Civilizations

With both expansions Civilization 4 has 34 civilizations and 52 leaders: 18 civilizations in the base game, 6 added by Warlords and 10 by Beyond the Sword. Each has its own unique unit and, since Warlords, its own unique building.

With both expansions installed, Civilization 4 has 34 civilizations led by 52 leaders: the base game's manual lists 18 civilizations and 26 leaders, the Warlords manual adds 6 civilizations and 10 leaders, and the Beyond the Sword manual adds 10 civilizations and 16 leaders. Every civilization has a unique unit that replaces a standard one, and since Warlords a unique building too; in the base game and Warlords each also starts with two free technologies. The civilization sets your units, buildings and opening techs, while the leader you pick within it brings the two traits that shape how it plays (see Leaders and Leader Traits).

Three side-by-side character portraits: at left a dark-bearded man in a bronze helmet and red cloak before columns, in the middle a man with a long beard in a gold and red crown, at right an older man in a white feathered war bonnet. — Three leader portraits shown on 2K's Beyond the Sword page: a bearded man in a crested helmet, a bearded man in a tall striped crown and a man in a feathered headdress. Firaxis Games and 2K

Quick facts

Civilizations	34 with both expansions (18 + 6 + 10)
Leaders	52 (26 + 10 + 16)
Base game	18 civilizations, 26 leaders (manual, p. 15)
Warlords	6 civilizations, 10 leaders (Warlords manual, pp. 14-15)
Beyond the Sword	10 civilizations, 16 leaders (Beyond the Sword manual, pp. 28-30)
Unique unit	One per civilization, replacing a standard unit
Unique building	One per civilization since Warlords, replacing a standard building
Starting techs	Two per civilization (base game and Warlords civilizations)
Most leaders	America, England, France and Russia, three each with Beyond the Sword

How many civilizations are in Civ 4?

The base game shipped with 18 civilizations and 26 leaders, and "most Civilizations now have two leaders from which to choose", as 2K's launch press release put it on Oct 25, 2005. 2K's Civilization 4 page says it "launched with 18 playable civilizations, eight of which had multiple leaders". For comparison, Firaxis's own feature list credited Civilization 3 with 16 civilizations and 16 leaders.

Warlords brought the count to 24 civilizations and 36 leaders, and Beyond the Sword to 34 and 52. Beyond the Sword does not need Warlords installed: per its manual (pp. 6, 11) it includes the Warlords civilizations, traits, unique buildings and the Great General, so a Beyond the Sword game offers all 34. Beyond the Sword is also the most played of the four Civilization 4 apps on Steam, with 1,695 players at 17:45 UTC on Oct 21, 2026 by Steam's own count.

All 34 civilizations

The table lists every civilization with its leaders, its unique unit and unique building (the standard item each replaces in parentheses), its two starting technologies and the release that added it. Leaders added by an expansion to an older civilization are marked W (Warlords) or B (Beyond the Sword).

