise: the fate beyond your active control gets in a situation when, for self-preservation, you are forced to believe that there is something more than just a simple matter, that somebody - be it the fate, the universe a the god - would help you out. In the end, our God feeling is something about our life acceptance, the Jungian "Self", so to ease life most of us would follow our brains' monkey pack based natural conformism, changing ourselves for the sake of a overbearing community. There's nowhere to run, there's no place for deviant pioneers. The ship sinks and all the passengers are going down altogether. The old story becomes a myth, myth becomes a holy scripture. Kadeshi, Gaalsien, no one escapes. Want to argue? Here's the Exit.

Matriarchy

THIRD, isolated space with limited resources, established and for centuries non-changing greenhouse would turn the society into "Universe-25" experiment. According to some theories males are an evolution's experimental field passing the successors genes to a female stabilization fund in a whole Species survival adaptation cycle to outer space changing environment, and if the environment doesn't change, a lot of evolutionary mechanisms would be broken, or to be better said - retuned. Natural male instincts of competitive fertilization, that are the same aggression/ expansion/ exploration / pioneering, would be reduced. Especially among those who had lost the war. In Jungian terms, I guess, it's like the Anima's supremacy over the Animus. And the society would become pretty much conservative - which comes close to the restrictive religiosity.

A porn might be a solution here, but it negatively affects the healthy physical and psychological attitude towards sex-relations, and probably it's not the best option in a conditions when we still want to reproduce the next generation and next and so on, so we cannot avoid intergender relationships. It's like giving a child a mobile device to play with instead of playing with him, raising communication skills. The whole situation may lead to a polyandry system as a natural way to control the birth rate in a condition of limited resources, thus making a women a head of a family, The Great Mother (and somewhat antagonizing Shadow figure of The Great Father Sajuuk who came and gone, who was mentioned in HWDOK as a sleeping god that awakened would judge people sins), which is pretty interesting, as the Jewish culture, that biblically affected HW storyline, has a tradition of the nationality to be received by a mother.

Fun fact is that if we take that there are feminatives in Kushan, then the word meaning a leader would be a feminative one - Kiith-S[a].

Adm. Riif-Sa: …Your Kiith Matron!
(c) HW1, p.39, Excerpts from fleet tactical debate 7.12.1302

Of course, after the Heresy Wars, Ifriit Naabal glorious appearance, and AHL Somtaaw lack of women, the situation seems to be in a gender equilibrium, but S'jet line of Rachel - Karan - Imogen shows that this scientific kiith is kind of a very traditionalistic one. Or it's just sequel's "Ellen Ripley" syndrome.

As well, HW1 Sleepers having lost their home and relatives, would find those in Hiigara and Karan S'jet, making an idol of her, creating almost the unconscious cult of The Great Mother Karan, especially having those traits she gained thanks to HWU writers

For example, no persons under the age of 17 or over the age of 50 were accepted; <…> There were no children aboard the Mothership, nor any of our elders. When Kharak burned, the majority of Sleepers lost their blood links to both past and future;
(c) HWC, p.6, Historical Briefing, The Rude Awakening

But of course, this topic is pretty much discussible.

After Kharakian Sandfall

First, it's really hard to understand why the hell Kushani have landed in the Great Banded Desert. If we are talking about the post-landing times, then there is an explanation of the Great Hyper Core acting like hyperjump attractor. But why did the Exiles landed exactly there, in the middle of nowhere - we can only guess.

IMHO, there are few explanations to that.

The Great Desert Landing

FIRST, they got quite stupid during that flight: a dogmatic conservative society (ironically, it should have been a great act of courage to move out for the Kadeshi predecessors!) even fulfilling their goal - finding a planet possible to colonize - still continued to live around their Sacred Home, digging into the sand, growing food on existing ship food farms for 8 centuries (of course, if KDS 0 is Khar-Toba exodus time), until Khar-Toba power plant said "Enough is enough" and failed. Probably, it wasn't something they expected, and it would explain a loss of knowledge and a rollback to medieval times living, but the nature and the conditions they've put themselves into forced to think out of the box, maybe spiritually predecessing the First Migration of Paktu.

And the landing itself could be a consequence of a numbing existence in isolation, there is a suggestion that it was a lot easier for the ship to land in the middle of nowhere as the astronavigational skills where not very useful when it required a skill of piloting and landing: even if there were an AI that would do all the job for you, it's a captain to have a final word, and questioning AI as we know now from Midjourney or ChatGPT experience might a bit tricky, especially if you don't know what you're searching for, yourself.

As well, a landing in a hostile environment of a desert could have been a desperate act of trying to hide a heat signature of an operating ship. In the end, even this didn't help - a satellite detected an anomaly UNDER the sands of the Great Desert, and that was a ship already shut down.

The recorded data had miraculously revealed a large metal object - but it was not in orbit. The sat's spinning path had caused it to repeatedly scan large swathes of Kharak's equatorial region. The power of the radar scan had penetrated to a distance of almost a hundred meters through the shifting sands.
(c) HWDOK, The Jaraci Object

Of course, the sat's tech was pretty advanced tech for Kushans, but was it advanced tech for interstellar factions? Only hope, that no one would do an advanced scan of an unremarkable planet Sajuuk knows where.

Kharak Desertification

SECOND, the desert might have been not so cruel in the Kharak Sandfall times.

The relatively close distance to Kharak's parent star has resulted in ongoing desertification over millennia
(c) HWDOK, I Kharak, Kharakid Environment

So, according to HWDOK, it was really better in earlier days. And must have been a different desert in KDS -794 (HWR), and even in KDS ~700 (HW1) it was harsh but still possible for a tech-conservative Gaalsi to cross the Great Banded Desert to be beaten by Paktu warriors in the end. Even in KDS 178 KDS (HWC) it was possible for Somtaaw to settle in mountains and do some heavy duty work of mining, where the air even less than on a surface.

Gaalsien theologians preached that to deviate from the most accepted and ritualized survival methods was to actually extend the period of time before our people would be lifted back up to heaven. In the early days, this strict dogma paid off and allowed Kiith Gaalsien to survive and prosper during various ecological disasters during the period between 75-250.
(c) HW1, Historical and Technical Briefing, p.23, Kiith Gaalsien

But in KDS 1110 the ecological situation was already not that good that you had to use gasmasks to breath in a desert.

During the last triad of 1057, Kiith S'jet called a meeting of the full Daiamid of Tiir to discuss the results of their first full analysis of the northern desert flow patterns, and their devastating implications. Their investigation of sand flow and weather patterns revealed that the Great Barrier mountain range that protected the northern polar region, which had seemed insurmountable to storm and sand for centuries, would be overwhelmed within a hundred years unless something changed.
(c) HWDOK, II Project Stormbreaker

I believe that Naabali industrial revolution has damaged Kharak ecosystem fastening the inevitable domino-effect atmosphere balance change. Like, it's their Main Great Engineering Project. You know those Kushan barbarians, that come in and touch something they shouldn't - like breaking the existing balance everywhere they go - Old War, Kadeshi Slaughter, Homeworld War, Beast War, Vaygr War, Nimbus War, now it's Anomaly somewhere after they've opened the Eye of Aarran… I guess, the Gaalsi should have been listened to, though, must say, this Kiith had quite ineffective persuasion techniques...

