Every civilization in Civilization 7 we know about so far

GamesStrategyCivilization 7Every civilization in Civilization 7 we know about so farWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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Statue pouring sand over a pyramid

Jump to:AksumEgyptGreeceHan ChinaKhmerMaurya IndiaMayaMississippianPersiaRomeAbbasidCholaHawaiiMajapahitMing ChinaMongoliaNormanShawneeSonghaiSpainModern Age civs

InCivilization 7, unlike previous games in the series, any leader can lead any civilization. So your choice of civilization is completely independent, allowing for a huge set of possible bonuses. And while your chosen leader will follow you all the way to the end, you’ll choose a new civilization for each of the three acts: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern.Each civ comes with a unique ability, unique civics, at least two unique units, and one or more unique infrastructures (which is basically the new name for unique buildings). They also specialize in two of the six civ attributes (Cultural, Economic, Diplomatic, Expansionist, Militarist, and Scientific). Here are all of the civs we know about so far:

Aksum

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Our advice:The Asksumites are poised to dominate in coastal trade, with safe shipping lanes and an advantage in coastal naval combat. Saving up some gold for later ages while your culture flourishes seems like a wise plan.

Egypt

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Historical context:One of the oldest complex agricultural civilizations, they’re known today for some rather large triangles and many of the earliest depictions of furries and scalies. Fun fact: Cleopatra lived closer to the present day than to the last time you finished an entire campaign of Civ on Marathon speed.

Our advice:Settling near navigable rivers is obviously a must. But beyond that, Egypt is deceptively flexible, and could fit a lot of different playstyles. Even if you want to play aggressively, it may be better to let your enemies come to you first, so you can take advantage of your home turf combat bonuses.

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Greece

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Historical context:The starting point for the majority of national myths that seek to set everything West of the Levant as a special, cool place where all the special-est, coolest people came from, they are credited with the Olympics, Western philosophy, and some pretty damn impressive beards.

Our advice:The Greeks are definitely set up to master the Culture game, but you could also get some early conquest done with Hoplites if you make the most of their formidable formation fighting. Building a league of city-states should also be a major priority.

Han China

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Historical context:The Han dynasty of China reigned from the 200s BCE to the 200s CE, laying many of the foundations for later Chinese civilization and even giving their name to the Han ethnicity that most Chinese people identify with today.

Our advice:A very defensible capital and early bonuses to population growth give you a lot of options, and as usual for a Chinese civ in Civ, they will be a natural pick for a Science-focused playstyle, albeit one that now depends a bit more on RNG.

Khmer

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Historical context:The Khmer Empire was founded around 800 CE, making it one of the youngest starter civs in Civ 7, centered on what is today Cambodia. They came to control most of mainland Southeast Asia at their height.

Our advice:Natural disasters from Civ 6’s Gathering Storm expansion are getting folded into the base game in Civ 7, and the Khmer are particularly well-equipped to survive and thrive with the natural flood cycles. Boosted food production and lower opportunity costs for urbanization will allow them to pursue many different strategies.

Maurya India

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Historical context:Founded in 322 BCE, the Maurya Empire grew to be the largest empire in South Asia up to that point. Controlling land from what is now Afghanistan all the way to the Bengal Delta, they were the cultural and political predecessors of most Indian subcontinent civilizations that came after them.

Our advice:Indian civs tend to focus on growth in Civ, and the Maurya seem to be no exception. But rather than speeding things up with food, they provide a lot of ways to keep your population centers happy. So you might grow slower, but the maximum population you can manage is greater. They are well-equipped for conquest and aggressive settling, as well as culture and science.

Maya

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Historical context:Less of an empire than a series of related societies that existed mainly in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula from at least 2000 BCE, they were renowned for their early discoveries in astronomy and the development of a complex writing system.

Our advice:Mayans were my pick for the best Science civ in Civ 6, and they still definitely lean in that direction. Though, as with other civs we’ve seen so far, it seems like their bonuses are more focused on giving you extra bonuses for doing science rather than making your science go faster. They also seem like they’re going to be one of the most difficult and advanced civs, since you have to preserve the natural spaces around you to make the most of their bonuses.

Mississippian

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Historical context:Arising some time around 800 CE, the Mississippian cultures built the largest pre-Columbian city we know of in what is now the United States at Cahokia, as well as most of the examples of monumental architecture from that region. They went into decline some time before European contact for what are still poorly-understood reasons.

Our advice:The Burning Arrow is a really interesting early game unit, letting you do some battlefield control that no one else has access to, which makes the Mississippians a really interesting pick for a militaristic playstyle. Otherwise, their ways to get bonus food will enable a lot of different playstyles.

Persia

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Our advice:Being able to sustain a conquest with self-healing Immortals lends itself to being very aggressive very early. You always want to be going on the attack, even when defending. I haven’t played around with it yet, but I also think that having all your commanders start with Initiative is going to be huge. The Persians might be the best early warmonger civ.