Civilization	Leaders	Unique unit	Unique building	Starting techs	Added in
America	Roosevelt, Washington, Abraham Lincoln (B)	Navy SEAL (Marine)	Shopping Mall (Supermarket)	Agriculture, Fishing	Base game
Arabia	Saladin	Camel Archer (Knight)	Madrassa (Library)	Mysticism, The Wheel	Base game
Aztecs	Montezuma	Jaguar (Swordsman)	Sacrificial Altar (Courthouse)	Mysticism, Hunting	Base game
Babylon	Hammurabi	Bowman (Archer)	Garden (Colosseum)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Byzantium	Justinian I	Cataphract (Knight)	Hippodrome (Theater)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Carthage	Hannibal	Numidian Cavalry (Horse Archer)	Cothon (Harbor)	Fishing, Mining	Warlords
Celts	Brennus, Boudica (B)	Gallic Warrior (Swordsman)	Dun (Walls)	Hunting, Mysticism	Warlords
China	Mao Zedong, Qin Shi Huang	Cho-Ko-Nu (Crossbowman)	Pavilion (Theater)	Agriculture, Mining	Base game
Netherlands	Willem van Oranje	East Indiaman (Galleon)	Dike (Levee)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Egypt	Hatshepsut, Ramesses II (W)	War Chariot (Chariot)	Obelisk (Monument)	The Wheel, Agriculture	Base game
England	Elizabeth, Victoria, Winston Churchill (W)	Redcoat (Rifleman)	Stock Exchange (Bank)	Fishing, Mining	Base game
Ethiopia	Zara Yaqob	Oromo Warrior (Musketman)	Stele (Monument)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
France	Louis XIV, Napoleon, Charles de Gaulle (B)	Musketeer (Musketman)	Salon (Observatory)	The Wheel, Agriculture	Base game
Germany	Bismarck, Frederick	Panzer (Tank)	Assembly Plant (Factory)	Hunting, Mining	Base game
Greece	Alexander, Pericles (B)	Phalanx (Spearman; Axeman in Beyond the Sword)	Odeon (Colosseum)	Fishing, Hunting	Base game
Holy Roman Empire	Charlemagne	Landsknecht (Pikeman)	Rathaus (Courthouse)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Inca	Huayna Capac	Quechua (Warrior)	Terrace (Granary)	Agriculture, Mysticism	Base game
India	Asoka, Gandhi	Fast Worker (Worker)	Mausoleum (Jail)	Mysticism, Mining	Base game
Japan	Tokugawa	Samurai (Maceman)	Shale Plant (Coal Plant)	Fishing, The Wheel	Base game
Khmer	Suryavarman II	Ballista Elephant (War Elephant)	Baray (Aqueduct)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Korea	Wang Kon	Hwacha (Catapult)	Seowon (University)	Mysticism, Mining	Warlords
Mali	Mansa Musa	Skirmisher (Archer)	Mint (Forge)	The Wheel, Mining	Base game
Maya	Pacal II	Holkan (Spearman)	Ball Court (Colosseum)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Mongols	Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan	Keshik (Horse Archer)	Ger (Stable)	Hunting, The Wheel	Base game
Native America	Sitting Bull	Dog Soldier (Axeman)	Totem Pole (Monument)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Ottomans	Mehmed II, Suleiman the Magnificent (B)	Janissary (Musketman)	Hammam (Aqueduct)	Agriculture, The Wheel	Warlords
Persia	Cyrus, Darius I (B)	Immortal (Chariot)	Apothecary (Grocer)	Agriculture, Hunting	Base game
Portugal	Joao II	Carrack (Caravel)	Feitoria (Market)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Rome	Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar (W)	Praetorian (Swordsman)	Forum (Market)	Fishing, Mining	Base game
Russia	Catherine, Peter, Josef Stalin (W)	Cossack (Cavalry)	Research Institute (Laboratory)	Hunting, Mining	Base game
Spain	Isabella	Conquistador (Knight)	Citadel (Castle)	Fishing, Mysticism	Base game
Sumer	Gilgamesh	Vulture (Axeman)	Ziggurat (Courthouse)	Not in the manual	Beyond the Sword
Vikings	Ragnar	Berserker (Maceman)	Trading Post (Lighthouse)	Fishing, Hunting	Warlords
Zulu	Shaka	Impi (Spearman)	Ikhanda (Barracks)	Agriculture, Hunting	Warlords

Sources: Civilization 4 manual, pp. 159-166 (base civilizations, leaders, unique units, starting techs); Warlords manual, pp. 14-33 (Warlords civilizations and leaders, every unique building of the first 24 civilizations); Beyond the Sword manual, pp. 28-30 and 45 (Beyond the Sword civilizations and leaders, the Phalanx change). The game spells the building replaced by the Hippodrome and the Pavilion "Theatre".

Starting techs

Each civilization of the base game and Warlords begins with two technologies, listed in the base manual's civilization list (pp. 160-166) and the Warlords manual (pp. 18-32). Six techs are dealt out in pairs: Agriculture, Fishing, Hunting, Mining, Mysticism and The Wheel. Several civilizations share a pair: Fishing and Mining, for example, belong to England, Rome and Carthage, and Hunting and Mining to Germany and Russia. See Technologies for what each tech leads to.

The Beyond the Sword manual does not give the starting techs of its ten new civilizations: it lists their leaders, units and buildings and says "See the Civilopedia for details". The in-game Civilopedia shows each civilization's starting techs.

