Civilizations (Civ6)

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Civilizations are playable factions, each of which represents a historical nation, empire or cultural group. Each civilization in Civilization VI has a unique ability (a.k.a. "trait") and two other unique components: a unit and a piece of infrastructure, which may be a building, a district, or a tile improvement.

Civilization VI makes a distinction between a civilization and its leader, not unlike Civilization IV - each civilization can now have multiple leaders, and each leader comes with their own unique ability, which is added to the other unique traits of the civilization (and, in some cases, provides an additional unique unit, piece of infrastructure, and/or Governor that further augments that civ's and leader's specifics). When controlled by AI, each leader also pursues a specific agenda throughout the game, which modifies the AI behavior of this civilization. Thus the same civilization may behave quite differently throughout the game, depending on which leader is currently at its head. A wise player will learn not only all different civilizations' special abilities and units, but also their leaders' special traits and agendas, which will allow them to anticipate the AI behavior during the game.

Vanilla Civilization VI included 18 different civilizations at the launch, with the Aztecs (19th) as a pre-order bonus that became available to everyone 90 days after the launch. The Poles, Australians, Persians, Macedonians, Nubians, Khmer, and Indonesians were later added as DLC. The Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm expansions and the New Frontier Pass DLC pack added 8 new civilizations each, bringing the total number of playable civilizations to 50, the largest number of playable civilizations in any game in the Civilization franchise to date.

Originally there was only one civilization with multiple leaders: the Greeks, who may be led by either Pericles or Gorgo. The Rise and Fall expansion added Chandragupta as an alternative leader to Gandhi for the Indians. The Gathering Storm expansion added Eleanor of Aquitaine, who can lead either the English or the French, and the Vietnam & Kublai Khan Pack added Kublai Khan, who can lead either the Chinese or the Mongolians.

