Civilizations (Civ5)

Back to Civilization V

Go to the list of leaders

A civilization is a specific historical nation, which represents a player in the game. Each player adopts a single civilization at the startup of the game.

Civilization Unique Features

Besides the name, history and leader, every civilization has a set of unique features which set it apart from the others and give it particular advantages These features are:

• A unique gameplay ability - Each civilization has a unique ability which provides unique bonuses that are geared towards a certain victory condition, or two (or even all). The unique ability is always active throughout the entire game, although its efficiency might not be the same as the game progresses.

• Unique unit(s) - Each civilization has at least one unique unit, and there are also some civilizations with a second unique unit. Each of these units replaces a generic unit of a given era. Unique units are generally most effective during the era they appear, and often possess unique features and/or abilities that the regular ones do not. But in many cases, their unique abilities may transfer to more modern units, when they're upgraded - keep that in mind and use it.

• Unique building or improvement - Many civilizations also have a unique building, and some even have a unique improvement instead. This is possible if the given civilization only has one unique unit. While each unique building replaces a generic one (as in unique units), all unique improvements are in addition to normal ones. Both have additional special features which give the civilization some sort of gameplay advantage. Unique buildings are effective throughout the rest of the game, whereas unique improvements, like the regular ones, will provide nothing if pillaged.

• Starting bias - Many civilizations tend to favor a particular type of terrain for their homeland. This is called "Starting Bias", and it's connected to the overall style and unique features of the civilization. Whenever there is a starting bias, the initial location of the starting units of a civilization will be close to a certain terrain type. Note that sometimes the starting bias is overridden for other reasons.

List of Civilizations

There are a total of 43 civilizations available in Civilization V, including DLCs and the expansions. It is also the first incarnation of the series where the leaders speak their native languages.