The Xenodigestion Question

Except for a small variety of bacteria and a single species of small forager, our helix proteins are completely different from all other forms of life on Kharak.
(c) HW1, Historical Briefing, A Question of Origins

In the Abnormality category, there are only three lifeforms: ourselves, a few bacterial
strains, and the ubiquitous and annoying riiti. In all of Kharak, only ourselves and a small,
grain-eating pest share enough common DNA and skeletal traits to be considered kin.
(c) HWDOK, I Kharak, Kharakid Biology

It seems, that the main problem of the other worlds colonization would not be viruses or bacteria like it was depicted in "War of the Worlds", as human beings are quite complex Earth evolution hand-shaped creatures, and for the life, not visible to the naked eye, to infect a human it would be like launching computer Windows virus on Unix systems - incompatible. Maybe some fatal brute force attack would work, but a dead organism is not a very good carrier, so in the end it's not what those beings are really looking for. Anyway I've tried to explain also in the Beast article, in the Origins: Natural Born Killers section.

But these human organism lines of defense are also more suited for the Earth biome products. So, to have a complex being you need to metabolize complex construction parts, and for us these are proteins called enzymes: food consisting of the familiar enzymes makes the digestive deconstruction process easier. And the alien life would consist of unfamiliar enzymes, thus the efficiency of digestion to be lower, if none: if a consumption of those elements takes more energy than you receive, for some it would be a nice option to get thinner, but in a terms of survival it would mean starvation and death. And we are not yet counting the poisonous and intoxicating cases. It's really like the Humanity has to bring their Texas with them simply to survive.

And we know that the Kushans are alien to Kharak. But in the end, people have survived for at least 1200 years on this planet, and it wasn't a life full of restriction (well, unless you're following Gaalsien Decrees of Kah'a), but there were migrations, wars, trade and so on, and so on, and the population grew. The fact that the Xenogenesis Theory took it's final form only in the Time of Reason, means that in terms of tech-less survival on Kharak, this question is purely scientific. And nor Siidim, who's agenda would greatly support this kind of research, nor Gaalsien, who's agenda would said "we told ya!", never had these kind of arguments before.

While the issue of our distant past was primarily a religious matter, it wasn't until the dawning of the Time of Reason that advances in the biological and chemical sciences revealed a disturbing lack of commonality between our biochemical makeup and that of most Kharakid life.
(c) HW1, Historical Briefing, p.1, A Question of Origins

And mice - I guess these animals or ones alike are hidden under that "ubiquitous grain-eating pest forager" - seemed to survive without any help. Maybe it was a reason for "various ecological disasters during the period between 75-250" (HW1), as little harmless riiti had no natural enemies, but were able to find food and multiply. I guess this animal full of familiar enzymes became a disaster, a food and a pet for Kushans. We have a chicken - they had riitburgers and riiti cuisine (and how about a "riititouille" cartoon?). Maybe the landing in a desert was meant to preserve the local life, but Kushans failed epically.

So, despite those Kushans were not really prepared for leaving Khar-Toba - as it was told, no plants, no seeds, no animals but the riiiti, and some bacteria - it was a pretty successful colonization. I'm no specialist, but maybe, the problem of enzymes is not that binary, YES/NO, but more fluid: in the end, xenobiology is a pure theoretical thing now, and a life evolution might come up to the same or similar technological solutions, especially, if it's an oxygen-based one? Probably, Kharak was selected not only for a breathable atmosphere, but also for a local life being digestive enough for Homo Worldicus? Though then why they've landed in the Great Desert - not to rush into flora and fauna and check things step-by-step?

As well there is an interesting theory, that Homo Worldicus being Homo Progenitaricus descendants might have been genetically improved to remain a stable species despite the time and various ecological situations all over the galaxies. A perfect organism of Homeworld. Could the Beast be one of those species-improving experiments of the Ancient Ones?..
Hiigara paradox is also about this - if the galaxies were seeded by Progenitors, it means that all those habitable world are not really a home for the inhabitants, but whether there were terraformed planets or those blade running humans are genetically improved.

Another option for food are the humans themselves. I guess, the cannibalism is a real thing to happen on the sands of Kharak. Forbidden, of course, disgusting, but when you're on a brink of extinction your morality would shift: like in the Khar-Toba Exodus case, the Heresy Wars and others. For example:

• Siidim radicals treating Griitidim like animals;
• Sobani extra survival courses would theoretically accept this behavior;
• Khaaneph "godless" survivalism, holding captured enemies for slavery and food, and scaring god-feared Gaalsi, that hold to their Decrees of Kah'a;

Probably, the latter guys would be the last ones to be heard of such cases. I guess, some society reintegration program to be launched for them, so that they don't attack Great Northern Way and other caravans, especially, them having Gaalsien scavenged battlefleet, and become the civilized part of united Kharakid.

All the upmentioned information was purely for a rough understanding how many people could have survived there. We don't know how many people carried one Khar-Toba-class ship, how many ships reached the destination (was it 5?), but the imaginable population chart would show a plateau over 800 years, with a deep dip around KDS 0-250, but with subsequent growth: initially somewhat slowed due to the "global" Heresy Wars, then accelerated due to the peaceful times of the Time of Reason, and again slowed down in the last 100 years due to worsening environmental conditions and food production limitations, theoretically calculated for around 300 million people, although, as we will see later, in the end this number was higher...

Probably, Europe population chart might be the inspiration:

Pre-Launch Population

From HW1 we have an information about limits of life sustaining on Kharak:

The polar regions are almost optimal for our people but the limited arable land and scarce resources has prevented our population from growing beyond 300 million people.
(c) HW1, Historical Briefing, p.1, Kharakid Environment

And HWR repeats this agenda:

Of a population of three hundred million, only a little over six hundred thousand souls survived into the
exile.
(c) HWR, p. 199, C7 Kiithid Society Briefing, History of the Kiithid

But HWC also indirectly tells us about the population of Kharak:

Only 1 out of every 60 Kushan was aboard the Mothership at launch.
(c) HWC, p.6, THE RUDE AWAKENING

We do know that there were around +/- 600k people of Sleepers, so roughly it's
600k * 60 = 36 millions.

And that's a bit low number. So, we need an order of magnitude larger with that HWC quote, and if we will add a zero to the quote, it becomes "1 of 600 Kushan", thus increasing Kharak's population up to 360 millions. And that fits pretty well.

