Civilizational development was higher by a large margin in certain regions of the word (Parts of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and East Asia) during the game's time frame and it matches that reality
There are plenty of peoples in the same region that could still be added without nonsensical balancing, but yet "Nooooo, you should prioritize those guys with nice pottery in the Amazon [and somehow come up with equivalents for cavalry, ironworking, fortifications, etc] or else you are eurocentric!"
If a game looks for historical accuracy, it has to be representative of the situation at the time, not distort it to please people's wishful thinking or minimize their self-pity
Good lord, South Americans have to get over that delusion that other people are deliberately trying to downplay them. We have digged our own victimization holes