The civilizations in Civilization V

Civilization	Icon	Bias	Leader	Unique Ability	Unique Unit(s)	Unique Building / Improvement
American			Washington	Manifest Destiny All land military units have +1 Sight. 50% discount when purchasing tiles.	B17 Minuteman	(-)
Arabian			Harun al-Rashid	Vanilla and	Camel archer	Bazaar
				Trade Caravans +1 Gold Gold from each Trade Route. Oil resources provide double quantity.
				Ships of the Desert Caravans gain 50% extended range. Your trade routes spread the home city's religion twice as effectively. Oil resources are doubled.
Assyrian		Avoid	Ashurbanipal	Treasures of Nineveh When a city is conquered, gain a free Technology already discovered by its owner. Gaining a city through a trade deal does not count, and it can only happen once per enemy city.	Siege tower	Royal library
Austrian			Maria Theresa	Diplomatic Marriage Can spend Gold Gold to annex or puppet a City-State that has been your ally for 5 turns.	Hussar	Coffee house
Aztec			Montezuma	Sacrificial Captives Gains Culture Culture for the empire from each enemy unit killed.	Jaguar	Floating gardens
Babylonian†		Avoid	Nebuchadnezzar II	Ingenuity Receive free Great Scientist when you discover Writing. Earn Great Scientists 50% faster.	Bowman	Walls of Babylon
Brazilian			Pedro II	Carnival Tourism Tourism output is +100% during their Golden Ages. Earn Great Artists, Musicians, and Writers 50% faster during their Golden Ages.	Pracinha	Brazilwood camp (Improvement)
Byzantine			Theodora	Patriarchate of Constantinople Choose one more Belief than normal when you found a Religion.	Cataphract Dromon	(-)
Carthaginian			Dido	Phoenician Heritage All coastal Cities get a free Harbor. Units may cross mountains after the first Great General is earned, taking 50 HP damage if they end a turn on a mountain.	African forest elephant Quinquereme	(-)
Celtic			Boudicca	Druidic Lore +1 Faith Faith per city with an adjacent unimproved Forest. Bonus increases to +2 Faith Faith in Cities with 3 or more adjacent unimproved Forest tiles.	Pictish warrior	Ceilidh hall
Chinese			Wu Zetian	Art of War The Great General combat bonus is increased by 15%, and their spawn rate is increased by 50%.	Chu-ko-nu	Paper maker
Danish†			Harald Bluetooth	Viking Fury Embarked units have +1 Movement and pay just 1 movement point to move from sea to land. Melee units pay no movement point cost to pillage.	Berserker Norwegian ski infantry	(-)
Dutch			William	Dutch East India Company Retains 50% of the Happiness Happiness benefits from a Luxury Resource if your last copy of it is traded away.	Sea beggar	Polder (Improvement)
Egyptian			Ramesses II	Monument Builders +20% Production Production towards Wonder construction.	War chariot	Burial tomb
English			Elizabeth	Sun Never Sets Vanilla: +2 Movement for all naval units. and : +2 Movement for all naval units. Receives 1 extra Spy.	Longbowman Ship of the line	(-)
Ethiopian			Haile Selassie	Spirit of Adwa Combat bonus (+20%) when fighting units from a Civilization with more Cities than Ethiopia.	Mehal sefari	Stele
French			Napoleon	Vanilla and
				Ancien Régime +2 Culture Culture per turn from Cities before discovering Steam Power.	Foreign legion Musketeer	(-)
				City of Light Museum and World Wonder theme bonuses are doubled in their Capital Capital.	Musketeer	Chateau (Improvement)
German			Bismarck	Furor Teutonicus Upon defeating a Barbarian unit inside an encampment, there is a 67% chance you earn 25 Gold Gold and they join your side. Pay 25% less for land unit maintenance.	Vanilla and
					Landsknecht Panzer	(-)
					Panzer	Hanse
Greek			Alexander	Hellenic League City-State Influence Influence degrades at half and recovers at twice the normal rate.	Companion cavalry Hoplite	(-)
Hunnic			Attila	Scourge of God Raze Cities at double speed. Borrow City names from other in-game Civs. Start with Animal Husbandry technology. +1 Production Production per Pasture.	Horse archer Battering ram	(-)
Incan†			Pachacuti	Great Andean Road Units ignore terrain costs when moving into any tile with Hills. No maintenance costs for improvements in Hills; half cost elsewhere.	Slinger	Terrace farm (Improvement)
Indian			Gandhi	Population Growth Unhappiness Unhappiness from number of Cities doubled, Unhappiness Unhappiness from number of Citizens halved.	War elephant	Mughal fort
Indonesian			Gajah Mada	Spice Islanders The first 3 cities founded on continents other than where Indonesia started each provide 2 unique Luxury Resources (and can never be razed).	Kris swordsman	Candi
Iroquois			Hiawatha	The Great Warpath Vanilla and : Units move through Forest and Jungle in friendly territory as if it is Road. These tiles can be used to establish Trade Routes upon researching The Wheel. : Units move through Forest and Jungle in friendly territory as if they were Roads. These tiles can be used to establish City Connections upon researching The Wheel. Caravans move along Forest and Jungle as if they were Roads.	Mohawk warrior	Longhouse
Japanese			Oda Nobunaga	Bushido Vanilla and : Units fight as though they were at full strength even when damaged. : Units fight as though they were at full strength even when damaged. +1 Culture Culture from each Fishing Boat and +2 Culture Culture from atolls.	Samurai Zero	(-)