Though it means, that the biggest problem of Kharak in HW1 would be not the desertification of HWDOK but people starvation, so they are really in a need of colonization of another space objects. Though there would be pretty much the same outcome.

It has become clear through the past 120 years of driven industrial and technological expansion that Kharak can no longer sustain us. While always harsh and unforgiving, our technological development has stripped the planet of what few vital resources it contained, and the narrow bands of temperate climate at the poles have been slowly shrinking. In order to survive as a people we must leave Kharak.
(c) HW1, Historical Briefing, p.16, Mission Priorities

Kiithid Population

The details we know about relate to 6 kiiths only: Somtaaw, Siidim, Kaalel, Paktu, Gaalsien and Ferriil.

Looking forward, those kiithid mentioned to be powerful, are not very big, especially looking at 300+ million planet population. So I would assume that Kiithid Political System is somewhat of a corporatocracy. You know, "Kiithid Shrugged". It's like chosen ones and golden million system is built-in to Kushan culture. Not the Republic you wanted but the one deserved!.. Maybe, not the kiithid but THIS trait was brought from Hiigara…

SOMTAAW

In HWC backstory we were given a hint that Somtaaw population were 300k+ people on Kharak.

…only 15,000 Somtaaw awakened on Kharak, less than a twentieth of their number, and the vast majority of these were men.
(c) HWC, p.11, KIITH HISTORY: SOMTAAW

And in HWDOK backstory we were given more direct number of 500k people at KDS 1111:

Kiith Somtaaw is now nearly 500,000 strong, and have even built new holdings alongside great industrial kiithid like Naabal and Hraal.
(c) HWDOK, p.32, Expedition Guide, Somtaaw

Is it that Somtaaw numbers reduced in a hundred years, or it was just a rough estimation - 500k is technically still 300k+, though it's a pretty big plus. Feels like retcon.

SIIDIM

Well, with 2k members it's even hard to understand how did they got their 200 places among Sleepers.

By the time the Guidestone was discovered, Kiith Siidim had been reduced to only two thousand individuals-hardly a major Kiith.
(c) HWR, p.217, Kiith Siidim, Siidim Culture

KAALEL

Again this kiithid was not greatest but the smartest one. And their count should have been around 100k! Well, for a country this is a small number, but for a corporation - pretty big.

Thanks to their specialized knowledge of communication technologies, encryption and linguistics, Kiith Kaalel had a disproportionate number of crew members and Sleepers onboard the Mothership. Nearly half of their Kiith survived the Burning of Kharak, some 50,000 men and women!
(c) HWCO, Kiith Kaalel

PAKTU

From the earlier history we would only partial information, about kiith Paktu being collected from ~17 kiiths in the end of the 5th century and being able to make an army of 30k people in the of the 7th century:

Nearly 50 kiithid set out from the plain at Albegiido in 490 KDS and sailed into the Great Banded Desert, sweeping over the burning sands on the winds of the seasonal storm, the Chak m’Hot. By the time the men, women and children of the First Migration reached the shore of the Hunon Mountains, only 17 families were left, and all of them had lost weaker members on the journey. Still more died as they struggled over the Hunon; without anyone to guide them to the easiest pass, they lost many to poisonous water, rockfalls, thirst and lizard-bite.
(c) HW1, Historical and Technical Briefing, p.26, Kiith Paktu

...in the spring of 698 <…> Kim Paktu <…> arrayed an army of 30,000 swords on the shore of the Majiirian <SEA?>.
(c) HW1, Historical and Technical Briefing, p.27, Kiith Paktu

GAALSIEN

And the same we would see that despite the vassal losses - 30- families in the beginning of 8th century (though these dates are discussable) were able to gather 10k army in the 3rd quarter of 11th century, despite being (self)outcast to the desert! (btw, why? have they found something there already?)

in 710, the Gaalsien were down to less than 30 vassal families
(c) HW1, Historical and Technical Briefing, p.23, Kiith Gaalsien

On the first night of the year 1074, ten thousand Gaalsien Fists hit the twin gate wall forts guarding the main access valley to the interior, hoping to raze them and drive on into the rich lands beyond.
(c) HWDOK, The Northern Coalition and Project Stormbreaker

FERRIIL
Once major but no more.

Shortly afterwards Kiith Siidim absorbed Kiith Ferriil’s holdings into their ranks, starting a long-lasting accusation that Kiith Siidim arranged the destruction of the Ferriil army in order to gain their assets and wealth. By the end of the Heresy Wars, Kiith Ferriil was no more.
(c) HWR, p.223, Minor and Vassal Kiith, Kiith Ferriil

Mothership Population

With the scaffold completed, a team of ten thousand workers and twenty five thousand robots worked day and night for eighty years before she was ready to be fitted with the hyperspace module. Over two thousand people died in the process.
(c) HWR, p.178, C6 Historical Briefing, The Mothership

Manned by a skeleton crew of 8,000 engineers, the Mothership provides living quarters for those working in low orbit...
(c) HWC, p.4, History of the Hiigaran Landfall

The exact numbers are not known, but from the provided info we can assume that the crew of the First Mothership should have been around 10k+ people, a small town of specialists.

Of course, we can also get the game unit limits, multiply with with approximate HWC pilot data per ship, but that would be too much assumptions on behalf of the battle fleet only.

Survivors of Kharak

It's just a theory as officially no one's left and everything gone... But HWDOK has added a bit too much of a retcon transforming from Hardware: Shipbreakers, giving GHC more mega-powers while it should have been disabled; filling up The Great Desert with a lot of scattered spaceships, some of them in a perfect condition; reviving Gaalsien, that should have vanished in a desert in a 9th century, as careful archaeologists and technically advanced kiith that managed to multiply and prosper in a desert; and having people wearing gasmasks.

Previously mentioned problems of the starvation and desertification would make a desertpunk world: people living in a dense formations, isolated space, relying heavily on technologies, staying inside Naabal mega-structures of a multilayer closed complexes to preserve comfortable temperature and air, having gasmasks and oxygen balloons for outside walks... As well, there could be Somtaaw Khontala mines turned into living chambers, Paktu Majiirian Ocean underwater settlements, S'jet underground labs, Siidim secret facilities, Soban cave training grounds... And, of course, Gaalsien deep desert hiding spots where spaceships buried under ground are excavated and their tech are researched and learned. It's like Kharakians were already living on a spaceship!

Why then nobody survived the ADW? Of course, the atmosphere is being burned in a chain-reaction firestorm and the surface should be melted out. OK, the main strike was at the Northern Pole, though all the previously mentioned facilities could have sustained at least somebody at least for a few days. But the Southern Pole was untouched, as it seems that The Great Banded Desert somehow was a natural border to stop the Burning of Kharak, though the oxygen was not included anymore.