Rome

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Antiquity

Our advice:Rome can certainly conquer, but they seem to be, perhaps, even better as a culture/settler rush civ this time around. The playstyle of all roads leading back to Rome with Towns serving as your outposts means you’ll need to be extra careful building and defending your capital for maximum imperium.

Abbasid

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Exploration

Historical context:The third Islamic Caliphate, established in 750 CE, they oversaw the flourishing of culture and science known as the Islamic Golden Age and ultimately repelled the Crusades. At their height, their territory stretched from Tunisia to modern Pakistan.

Attributes:Cultural, Scientific

Our advice:The Abbasids may be the real Science powerhouse in Civ 7, with pretty decent bonuses to Gold and Culture as well. Mamluks are specialized for urban fighting, so you’ll not only want to urbanize your own settlements, but focus on attacking highly urbanized ones.

Chola

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Exploration

Historical context:A Tamil empire founded in Southern India in 848 CE, they came to command a large trade empire with bases as far away as modern Indonesia, and were influential in the spread of Hinduism into Southeast Asia.

Our advice:Unsurprisingly, the Chola are highly specialized to be a maritime trade empire. In addition to supporting a formidable navy, the Ottru will also aid with coastal land battles. Beyond that, they aren’t particularly biased toward any specific victory objectives.

Hawaii

Age:Exploration

Majapahit

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Exploration

Historical context:A powerful Hindu kingdom that existed in modern-day Indonesia from the late 1200s through the early 1500s. Its rise to power saw it allying with and then betraying Kublai Khan’s forces when they invaded Java in 1293.

Ming China

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Exploration

Our advice:The Ming still excel in Science, but things get a bit trickier due to the social policy restriction. It’s sort of an interesting way to model their later decline. Luckily, their focus on Gold should make up for this, or allow you to pivot to a different strategy entirely.

Mongolia

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Exploration

Our advice:Hoo boy. This is gonna be fun. As you’d expect, the Mongolians are honed for fast conquests and controlling large land areas. Sustaining assaults with Keshigs will be trivial if you know what you’re doing, but remember that they’re probably not sufficient on their own to win sieges. Creating networks of ortöös will allow you to move startlingly fast across the open plains, but rocky, coastal areas, forests, and rivers will present strategic obstacles.

Norman

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Exploration

Historical context:In 1066, William the Bastard and a bunch of his bandit friends crossed the channel to seize the Kingdom of England on a dubious claim and make our eventual language of global communication way more complicated than it needed to be.

Our advice:Castles. That’s it, that’s the post. The Normans excel at protecting their outposts and building up defensive infrastructure, while also enjoying some residual benefits to amphibious warfare from their viking—with a lower-case v because it’s a job and not an ethnicity but I realize I may have lost that battle for good—roots. They don’t really excel at anything besides warfare though, just like William and his pack of pillagers.

Shawnee

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Exploration

Historical context:A North American people originally from what is now Ohio, and the namesake of the town where this author went to high school, they formed the core of a great confederacy that represented one of the most concerted Native efforts to curb US Westward expansion, under their chief Tecumseh.

Our advice:This is another one of those river valley boom civs, with the added twist that you can have a very deadly army if you manage to accumulate a lot of resources through expansion and trade. They aren’t particularly biased toward any specific victory type.

Songhai

Age:Exploration

Historical context:Founded in the 1430s, the Songhai Empire conquered much of inland West Africa, with its center in what is today the country of Mali. They were influential in the spread of Islam to sub-Saharan Africa.

Spain

(Image credit: Firaxis)

Civilization 7 screenshot

Age:Exploration

Our advice:If you guessed the Spanish would be focused on exploration and overseas colonization, you would have guessed right. They will benefit greatly from settling tons of towns and cities in places distant to their capital, and should have a fairly easy time doing so. Culture seems to be their forte, but with all that imperial Gold coming in, you can probably go for any strategy you want.

Modern Age civs

We haven’t seen much about the Modern Age civs yet other than their names, but here’s a little bit of historical context for each.

Since any of these civs can be played with any leader, be sure to also check out ourCivilization 7 Leaders guideto start planning how you’ll mix and match your way to global pre-eminence.

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Aksum#

Egypt#

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Greece#

Han China#

Khmer#

Maurya India#

Maya#

Mississippian#

Persia#

Rome#

Abbasid#

Chola#

Hawaii#

Majapahit#

Ming China#

Mongolia#

Norman#

Shawnee#

Songhai#

Spain#

Modern Age civs#

Aksum

Egypt

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Greece

Han China

Khmer

Maurya India

Maya

Mississippian

Persia

Rome

Abbasid

Chola

Hawaii

Majapahit

Ming China

Mongolia

Norman

Shawnee

Songhai

Spain

Modern Age civs