I know I don't get why ALL the civilizations and leaders have to be pop-identifiable. Most of them, yes, but how baleful can it be to have a few arcanes?
Sixteen civilizations...probably the most wieldy power of two available (eight would have been far too few, thirty-two overdoing it, especially with the way era bonuses are set up). Still, my hope list from the BtS civilizations differed in three places, even accounting for popular taste...
On the offical list, not on my list: Germany, Zululand, Mongolia
On my list, not on the official list: Iroquois (or, even better, Cahokia), Inca, Babylon (just how unknown is Hammurabi?! The code of laws he developed, in and of itself...)
(I'll probably play Japan, myself...)