So, really, no distress signals from anywhere? Or just the Mothership crew was so keen on a revenge ASAP that they didn't even checked properly, and when the emotions flood away they preferred not to remember, same as with the Kadeshi Slaughter? And what some Sagald archaeological expeditions would find there - letters about how a few tried to survive for a few days but nobody came, and there was only choice of suffocation or suicide? Maybe.

But could have anyone survived in a long term? Somewhat of a crippled survival of isolated groups. Maybe, some hundred people, enough to prolong a century or two, with a very limited resources? Really, hard to say about Northeners or Southeners of the 13th century KDS at their technological peak, but if we're talking about Gaalsien, they for sure had some tech at 12th century.

First, they were able to produce food in a pure desert for thousands of people: there were for sure 10k fighters at Siifar Kor'shesh event, few carriers with each 1000+ people crew were destroyed at Operation Khadiim, and as well we've seen the K'Had gathering, so they had enough produced inside their bases.

Second, if they need power, the sun will shine long enough, but as well, there should be some techy reactors, including the ones from the carriers, for example.

Third, air... yes, that's the problem, even they had filters and extra oxygen, how to produce it? Looks, like a Mark Watney problem multiplied by N people on a base.

Of course, the question is how long can those isolated survivors sustain themselves, and what they can do... For sure, if these potential survivors would have managed to activate some of the deep underground buried ships, it would be a small step toward survival. Why? What for? Well, while there's hope...

Khar-Toba underground city, you say?...

It could be a Hiigaran Urban Legend, The Underglass Survivors.
There would be horrors about Kharakian Morlock "civilization" that Sagald expedition would meet in these Caverns of Madness:
"Ah, finally you've arrived... Didn't suspect to meet anyone? Admit, you simply forgot about us, you, wanna-be-good Northeners... You were asked not to do one thing... And you failed. Failed us all... In the end, Kharak is ours."
Or some adventure movies: "The Kharakian", about a guy being saved by the ancient ship AI, and captured by Turanic... (there will be sequel).
At least, it could be an interesting scenario for a game. "This Kharak of Mine", Kharakpunk" or "Kharak Shelter". Or some Caverns'n'Kudaarks sessions.

But of course, in the first place, these are only assumptions and mind-play theories. Still, remember, that HWDOK revealed Taiidans to Kharakids a century before the strike, and Scaffold fleet gave Kushans some time before ADW had been launched...

The Seeds of Siidimism

… And if we look at the HWR and HWM illustrations we would see different-color Kushans there, while Taiidans are Caucasians, while it should have been vice-versa, as the Taiidan Empire is more vast for having different type of people communities. But if it's canonical it could mean that "color" Kushans were isolated in their own communities, maybe exiled by Siidim, escaping to Paktu lands (…Isaac Paktu?)…

So, was there a racism on Kharak? And do the seeds of Siidimism, that had been accepted for a pretty long time (HWDOK), are uprooted, and reignited by Homeworld War righteous revenge of the Chosen Ones, the People of Stars, the Unbound, and in Vaygr War to be religiously approved as the Sajuuk-Khar'id, the Progenitor legacy holders? Might this unconscious feeling of сhosenness be the reason for later political struggles in Asaam Kiith'sid and self-isolation in kiithid groups, right after the Homeworld War, and then, Vaygr War, leading to Kushan spreading in and out of galaxy looking for their fate beyond Hiigara?..

Well, it's an interesting situation when in small societies (less than million people) less visual diversity means more inclusiveness due to faster assimilation processes. And vice-versa for the large ones due to slower processes. Though the issue might be in the minorities themselves, the accepting majority, in general, has more possibilities due to our natural wish to follow authorities.

And overall, hot Kharak sands weren't a good soil for "personality rights over society needs" paradigm, especially if we note this cold-blooded ritual act of a heretic burning (as nobody stopped the launch):

Per Doine died a martyr for the cause as he slipped through the cordon and prayed for salvation beneath the rocket’s main engines until they ignited, vaporizing him.
(c) HW1, Historical Briefing, p.2, Mission Silumiin Riots, Circa 1024

And later we would find these stories about kiithid law:

…They branded Arban Hraal a thief and banished him from their kiith, forbidding him to take any family members or assets with him. His holdings were seized, including the account in which his Manaani credits were deposited, and he was denied access to anything he had once called his, including his wife and children. When he tried to storm into the Hraal compound where his people were being held, ostensibly awaiting "interview" by their kiith'sa, a trio of hooded Hraal security men subdued him. He was taken out into the middle of the desert in a hovercar, bound and blindfolded, and staked to a dune far from the nearest town.
(c) HWCO, History of Kiith LiirHra

And about Daiamid way of business:

J’raal presented his paper directly to the Daiamid. A paper very similar to mine, with the same implications: Kharak is dying. He was spreading the alarm. His reward was the destruction of his career nearly overnight. <…> Within a year there was no further record of J’raal at all. The last mention is a passing reference to he and his small immediate family going, kithless, to a religious retreat in the low deserts beyond the Majiirian Ocean.
(c) HWDOK, Rachel’s Personal Journal, CONVICTIONS

And later we had some interrogation to death scenes of Kushan/Somtaaw vs. Taiidan/Turanic prisoner (meanwhile captain Soban escaped almost on his own from the Vaygr prison):

But there's a chance that after the Burning of Kharak, the necessity to preserve every Kushan life, the rich resources of Hiigara and surrounding worlds, as well as close interaction with Taiidan culture, might shift their society-oriented culture towards a more individual-oriented one.

Though it's not really relevant, but still - this evolution might be seen in HW1->HW3 games, where
- HW1 is about the people, with only Taiidan cpt. Elson individual;
- HWC is about the kiithid;
- HW2 adds individuals of cpt's Elson and Elohim to Hiigarans lists;
- HWM gives us a closer look at the individual officers all around;
- HW3 starts with introducing S'jet and Paktu individuals. Something has really changed!..
- HWDOK, yeah... Still it's about the Kiithid doings - S'jet and Siidim doing their kiithid politics...

Kadeshi

Kadeshi are interesting with the fact that they are the direct descendants of the Old Hiigarans, having not lost the cultural features but evolved. Though it must be thought out.

This is the Garden of Kadesh. For thirteen generations we have protected it from the unclean.
(c) HW1, Mission 7, Kadeshi Ambassador

Roughly speaking, these guys had 13 generations in 2000 galactic years, plus a bit of a term that should have been used to to travel to Kharak. Let's say 250 years, though it doesn't really matter. Anyway it seems that Kadeshies are centenarians (2000+/13 = 150+ years of a lifetime), like Karan S'jet, so maybe it's genetical? Taiidan Emperor last clone lived for 4 centuries, so, maybe, it's really the issue of Homo Worldicus being genetically modified space humankind?..

