Resources are special commodities found in limited quantities on the map. When a resource is "worked" via a tile improvement, it provides a bonus for your colony. Bonuses vary from increased tile yield (production, food, etc.), a strategic resource for military, or by providing Amenities for your civilization.
Basic Resources
Resource
Base Yield Modifier
Improvement
Notes
Bananas
Cows
+1 Food
Pasture
Deer
Camp
Fish
Fishing Boats
Rice
Farm
Stone
Quarry
Wheat
Farm
Strategic Resources
Resource
Enables
Base Yield Modifier
Improvement
Notes
Horses
Cavalry units
?
Pasture
?
Iron
Knight
?
Mine
?
Nitre
Musketmen
Mine
Revealed by Gunpowder
Oil
Oil Well, Offshore Platform
Luxury Resources
Luxury resources are commodities highly prized by citizens, and thus grant Amenities. Most must be claimed by an empire's city borders, while some are exclusively obtained via suzerainty with certain city-states.