The map is the world on which a game of Civilization V takes place. Most scenarios use premade maps, but other types of games allow players to choose their own map type and let the game generate a world for them. These maps - some of which were added with the Gods & Kings and Brave New World expansions - include the following:
- Amazon: A region similar to the Amazon Jungle of South America, but with random elements.
- Amazon Plus: A region similar to the Amazon Jungle of South America, but with random elements.
- Americas: A large map spanning from Peru in the South to America in the north.
- Ancient Lakes: An all-land region featuring a large crater lake in the middle.
- Arborea: A world almost completely covered in forest.
- Archipelago: The world will consist of many islands.
- Asia: A large map dominated by the Himalayas and jungles of south east Asia.
- Bering Strait: The Bering Strait and land surrounding, including the Russian Far East, Kamchatka, and Alaska.
- Boreal: A large region that is all tundra and well forested.
- British Isles: Great Britain, Ireland, and countless smaller islands.
- Caribbean: Explore the Caribbean, in all its tropical splendor.
- Continents: The world will consist of a few large landmasses and some smaller islands.
- Continents Plus: Similar to Continents, but with extended scripting for chains of islands and city-state placement.
- Donut: A circular Pangaea. You can choose what type of terrain is in the middle.
- Earth: A map that spans the entire planet.
- Europe: A randomly generated map that resembles Europe.
- Eastern United States: A map that spans the southern tip of Texas and all the way up to the eastern tip of Nova Scotia.
- Four Corners: This map is sectioned into 4 equal sections, separated by water, with land in the very middle.
- Fractal: A highly random map that will often form thin, snaky continents.
- Frontier: A single continent scattered with mountains to simulate the rough environment of the Frontier.
- Great Plains: A region similar to the Great Plains of North America, but with random elements.
- Great Plains Plus: A region similar to the Great Plains of North America, but with random elements.
- Hemispheres: A world with two large, fairly balanced continents. Suitable for duels or two-teams multiplayer.
- Highlands: A large region dominated by hills and mountain ranges.
- Ice Age: A severely glaciated world where only regions near the equator are habitable.
- Inland Sea: An all-land region that has a large salt water sea in the center.
- Japanese Mainland: This map focuses exclusively on Japan, with no surrounding countries in play.
- Lakes: A world without oceans, only lesser bodies of water.
- Large Islands: A world with numerous large islands, roughly equal in size but varying in terrain. Civs are placed on the best available islands.
- Mediterranean: A large map covering the entire Mediterranean basin.
- Mesopotamia: A large map spanning the Nile River valley to the west and extending east down the Tigris and Euphrates.
- North vs. South: A map split horizontally by desert.
- Oval: An oval-shaped Pangaea with random bays carving in to the sides.
- Pangaea: All players start on one large landmass. There may be small islands off of the main continent.
- Pangaea Plus: Similar to Pangaea, but with extended scripting for chains of island and city-state placement.
- Rainforest: A world almost completely covered in jungle.
- Ring: Each civilization gets its own subcontinent. All are connected in clockwise fashion to adjacent neighbors.
- Sandstorm: A harsh world composed primarily of desert with smaller patches of plains and grassland.
- Shuffle: A truly random map, including all core settings like world age, rainfall, etc.
- Skirmish: A balanced map designed for 2 players.
- Small Continents: The world will consist of a few medium landmasses and some smaller islands.
- Terra: A very large world, similar to Earth, where all civilizations start on the continent akin to Asia-Europe-Africa (more accurately known as Afro-Eurasia).
- Tilted Axis: A very large world, tilted on its side with its south pole always locked in to facing the sun.
- Tiny Islands: This world will consist of many tiny islands.
- West vs. East: A region split vertically down the middle by a wide channel of water.
There are also advanced map settings, which allow players to adjust aspects of a map such as ocean levels, rainfall levels, resource abundance, and the age of the world.