List of civilizations

Civilization	Leader(s)	Civilization Ability	Unique Unit	Unique Infrastructure
American	Teddy Roosevelt	Founding Fathers Government legacy bonuses accumulate in half the usual number of turns. All Diplomatic policy slots in the current government are converted to Wildcard slots. All Diplomatic policy slots in the current government are converted to Wildcard slots. +1 Diplomatic Favor per turn for each Wildcard slot in the current government.	P-51 Mustang	Film Studio
Arabian	Saladin	The Last Prophet Automatically receives the final Great Prophet when the next-to-last one is claimed (unless one has already been earned through other means). +1 Science per foreign city following Arabia's Religion.	Mamluk	Madrasa
Australian	John Curtin	Land Down Under +3 Housing in coastal cities. Building a Pasture triggers a Culture Bomb, claiming surrounding tiles. Campus, Commercial Hub, Holy Site, and Theater Square districts gain +1 to their yields in tiles with Charming Appeal, and +3 in tiles with Breathtaking Appeal.	Digger	Outback Station
Aztec	Montezuma	Legend of the Five Suns Can spend Builder charges to complete 20% of a district's Production cost.	Eagle Warrior	Tlachtli
Babylonian	Hammurabi	Enuma Anu Enlil Eurekas instantly unlock their respective technologies. -50% Science per turn.	Sabum Kibittum	Palgum
Brazilian	Pedro II	Amazon Rainforest tiles provide a +1 adjacency bonus for Campus, Commercial Hub, Holy Site, and Theater Square districts, and provide +1 Appeal to adjacent tiles, instead of the usual -1.	Minas Geraes	Street Carnival
				Copacabana
Byzantine	Basil II	Taxis +3 Combat and Religious Strength for all units for each Holy City converted to Byzantium's Religion (including Byzantium's own Holy City). Byzantium's Religion is spread to nearby cities when a unit from an enemy civilization or city-state is defeated. +1 Great Prophet point from Holy Sites.	Dromon	Hippodrome
Canadian	Wilfrid Laurier	Four Faces of Peace Cannot declare Surprise Wars or war on city-states. Surprise Wars cannot be declared on Canada. For every 100 Tourism earned, gain 1 Diplomatic Favor. +100% Diplomatic Favor gained from successfully completing Emergencies or Scored Competitions.	Mountie	Ice Hockey Rink
Chinese	Qin Shi Huang	Dynastic Cycle Eurekas and Inspirations provide an extra 10% of the Science and Culture cost for researching technologies and civics. Completing a Wonder grants a Eureka and Inspiration from that Wonder's era.	Crouching Tiger	Great Wall
	Kublai Khan (Chinese)
Cree	Poundmaker	Nîhithaw Gains +1 Trade Route capacity and a free Trader with Pottery. Unclaimed tiles within three tiles of a Cree city come under Cree control when a Trader first moves into them.	Okihtcitaw	Mekewap
Dutch	Wilhelmina	Grote Rivieren Rivers provide a +2 adjacency bonus for Campus, Theater Square, and Industrial Zone districts. Building a Harbor triggers a Culture Bomb, claiming surrounding tiles. Rivers provide a +2 adjacency bonus for Campus, Theater Square, and Industrial Zone districts. Building a Harbor triggers a Culture Bomb, claiming surrounding tiles. +50% Production towards the Dam district and Flood Barrier building.	De Zeven Provinciën	Polder
Egyptian	Cleopatra	Iteru +15% Production towards districts and wonders built next to a River. Floodplains do not prevent placement of districts and wonders. +15% Production towards districts and wonders built next to a River. Districts, improvements and units are immune to damage from floods.	Maryannu Chariot Archer	Sphinx
English	Victoria	Vanilla and : British Museum Each Archaeological Museum can hold six Artifacts instead of three and can build two Archaeologists instead of one. Archaeological Museums are automatically themed when they have six Artifacts. : Workshop of the World Iron and Coal Mines accumulate +2 resources per turn. +100% Production towards Military Engineers. Military Engineers receive +2 charges. Buildings that provide additional yields when powered receive +4 of their respective yields. +20% Production towards Industrial Zone buildings. Harbor buildings grant +10 Strategic Resource stockpiles.	Sea Dog	Royal Navy Dockyard
	Eleanor of Aquitaine (English)
Ethiopian	Menelik II	Aksumite Legacy Improved resource tiles receive +1 Faith for each copy of the resource the city owns. International Trade Routes grant +0.5 Faith for each resource in the origin city. Can purchase Archaeologists and Archaeological Museums with Faith.	Oromo Cavalry	Rock-Hewn Church
French	Catherine de Medici	Grand Tour +20% Production towards Medieval, Renaissance and Industrial Era Wonders. Double Tourism from Wonders of any Era.	Garde Impériale	Château
	Eleanor of Aquitaine (French)