We don't know for sure, how many people were initially, but a cutscene is showing us that at least 4 Exile ships left the convoy when passing the Great Nebula. So, if assume that 1 Khar-Toba contains about 100k people, then a number of people to become Kadeshi would be around the same Kharakian 500k. But there a difference between Kharakid uncontrolled lifestyle, that allowed them to grow up to 360 millions and Kadeshi that were forced to continue their humble life with resources limited, with population growth quotas - and new economics based on that deficit.

There is one interesting thing noted by Kushans:

We also observed that the enemy's hyperspace module has an identical power signature to our own.
(c) HW1, Cutscene 07-08

This oddly gets in line with the information about the Khar-Toba power plant reusage in Mothership:

Toward the lower aft portion of the ship lies the large shielded area containing the Hyperspace Module. This is a direct copy of the one found under the sands of Khar-Toba, but expanded twelve-fold to accommodate a vessel of the Mothership’s mass.
(c) HW1, Historical Briefing, p.9, Mothership

So, to remind, hyperspace module consists of a solid-state core, control systems & power systems - and while the Great Hyperspace Core remained the same, the power systems were enlarged. And as it was not really possible to simply copy Progenitor GHC technologies, this means, that the Kadeshi continued to use Khar-Toba-type power plants.

I'd even say, as Khar-Toba class ship is a sort of a mothership type vessel, and vessels raided by Kadeshi should have been not bigger than a carrier class, it was required to use rogue Khar-Toba's hypermodules (Khar-Toba class hyperdrive theory) to build Needleships, thus their number was limited. The Khar-Toba found in the Cathedral of Kadesh should have been an untouched relic to remember, while others were refined for the other needs.

But the thing that they've managed to make several same class ships means that there should be a construction site, a scaffold, big enough to construct a tail and a head, and this place would be habited by tens thousands of people to work and live on a such object, as we would know from the Kushan Mothership construction data.

And we know that even Kushan mothership did not awakened their cryo-passengers as it was not able to operate such large masses beyond its crew of tens of thousands. Needleships of Kadeshi probably contained a crew of the same ten thousands of people, plus they've managed to develop better AI technologies used for swarmers, later reverse engineered by Somtaaw:

The major breakthrough in drone design came from studying the attack swarms used by the protectors of Kadesh. Using that technology as a baseline, engineers were able to design and build their own Swarmer drone fighter, which retained the firepower of the old static drone but combined it with full maneuverability and a combat AI.
(c) HWC, Historical Briefing, p. 88, "Hive" Class Advanced Drone Frigate

So, this all means, that Kushans didn't make a Kadeshi genocide - though it was an important feeling for them to live on with - but they've destroyed their most battle-ready ships with the technologies very hard to get back, and all the crew. It's like the best of the best of Kharakians killed the best of the best of Kadeshians: for sure, it was a punch in the balls of the Kadeshian nation.

But there is a place deep in the Nebula where Kadeshi still live, and we really don't know if those 3 ships were the only ones or there are few more left patrolling the far side of the Great Nebula; and it's pretty much predictable that Kadeshi would have somewhat of Kadeshi Retreat, guarded by hyperinhibitor similar to Taiidani/Vaygr-like devices, but I doubt that they could have multiplied their initial count even twice due to limitations of existence in a pure space. Though I'd say, it's quite rational to welcome a fresh blood in a limited DNA swamp not to have genetical illnesses, these guys should be strictly following "cousin marriage" laws.

Soon the Kadeshi turned to matters of basic needs. Air, food, and water were in short supply, and the merchant vessels that previously traversed their region no longer risked even the slightest shortcut through the nebula, so once again the Kadeshi stepped up to the task.
(c) HWR, p.246, C8, Kadesh, History

As water is a limited resource in the nebula, to be recycled and used in cleaning, food production, and as a necessity for life, to waste water is seen as one of the society’s greatest taboos.
(c) HWR, p.247, C8, Kadesh, The Kadeshi

As well, Homeworld Revelations tries to implement the idea of Needleships count being only three, even giving names and different agendas (the Day’s Moon, Dusk Mist, and Night’s Sun) so that a player has some fun with the factions but that's too much bounding to that number of three (though, I'm not against the idea of ship-based societies, continuation of pre-kiithid divisions):

These days, the key decisions for the fleet are made by the Triad of Custodians, a group of three individuals who each live aboard one of the three largest home-ships of the fleet.
(c) HWR, p.247, C8, Political Leadership

It's OK, as I've told it must have been equal to renegade Khar-Tobas count, but I'd vote for at least 4 Needleships, as they would create a basic 3D figure - pyramid, thus with 1 remaining on a far side, 3 closest ships would arrive at a point of hyperspace disturbance.

There is one more thing mocking me - why Kushan Mothership hyperjump was interrupted so close to the Kadeshian Khar-Toba Sistership?
If a hyperspace jump route is flexed by the gravitational fields and thus all the great object on route are becoming attractors, does that mean that the Khar-Toba was the heaviest object in a local space? Or that only Khar-Toba and three Needleships with their hyperinhibitors managed to flex and interrupt Mothership Hyperjump route? Because it's really strange that Kadeshi would invite uninitiated someone to their sanctuary. And it really sounded that Kadeshi were really scared of that they won't hold the MS almost begging them to stay.
But that would mean that all the Kadeshian civilian society would live on smaller, carrier type ships (excluding the greater place of annual gathering - their version of Needleship Scaffold), thus not being hyperjump gravitationally attractive.
And does the unplanned nature of this stop means that there were more of those sacred patrol Needleships - and those we've met were just the closest ones, like in the first stop where was only one ship in her responsibility zone...

As well, HWR tried to imagine what would happen after the Homeworld War, and the tragedy of those Needleships destroyed:

With the Kadeshis' power broken, the rich elemental wealth of the Great Nebula is again open for mining. Hundreds of fleets converge on the vast space to capture the rarest materials, turning the Garden into a hotbed of conflict, piracy, and skirmishes. Amid the chaos, surviving Kadeshi prey upon
those too weak to defend themselves from their continuing holy war.
(c) HWRS, p.189, The Great Nebula

With the Kadeshi leadership in disarray and its people reeling from the revelations of their history, they underwent a drastic change in outlook. Just over half traveled to Hiigara after the war.
(c) HWR, p.249, C8, The Kadeshi After the Homeworld War

So, in general, I believe that the Kadeshi population has not grown very much since the Exile, it's pretty much stable in numbers, especially after newjoiners have depleted; Kushans have stroke them hard, but it's not the end of Kadeshi: they have the majority of their people left and resources to rebuild, though they might have lost some strategical and tactical advantages in a face of upcoming battles, and their faith not as strong as it was. This might lead to their version of Heresy Wars, with a lot more casualties, refugees to Hiigara and elsewhere spreading the news about Kadesh Nebula is opened again, attracting pirates, thus the population of Kadesh might really be downsized to half remaining, making them meaner and reconsidering their own previously sacred rules...