Korean†			Sejong	Scholars of the Jade Hall +2 Science Science for all specialists and Great Person tile improvements. Receive a tech boost each time a scientific building/Wonder is built in the Korean capital.	Turtle ship Hwach'a	(-)
Mayan			Pacal	The Long Count After researching Theology, receive a bonus Great Person at the end of every Maya Long Count calendar cycle (every 394 years) (Each bonus person can only be chosen once).	Atlatlist	Pyramid
Mongolian†			Genghis Khan	Mongol Terror Combat Strength +30% when fighting City-State units or attacking a City-State itself. All mounted units have +1 Movement.	Keshik Khan (Great Person)	(-)
Moroccan			Ahmad al-Mansur	Gateway to Africa Receives +3 Gold Gold and +1 Culture Culture for each Trade Route with a different civ or City-State. The Trade Route owners receive +2 Gold Gold for each Trade Route sent to Morocco.	Berber cavalry	Kasbah (Improvement)
Ottoman			Suleiman	Barbary Corsairs Vanilla: 50% chance of converting a Barbarian naval unit to your side and earning 25 Gold Gold. Pay only one-third the usual cost for naval unit maintenance. and : All melee naval units have the Prize Ships promotion, allowing them to capture defeated ships. Pay only one-third the usual cost for naval unit maintenance.	Janissary Sipahi	(-)
Persian			Darius I	Achaemenid Legacy Golden Ages last 50% longer. During a Golden Age, units receive +1 Movement and a +10% Combat Strength bonus.	Immortal	Satrap's court
Polish			Casimir III	Solidarity Receive a free Social Policy when you advance to the next era.	Winged hussar	Ducal stable
Polynesian†			Kamehameha	Wayfinding Can embark and move over Oceans immediately. +1 Sight when embarked. +10% Combat Strength bonus if within 2 tiles of a Moai.	Maori warrior	Moai (Improvement)
Portuguese			Maria I	Mare Clausum Resource diversity grants twice as much Gold Gold for Portugal in Trade Routes.	Nau	Feitoria (Improvement)
Roman			Augustus Caesar	The Glory of Rome +25% Production Production towards any buildings that already exist in the Capital Capital.	Ballista Legion	(-)
Russian			Catherine	Siberian Riches Strategic Resources provide +1 Production Production, and Horse, Iron and Uranium Resources provide double quantity	Cossack	Krepost
Shoshone			Pocatello	Great Expanse Founded cities start with additional territory. Units receive a combat bonus when fighting within their own territory.	Pathfinder Comanche riders	(-)
Siamese			Ramkhamhaeng	Father Governs Children Vanilla: Food Food and Culture Culture from friendly City-States increased by 50%. and : Food Food, Culture Culture and Faith Faith from friendly City-States increased by 50%.	Naresuan's elephant	Wat
Songhai			Askia	River Warlord Vanilla: Receive triple Gold Gold from Barbarian encampments and pillaging Cities. Embarked units can defend themselves. and : Receive triple Gold Gold from Barbarian encampments and pillaging Cities. Land units gain the War Canoe and Amphibious promotions, strengthening them while embarked.	Mandekalu cavalry	Mud pyramid mosque
Spanish†			Isabella	Seven Cities of Gold Gold Gold bonus for discovering a Natural Wonder (bonus enhanced if first to discover it). Culture Culture, Happiness Happiness and tile yields from Natural Wonders doubled.	Tercio Conquistador	(-)
Swedish			Gustavus Adolphus	Nobel Prize Gain 90 Influence Influence with a Great Person gift to a City-State. When declaring friendship, Sweden and their friend gain a +10% boost to Great Person generation.	Hakkapeliitta Carolean	(-)
Venetian			Enrico Dandolo	Serenissima Cannot gain settlers nor annex cities. Double the normal number of trade routes available. A Merchant of Venice appears after researching Optics. May purchase in puppeted cities.	Merchant of Venice (Great Person) Great galleass	(-)
Zulu		Avoid	Shaka	Iklwa Melee units cost 50% less maintenance. All units require 25% less experience to earn their next promotion.	Impi	Ikanda

Civilization V Leaders

† Available as DLCs:

• Babylon was included as a bonus with a pre-order of the Deluxe Edition through a number of Digital Distribution platforms, including Steam and Direct2Drive. It was later made available as DLC on October 25, 2010.
• Mongolia was made available as a free DLC through a game update released in October 25, 2010.
• Spain and the Inca were made available as DLC on December 16, 2010.
• Polynesia was made available as DLC on March 3, 2011.
• Denmark was made available as DLC on May 3, 2011.
• Korea was made available as DLC on August 11, 2011.

Added in the Gods & Kings expansion pack.

Nine new civilizations were added with the Gods & Kings expansion pack on June 19, 2012: The Netherlands, the Celts, the Maya, Carthage, Byzantium, the Huns, Austria, Ethiopia, and Sweden. In addition, the previously released Spanish civilization was included again.

Added in the Brave New World expansion pack.

Nine new civilizations were added with the Brave New World expansion pack on July 9, 2013: Poland, Assyria, Brazil, the Zulus, Portugal, Indonesia, Morocco, Venice, and the Shoshone. In addition, the French, Arabian, and German civilizations have been updated to better work with new aspects of the expansion pack, and the previously released Ethiopian civilization was included again.