Gallic	Ambiorix	Hallstatt Culture Mines gain +1 Culture, provide a +0.5 adjacency bonus for all districts and trigger a Culture Bomb when built, claiming surrounding unowned tiles. Specialty districts do not receive an adjacency bonus from other districts and cannot be built next to the City Center.	Gaesatae	Oppidum
Georgian	Tamar	Strength in Unity Dedications chosen at the beginning of a Golden Age or Heroic Age also grant their Normal Age bonuses towards improving Era Score, in addition to their regular bonuses. +50% Production towards walls.	Khevsur	Tsikhe
German	Frederick Barbarossa	Free Imperial Cities Each city can build one more specialty District than the Population limit would normally allow.	U-Boat	Hansa
Gran Colombian	Simón Bolívar	Ejército Patriota +1 Movement for all units. Promoting a unit does not end that unit's turn.	Llanero	Hacienda
Greek	Pericles	Plato's Republic Gains an additional Wildcard policy slot in all Governments.	Hoplite	Acropolis
	Gorgo
Hungarian	Matthias Corvinus	Pearl of the Danube +50% Production for districts and buildings built across a river from a City Center.	Huszár	Thermal Bath
Incan	Pachacuti	Mit'a Citizens may work Mountain tiles. Mountain tiles provide +2 Production, and +1 Food for each adjacent Terrace Farm. Mountain tiles provide an additional +1 Production when Inca reaches the Industrial Era.	Warak'aq	Terrace Farm
Indian	Gandhi	Dharma Indian cities receive the Follower Beliefs of all religions with at least one follower in them, not just the majority religion. Indian cities receive the Follower Beliefs of all religions with at least one follower in them, not just the majority religion, and gain +1 Amenity for each religion with at least one follower in them. +2 Spread Religion charges for Missionaries. +100% Religious pressure from Indian Trade Routes.	Varu	Stepwell
	Chandragupta
Indonesian	Gitarja	Great Nusantara Coast and Lake tiles provide a +0.5 adjacency bonus for Holy Site, Campus, Industrial Zone, and Theater Square districts. Entertainment Complexes built adjacent to a Coast or Lake tile provide +1 Amenity.	Jong	Kampung
Japanese	Hojo Tokimune	Meiji Restoration Districts receive a +1 adjacency bonus for each adjacent district, instead of +0.5.	Samurai	Electronics Factory
Khmer	Jayavarman VII	Grand Barays Cities with an Aqueduct receive +1 Amenity, and +1 Faith for every point of Population in the city. Farms receive +2 Food when adjacent to an Aqueduct, and +1 Faith when adjacent to a Holy Site.	Domrey	Prasat
Kongolese	Mvemba a Nzinga	Nkisi Relics, Artifacts and Sculptures grant +2 Food, +2 Production, +1 Faith, and +4 Gold. The Palace has four extra slots for Great Works. +50% Great Artist, Great Musician, and Great Merchant points gained from all sources.	Ngao Mbeba	Mbanza
Korean	Seondeok	Three Kingdoms Farms receive +1 Food and Mines receive +1 Science for each adjacent Seowon.	Hwacha	Seowon
Macedonian	Alexander	Hellenistic Fusion Conquering a city grants a free Eureka for each Encampment and Campus district in the conquered city and a free Inspiration for each Holy Site and Theater Square district.	Hypaspist	Basilikoi Paides
Malian	Mansa Musa	Songs of the Jeli City Centers receive +1 Faith and +1 Food for every adjacent Desert and Desert Hills tile. Mines receive -1 Production and +4 Gold. May purchase Commercial Hub buildings with Faith. -30% Production towards buildings and units.	Mandekalu Cavalry	Suguba
Māori	Kupe	Mana Starts with Sailing and Shipbuilding unlocked and the ability to enter Ocean tiles. +5 Combat Strength and +2 Movement for embarked units. Unimproved Woods and Rainforests grant +1 Production, increasing to +2 Production with Mercantilism and +3 Production with Conservation. +1 Food from Fishing Boats. Building a Fishing Boat triggers a Culture Bomb, claiming surrounding tiles. Resources cannot be harvested. Great Writers cannot be earned.	Toa	Marae
Mapuche	Lautaro	Toqui Cities with an established Governor gain +5% Culture, +5% Production, and +10% combat experience towards all units trained in the city. These numbers are tripled in cities not founded by the Mapuche. All cities within 9 tiles of a city with your Governor gain +4 Loyalty per turn towards your civilization.	Malón Raider	Chemamull
Mayan	Lady Six Sky	Mayab Cities do not receive additional Housing from being adjacent to fresh water or coast. Cities gain +1 Amenity for each Luxury Resource adjacent to the City Center. Farms grant +1 Housing, +1 Production if adjacent to an Observatory, and +1 Gold.	Hul'che	Observatory
Mongolian	Genghis Khan	Örtöö Sending a Trade Route immediately creates a Trading Post in the destination city, instead of when the Trade Route is completed. Gains an extra level of Diplomatic Visibility with civilizations that have a Mongolian Trading Post. +6 Combat Strength for all units for each level of Diplomatic Visibility Mongolia has over the other civilization, instead of the usual +3 Combat Strength.	Keshig	Ordu