After Hiigaran Landfall

Hiigaran Kushan Population

HWC tells us about the population of Hiigara (though it will be corrected a bit in HWM):

Nearly 550,000 of us survived the Exodus from Kharak…
(c) HWC, p.4, HISTORY OF THE HIIGARAN LANDFALL

One of the most difficult aspects of the Hiigaran Landfall was the revival of our so-called “Sleeper Kiithid”, the 92% of our current population who traveled from Kharak to Hiigara in cryogenic suspension.
(c) HWC, p.6, THE RUDE AWAKENING

We do know that 600k of Sleepers is a loose reference to the Moses Exodus:

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.
(c) Exodus 12:37

Usually it's said about 603550 men with uncounted Levi's priest in count of 22300 men. Though there are doubts that it could be possible, and there's even a theory that it's a mistake of translating old texts that has some words double meanings that are not actual today, and it could be not 600k but 600 families, but we do not need to dig too deep here.

But that hint of 623850 men could be an unsuspected hint about the crew of the First Mothership - 600k sleeps, 24k people working! But of course, that just an awkward assumption.

There is even more detailed statistics:

• Reuben - 46,500
• Simeon - 59,300
• Gad - 45,650
• Judah - 74,600
• Issachar - 54,400
• Zebulun - 57,400
• Ephraim - 40,500
• Manasseh - 32,200
• Benjamin - 35,400
• Dan - 62,700
• Asher - 41,500
• Naphtali - 53,400

I wouldn't recommend to stick too much to this information as in the end it's a reference, not a source.

But somewhat these numbers match the numbers about the strongest kiithid of AHL.

…six great Fleets <…> of Manaan, Soban, Naabal, LiirHra, Paktu and Kaalel take turns patrolling the outer systems, guarding our trade routes, and defending Hiigara itself.
(c) HWC, p.4, HISTORY OF THE HIIGARAN LANDFALL

The Paktu, the Manaan, the Sjet, Naabal, LiirHra, Kaalel and Soban are by far the largest kiith groupings in existence, and their combined numbers come to almost 300,000.
(c) HWC, p.5, HISTORY OF THE HIIGARAN LANDFALL

NAABAL

<Naabal> have a slightly higher percentage of Sleepers among the colonists, having argued that their expertise would be needed on their homeworld if it was found uninhabited.(c) HWR, p.210, Kiith Naabal, Naabal History

KAALEL

Thanks to their specialized knowledge of communication technologies, encryption and linguistics, Kiith Kaalel had a disproportionate number of crew members and Sleepers onboard the Mothership. Nearly half of their Kiith survived the Burning of Kharak, some 50,000 men and women!
(c) HWCO, Kiith Kaalel

LIIRHRA

The upstart kiithling LiirHra went on to be a forerunner in Kharak's conquest of space, and they were key contributors to all aspects of manufacture and research of the Mothership. Among the Sleepers, LiirHra had a presence of nearly 50,000 souls, and since the return to Hiigara they have put many of the technological advances we made during the Exodus to good use.
(c) HWCO, Kiith LiirHra

Upon landfall on Hiigara, Kiith LiirHra absorbed the survivors of Kiith Hraal to bolster their numbers
HWR, p.224, Minor and Vassal Kiith, Kiith LiirHra

PAKTU

Kiith LiirHra would compete with Kiith Paktu for aerospace technological prowess, and it was anyone's guess which Kiith would prove the stronger. When Kharak was destroyed in 1216 KDS, Kiith Paktu had a greater number of Sleepers and active personnel on the Mothership.
HWR, p.224, Minor and Vassal Kiith, Kiith LiirHra

SOMTAAW

…only 15,000 Somtaaw awakened on Kharak, less than a twentieth of their number, and the vast majority of these were men. During the Somtaaw/Naabal debate, dispossessed members of many Kharak's devastated kiithid joined the Somtaaw as family members, swelling their ranks from 15,000 to nearly 25,000 in a few short months.
(c) HWC, p.9, Kiith Somtaaw

SIIDIM

Only 200 Siidimi were accepted on the Gold List to become colonists.
(c) HWR, p.217, Kiith Siidim, The Chosen One

It was one of the great ironies of the landfall on Hiigara that some of the few Siidim that remained joined
with Kiith Manaan to survive.
(c) HWR, p.231, Modern Era Alliances, Kiith Mannan, Kiith Siidim

...Kiith Siidim's numbers had diminished too far to stand on their own, becoming absorbed by Kiith Somtaaw after landfall.
(c) HWR, p.217, Kiith Siidim, Aliens Origins

TAMBUUR

No one embodies the Kushan hatred of Imperials more perfectly than the man now known as Iifrit Tambuur'sa. Iifrit is the last living member of the Tambuur kiith, and for the past twelve years he has lived largely in the new Taidan Republic.
(c) HWC, p.7, The Rude Awakening

Only twelve members were selected for the Gold List, and of them only Ifriit Tambuur survived after the
cryo-trays were attacked by the Taiidan.
HWR, p.222, Minor and Vassal Kiith, Kiith Tambuur

S'JET

Lacking the influence of the larger Kiithid, only six hundred of their number were selected for the Mothership Program, and after landfall on Hiigara they once again became vassals to Kiith S’jet simply to survive.
HWR, p.222, Minor and Vassal Kiith, Kiith Sagald

Following landfall on Hiigara, Kiith Jaraci was absorbed into Kiith S’jet. Remarkably, they split again seventy-five years later to once again focus on signals technology, with a preference in Progenitor sciences.
HWR, p.224, Minor and Vassal Kiith, Kiith Jaraci

TO SUM UP

• Hiigaran Kushan population is 600k large;
• Paktu, Manaan, S'jet, Naabal, Soban, LiirHra & Kaalel in sum are about 300k;
• Nabaal - ~50k++ (have slightly higher percentage than others);
• Kaalel - ~50k;
• LiirHra - ~50k + kiith Hraal;
• Paktu - ~50k+ (Sleepers count is bigger than LiirHra's);
• Somtaaw - ~15k + 10k of other small kiiths, including Siidim members;
• Siidim - 200 people, joined Somtaaw and Manaan;
• Tambuur - 1 man survived of 12 Sleepers, probably more to join his Pauura for Taiidani sculps;
• Sagald - 600 Sleepers, joined S'jet;
• Jaraci - joined S'jet and 75 years later splintered out;

Hiigaran Taiidan Population

BB: I imagine back in Hiigara, once the Kushan or the Taiidan came back, whicever race you played as, they didn't kill all the people who were already on in the planet. Those people just stayed on Hiigara.
AK: Yeah, and they probably cross-pollinated the designs - the same way Britain started building fighters based on Germany's Focke-Wulf 190 at the end of WWII. The Sea Fury is basically a British version of the Focke-Wulf 190
(c) Homeworld Artbook

HWM has introduced a new Khaaneph - the Kiithless, Hiigaran Taiidans that have not left Hiigara.