The 18 base game civilizations

The base game's 18 are America, Arabia, the Aztecs, China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, the Inca, India, Japan, Mali, the Mongols, Persia, Rome, Russia and Spain. Eight of them have two leaders and the rest one, 26 in all, per the base manual (p. 15). At launch each had only its unique unit; the unique buildings for these 18 arrived with Warlords, which says "each civilization (new and existing) has a special building that only it possesses" (Warlords manual, p. 16).

Their unique units span every era, from the Inca's Quechua, which replaces the Warrior, to the American Navy SEAL and the German Panzer, which replace the Marine and the Tank. Egypt's Obelisk is a special case: in the base game every civilization built an Obelisk, and Warlords turned it into Egypt's unique building while everyone else builds a Monument with the old Obelisk's stats (Warlords manual, p. 16).

The six Warlords civilizations

Warlords, released on Jul 24, 2006, added Carthage, the Celts, Korea, the Ottomans, the Vikings and the Zulu, each with one new leader: Hannibal, Brennus, Wang Kon, Mehmed II, Ragnar and Shaka (Warlords manual, p. 14). It also gave older civilizations four more leaders, Winston Churchill (England), Augustus Caesar (Rome), Ramesses II (Egypt) and Josef Stalin (Russia), for 10 new leaders in all, matching the "10 new leaders" on Steam's Warlords page.

The ten Beyond the Sword civilizations

Beyond the Sword, released on Jul 23, 2007 in North America, added Babylon, Byzantium, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, the Holy Roman Empire, the Khmer, the Maya, Native America, Portugal and Sumer, each with one leader (Beyond the Sword manual, pp. 28-30). It added six more leaders to existing civilizations: Abraham Lincoln (America), Boudica (the Celts), Charles de Gaulle (France), Darius I (Persia), Pericles (Greece) and Suleiman the Magnificent (the Ottomans). That is the "10 new civilizations, 16 new leaders" of 2K's announcement.

Beyond the Sword also changed one older civilization's unit: the Greek Phalanx now replaces the Axeman instead of the Spearman and starts with the March promotion, and the Japanese Samurai starts with Drill I (Beyond the Sword manual, p. 45). The manual gives no stats for the new civilizations' units and buildings; Unique Units and Buildings lists what is sourced.

Choosing a civilization

At the start of a game you pick a civilization, then a leader if it has more than one, or choose "Random", per the base manual (p. 15), which advises new players simply to "pick civilizations and leaders that you find particularly cool" for their first games. A leader's two traits apply from the first turn, while a unique unit or building appears only when its technology is known. Custom games also let you choose which leaders appear (see Game Setup).

Frequently asked questions

How many civilizations are in Civ 4? Civilization 4 has 18 civilizations in the base game, 24 with Warlords and 34 with Beyond the Sword, per the three official manuals. Beyond the Sword includes the Warlords civilizations, so a Beyond the Sword game offers all 34.

How many leaders are in Civilization 4? Civilization 4 has 52 leaders with both expansions: 26 in the base game, 10 added by Warlords and 16 by Beyond the Sword. America, England, France and Russia have three leaders each in Beyond the Sword.

Which civilizations did Beyond the Sword add to Civ 4? Beyond the Sword added Babylon, Byzantium, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, the Holy Roman Empire, the Khmer, the Maya, Native America, Portugal and Sumer to Civilization 4, each with one leader. It also added six leaders to existing civilizations, including Abraham Lincoln and Boudica.

Which civilizations did Warlords add? Warlords added Carthage, the Celts, Korea, the Ottomans, the Vikings and the Zulu to Civilization 4. It also gave every civilization a unique building.

What are the starting techs in Civ 4? Each base game and Warlords civilization in Civilization 4 starts with two of six techs: Agriculture, Fishing, Hunting, Mining, Mysticism and The Wheel (Rome, for example, starts with Fishing and Mining). The Beyond the Sword manual does not list its ten new civilizations' starting techs; the in-game Civilopedia does.

Does every civilization in Civ 4 have a unique unit? Yes: every Civilization 4 civilization has one unique unit that replaces a standard unit, such as Rome's Praetorian in place of the Swordsman. Since Warlords each also has one unique building.