	Kublai Khan (Mongolian)
Norwegian	Harald Hardrada	Knarr Norwegian units gain the ability to enter Ocean tiles with Shipbuilding, instead of Cartography, and pay no additional Movement costs to embark or disembark. Naval melee units can heal in neutral territory.	Berserker	Stave Church
Nubian	Amanitore	Ta-Seti +30% Production toward Ranged units. Ranged units gain +50% combat experience. +1 Production for Mines over strategic resources, and +2 Gold for Mines over bonus and luxury resources.	Pítati Archer	Nubian Pyramid
Ottoman	Suleiman	Great Turkish Bombard +30% Production toward Siege units. Siege units gain +5 Combat Strength when attacking defensible districts. Conquering a city doesn't cause that city to lose Population. +1 Amenity and +4 Loyalty per turn for cities not founded by the Ottomans.	Barbary Corsair	Grand Bazaar
Persian	Cyrus	Satrapies Gains +1 Trade Route capacity with Political Philosophy. Domestic Trade Routes provide +2 Gold and +1 Culture. Roads built inside Persian territory are one level more advanced than usual.	Immortal	Pairidaeza
Phoenician	Dido	Mediterranean Colonies Starts with the Eureka for Writing. Coastal cities founded by Phoenicia and in the same continent as their Capital always have full Loyalty. Settlers receive +2 Movement and Sight while embarked, and pay no Movement costs to embark or disembark.	Bireme	Cothon
Polish	Jadwiga	Golden Liberty Building an Encampment or Fort triggers a Culture Bomb, claiming surrounding tiles. One Military policy slot in all governments is converted into a Wildcard policy slot.	Winged Hussar	Sukiennice
Portuguese	João III	Casa da Índia International Trade Routes can only be sent to cities on the coast or with a Harbor, but gain a +50% increase to all yields. Traders have +50% range over water, and can embark as soon as they are unlocked.	Nau	Navigation School
Roman	Trajan	All Roads Lead to Rome Founded or conquered cities start with a Trading Post and, if within Trade Route range of the Capital, a road to it. Trade Routes generate +1 additional Gold from Roman Trading Posts they pass through.	Legion	Bath
Russian	Peter	Mother Russia Founded cities start with five additional tiles. Tundra tiles provide +1 Faith and +1 Production, in addition to their usual yields. Founded cities start with five additional tiles. Tundra tiles provide +1 Faith and +1 Production, in addition to their usual yields. Districts, improvements and units are immune to damage from Blizzards. +100% damage from Blizzards inside Russian territory to civilizations at war with Russia.	Cossack	Lavra
Scottish	Robert the Bruce	Scottish Enlightenment Happy cities gain +5% Science and +5% Production, and generate +1 Great Scientist points in their Campuses and +1 Great Engineer points in their Industrial Zones. Ecstatic cities double these bonuses.	Highlander	Golf Course
Scythian	Tomyris	People of the Steppe Building a light cavalry unit or Saka Horse Archer grants a free second copy of that unit.	Saka Horse Archer	Kurgan
Spanish	Philip II	Treasure Fleet May form Fleets and Armadas with Mercantilism, instead of Nationalism and Mobilization. Trade Routes receive 3 Gold, 2 Faith and 1 Production. Trade Routes between cities on different continents gain triple these yields. Cities not on your original Capital's continent receive 25% extra Production towards Districts and a Builder when founded.	Conquistador	Mission
Sumerian	Gilgamesh	Epic Quest Capturing a Barbarian Outpost also grants a Tribal Village reward. Levying city-state units costs 50% less Gold.	War-Cart	Ziggurat
Swedish	Kristina	Nobel Prize Gains 50 Diplomatic Favor whenever a Great Person is earned. +1 Great Engineer points from Factories and +1 Great Scientist points from Universities. Sweden's presence in the game adds three unique World Congress competitions in the Industrial Era.	Carolean	Open-Air Museum
Vietnamese	Bà Triệu	Nine Dragon River Delta Land specialty Districts can only be built on Woods, Rainforest or Marsh tiles. Buildings on these features receive additional yields: +1 Culture in Woods, +1 Science in Rainforest, and +1 Production in Marsh. Can plant Woods with Medieval Faires, instead of Conservation.	Voi Chiến	Thành
Zulu	Shaka	Isibongo Capturing a city will upgrade the conquering unit into a Corps or Army if the necessary civics are unlocked. +3 Loyalty per turn to cities with a garrisoned unit, increasing to +5 if the garrisoned unit is a Corps or Army.	Impi	Ikanda

Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.
Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.

Videos

CIVILIZATION VI - How To Choose a Civilization

See also

• Civilizations: A list of civilizations in all Civilization games.