31 million people was there initially, and even we count that about 1/3 of it, those who had money to leave - check the wealth pyramid diagrams, has gone in a direction of Taiidan Civil War, still it's around +20 millions to Hiigara population.

So, with this Kiithless retcon, we have a situation of approx. 600k Kushan Hiigarans vs. approx. 20 millions Taiidan Hiigarans, that no one was writing about in AHL 15, only about the situation with Kiith Somtaaw being wannabe consumed by Kiith Naabal.

I believe that leads to a very unpleasant conclusion that Kushans have created their own version of Golden Million System: with Kiith members of Kiithid being above all the others, thus strengthening the Kiithid political system. Of course, such people rights disbalance would unleash Siidimism seeds, having Taiidan Hiigarans (or Hiigaran Taiidans, if you wish) as the 2nd sort citizens, leaving them to live in a situation of growing unemployment, poverty, criminality, corruption, marginalization, radicalism, thus creating a prejudice of "What good can come out of Taiidan?".

With the constant threat of Imperialist rule, for many Kushan, the only good Taidani is a dead one and even the moderates are pushing for the annexation of nearby former Taidan worlds in the name of security for Hiigara.
(c) HWC, p.6, C1 Historical Brief, The Rude Awakening

Finally, the racism is pretty fractal in it's essence, so in the end the Kiithid would fight for power trying to find out who's the Kushaniest of all the Kushanid, and is most righteous Kiith to become the Sa-Kiith, a leader kiith, and why can't it consume a bit more kiithid for this goal? As we saw in HWC, if you don't have a Battle Fleet, you'd be easily lost in the Game of Kiithid.

Taiidan Population

A powerful group of military, political and economic figures had been plotting a coup in secret for years, staying only steps ahead of one purge or another as they looked desperately for the trigger that could sway 360 billon souls against their God-like Emperor.
HWC, p.14, The Taidan Republic, The End of the Imperial Era

The Taidan Empire of Year 0 AL (9510 Galactic Standard Year) held 150 star systems in its grip...
HWC, p.14, The Taidan Republic, The End of the Imperial Era

So, this is what we know about the Taiidan Empire population: 360 billion people, 150 star systems.

But what about the Taiidan Republic?

After 5 years of skirmishes and all-out battles, the Taidan Republic finally stabilized and established an uneasy peace within itself...but by the time the shooting stopped, only 60 out of a 150 star systems were willing to call themselves Taidani. Most of these loyal worlds are centered in the Galactic Core, while the spiral regions of the old Empire have splintered into a variety of small kingdoms, duchies and independent democratic states.
HWC, p.15, The Taidan Republic, The Taidan Republic

So, we we might only guess how big is the remaining population - if the population would be spread evenly across all the star systems, it would be 60:150*360 ~= 144 billions. But I believe, that the world on the edge of Taiidan Empire had less population than the core worlds. So my guesstimate would be around 60% to remain Taiidani.

At the Empire’s fall there were 137 Saarkin Cho on active duty, and by the time the ashes of the civil war cooled approximately 70 of these heavy carriers were still active, 19 of these flying the colors of the Imperialist faction.
HWC, p.15, The Taidan Republic, The Taidan Republic

Another guesstimate is that this power proportion - 19/51 - might tell us the difference of star systems and population number between Taiidani Republic and Imperialists. But again, this is a linear function which might be not very correct in this case.

Interesting that 360 billion Taiidan Empire kept 137 carriers and it was called:

Emperor Riesstiu IV-2’s increasing paranoia led to a prohibitively large and expensive military
(c) HWC, p.14, The End of Emperial Era

The same time Hiigarans, having ~500k citizens and 31 million of the 2nd sort Taiidan non-citizens, had this:

Manned by a skeleton crew of 8,000 engineers, the Mothership <…> has given birth to over 30 carrier-class ships since the Hiigaran Landfall. The result of this phenomenal output has been a new Hiigaran navy, which consists of six great Fleets...
(c) HWC, p.4, HISTORY OF THE HIIGARAN LANDFALL

Well, Hiigaran kiithid society really looks like very militarized - "sobanized".

Age of S'jet

A 5-light-year sphere of influence was also granted the new Hiigarans, in recognition of their aid to the Republic during the dark days of the Coup
HWC, p.15, The Taidan Republic, The Taidan Republic

Under the guidance of Karan S’jet, the Hiigarans have forged an empire spanning the Inner Rim.
(c) HW2, Gameplay Guide, p.2, The Hiigarans

I'm not that tempted in politics, but do you know if an Empire can be a Republic?

They were a proud people with an even prouder past, and no longer mere Exiles, but Hiigarans. They had faced endless trials and bitter enemies, and yet in the face of every challenge they had built a republic spanning nearly 40 worlds at its height
(c) HW2PR, p. 167, Appendix C: The History of Hiigara, Rebuilding

Once there were questions if it was possible to make HW2 180 million population of Hiigara out of 600k Sleepers with eventual approximal calculations approving it's possible, but now we can see that it was a wrong question: it appears that 180 millions belonged to just 1 world of 40, thus the total number grows bigger. And it seems that those Taiidan Hiigarans could play a role in this, making this task easier.

As well, it seems that some of these 40 worlds were taken from Taiidan borderland while while they were busy with their Civil War...

…even the moderates are pushing for the annexation of nearby former Taidan worlds...
(c) HWC, p.6, C1 Historical Brief, The Rude Awakening

Kiithless & Kiithid

“The two dark ships became one with the darkness, separated by the Solar System and drifting further apart. Carrying with them the entirety of human thoughts and memories, and embracing all of the Earth’s glory and dreams, they quietly disappeared into the eternal night.”
(c) Liu Cixin, The Dark Forest

However, as those with no Kiith gained power on Hiigara, the ancient clans turned their ambitions outward.
<…>
Each Kiith and clan began to construct their own fleets once again. Though the Hiigaran people were unified by destiny, new ambitions began seeking different paths. All of the Kiith were going their own way.
<…>
Cast out of their world, the old Kiith clans departed. Some would never return.
(c) HWM Intro cutscene

It's interesting to see how Vaygr War has shifted a structure of Hiigaran society: kiithless has prevailed and kiithid used new opportunities to find their ways somewhere completely outside. But it doesn't feel like it was something peaceful in its essence:

"After reinforcing their rule over Hiigara’s central government, the Kiithless moved to gain control over the Hiigaran navy"
<…>
"the Kiithless have begun launching their own treasure-seeking expeditions"
<…>
"Hiigaran Special Service Forces – a new operations force in the Hiigaran navy which is rapidly becoming the militant arm of the Kiithless Hiigarans"
(c) HWM, Ambitions and Vectors

And while administrative part is pretty clear - kiithless have managed to prevail after a century of oppressions - the military power division has its issues: it looks like the new Hiigaran administration is smart enough to not let it loose to the brink of a civil war, irritating the ones with the guns, as they are not really in control there, but they are happy to blow off steam to another galaxy.

