Today's gameplay reveal trailer confirms Rome (led by Augustus), Egypt (probably Hatshepsut?), and the Shawnee (Tecumseh) as a pre-order bonus.

upgraded to basic

bump due to the Manifold Plays Civ fun

/komplexkonjugat/manifoldplaysciv6-which-civilizatio-ff5f918f81ae

Civs that have been included in the base game for every numbered entry:
America, Aztecs*, China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Rome, Russia

Civs that appear at least 5 times, incl. expansion packs: Babylon, Mongolia, Persia, Spain, Zulu

...4 times: Arabia, Byzantium, Carthage, Celts, Dutch/Netherlands, Inca, Korea, Maya, Ottoman Turks, Portugal

…2-3 times: Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iroquois, Khmer, Mali, Poland, Sumeria, Sweden, Vikings

…ever: Assyria, Australia, Austria, Canada, Cree, Denmark, Gaul, Georgia, Gran Colombia, Hittites, Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Huns, Kongo, Macedon, Maori, Mapuche, Morocco, Native Americans, Norway, Nubia, Phoenicia, Polynesia, Scotland, Scythia, Shoshone, Siam, Sioux, Songhai, Venice, Vietnam

A "Viking"-themed Scandinavian civ has been featured 5 times, but under different names: Vikings (3), Danes (1), and Norway (1). So have the Celtic peoples, as “Celts” (4) and “Gaul” (1).

* Civ’s “default” pre-Columbian rep is clearly the Aztecs; Montezuma is almost as much of a series mascot as Gandhi. They were relegated to Day-1 DLC for Civ 6 but added for free a few months later.

Since Civ II, Firaxis has made a point to include other pre-Columbian peoples in the base game in some way. None are as (in)famous as the Aztecs for their hegemonic empire-building, though, so it’s a very eclectic list. Expansions usually add the Inca and Maya, in that order; the Mapuche appeared in Civ VI for the first time.

There is usually a North American Indigenous civ, but it varies a lot. Civ II had the Sioux, III and V had the Iroquois, and expansions added the Shoshone (for V) and the Cree (for VI). The clumsiest rep was in IV, which had a consolidated (and ahistorical) “Native American” civ led by Sitting Bull. Although well-intentioned, it’s a sobering testament to the Natives’ cultural destruction that neither their “civ name” nor a large fraction of their settlement list are in an Indigenous language.

By comparison with the Aztecs, the Zulu are Firaxis’ default sub-Saharan civ. From IV onward, they’ve been joined by Ethiopia and one of Mali or Songhai; VI added Nubia and Kongo to the list.

There’s also a trend in recent games of including more post-colonial civs like Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Gran Colombia. Who knows, maybe Civ VII will add Mexico.