So, I assume that post Vaygr War power positions on Hiigara are following:

• KIITHID FLEETS
  those who hold to good old' Kharakian traditions, Hiigaran Kushans; are they like Yakuza now?..
  Those Warrior Kiiths from HWC - Naabal, S'jet, Soban, Manaan, Paktu, Kaalel, LiirHra, Somtaaw and other kiithid;
  

  While many of the established Kiith accused Somtaaw of further undermining the ancient social systems for their own benefit, the result was Somtaaw was granted access to the Mothership Station for a period of six months.
  Mothership access for other lesser Kiith soon followed.
  (c) HWC, Historical Brief, p.12, Kiith History: Somtaaw

• UNIFIED HIIGARAN FLEET
  those who are tired of the old Kharakian traditions; Hiigaran Kushans with Hiigaran Taiidans;
  These guys are controlled directly by the Great Daiamid, but a century of apartheid politics would have added some kiithid-supporting and/or kiithless not supporting guys to the top of command building their own trusted men lines, so Hiigaran Navy obedience is also pretty fragile thing;
• KIITHLESS FLEET
  those who want to break enslaving Kharakian traditions, Hiigaran Taiidans, in general;
  A new power controlled by the Great Daiamid majority powers, this time without "but's". Technically, is a part of Hiigaran Navy but in time would consume it by putting trusted men to the key positions. At least in the HW Original Galaxy.

It seems that in the Original Galaxy Hiigaran population is getting into a natural order: they are becoming Taiidans with forced influence of Kushan culture. The Hiigarans. Interesting what relations do they have with the Taiidan Republic now?..

Nimbus Galaxy seems to receive a bit of all those guys: kiithid guys, the "Kharakians", UHF guys, the "Old-Hiigarans" and kiithless guys "New-Hiigarans", and probably the amount of them would be the "traditional" number of around half-million people. At least, they managed to establish a separate Hiigaran state of Medea.

Probably, militarized nationalistic corporatocratic traditionalist neo-feodal - well, fascist - Kiithid leaving into Nimbus establishing Medea state is a best way to preserve that old Kharakian culture, leaving OG to Taiidans that have consumed both old Hiigarans, new Vaygrs and whoever there was in the middle.

As well, we know some Vaygr forces managed to sneak-in to Nimbus, with their number uncertain.

Imogen & Isaac

But it's interesting how HWM and HW3 are having conflicting messages: HWM tells us a story of Kiithid system fall with the kiith traditionalists self-exiling to the Nimbus galaxy, Kiithless prevail and all-Hiigaran unification, but HW3, a century later, still exploits the kiithid feature with Imogen S'jet and Isaac Paktu.

Well, probably, according to the languagial history, Naabal's Northern Coalition spiritually became an owner of Hiigara, and Paktu's Southern Federation descendants still competed it, but being the minority they became kiithid traditionalists.

And S'jet… I guess, S'jet-sid didn't want to let the power strings loose thus remaining a "good ol' Levi's tribe of Kharak". Well, those two kiiths seemed to be pretty much liberal, but it seems that it only seemed - like in those optic illusions when the same color does not feel the same only because of the contrasting color nearby; and in this case the Heresy Wars of Gaalsien and Siidim made future Northern Coalition and Southern Federation look brighter but that Shadow of Kharakian culture is always to remain, unconsciously repeating learned patterns thus old systems and related problems - you know, "artist-creation" issue when you can't hide from yourself.

As well, it looks like Imogen and Isaac are sort of a new Hiigaran Kushan aristocrats, so we still have here Homeworld "princess" situation... By the way, was it really necessary to use a person who's only known qualities are being a grand Progenitor-scientist and a S'jet descendant as a battle Fleet Command, especially when there is no more scientifically dedicated sacrifice in it (looks like plug'n'play system now)? As a specialist she should have been a Fleet Intelligence, not Command, or just a consultant. Feels like there's more of a "S'jet descendant" in this approval than anything else.

Looks like kiith S'jet has won this Hiigaran Game of Kiithid started with HWC, having The Great Mother Karan on their side for 200+ years. The spice of the situation is that not the great kiith Naabal but their lesser rivals Paktu are near S'jet which means that S'jet had been shadowy puppeteering the balance of the situation since Hiigara landing when they opposed the same Naabal with lesser kiithid access to Mothership Shipyard resulting in Somtaaw revival and growth, and then blowing off the steam of the Kiithless public discontent thus still saving wealth and power of the Kiithid century later. Looks like back on Kharak it was not the Naabal who recruited S'jet, it was S'jet who infiltrated into Naabal. Kaalel could tell a lot of stories about their ex-suzerain but they won't, as the 'truth is a precious commodity" (c).

And thus, the Hiigarian Atlas, that shrugged by starting the Old Taiidani War, then Kharakian ecological catastrophe, Heresy Wars, Kadeshi Slaughter, Kiithless Apartheid, probably, Eye of Aarran anomaly, continues to go baldly into the Universe.

Outro

In this article I've tried to think over few things that I was thinking about and discussing lately. Of course, no answers to a lot of issues in HW Universe, as there are blank creative spaces yet to be written, but I've tried to enlarge some of these areas by analyzing existing data, following where could these hints lead us.

And of course, there are still questions:

• where are those hundreds of Exile ships gone? Are they Turanics now, for example?
• how many Vaygrs there was, if they've managed to conquer half of the galaxy, including Taiidans?
• what about the other HW original galaxy factions? Would Marcus Skyler write more about them?
• would Norsehound create more data about the Nimbus galaxy?
• what about the other 2 galaxies?
• and so on...

Anyway, I hope you've found this article worth to spend your time on it :)

Read More Of Homeworld

• Homeworld: Timeline
• Homeworld: The Stranger Things
• Homeworld: The Stranger Things II
• Homeworld: Cartography
• Homeworld: XenoLanguage
• Homeworld: XenoLanguage II
• Homeworld: Hyperspace Technologies
• Homeworld: Population
• Homeworld: Endless
• Homeworld: Bentusi
• Homeworld: Kadeshi
• Homeworld: The Beast
• Homeworld: Kiithid
• Homeworld: Kiith S'jet
• Homeworld: Kiith LiirHra
• Homeworld: Hiigarans
• Homeworld: Sajuuk-Khar
• Homeworld: Swords of Kharak
• Homeworld: Karan Sjet Ain't Getting Younger
• Homeworld: Baserunners
• Homeworld: Kickstarter
• Homeworld: Taiidani Fleet - The Key to a Victory
• The Pitch. Homeworld2: Emergence
• The Pitch. Homeworld2: Taiidani Mod
• The Pitch. Homeworld2: The Beast Mod
• The Pitch. Homeworld: Kharak Total War
• Gamedesign: Homeworld Series As An Example of RTS Unit Systems
• Games: 3DS RTS