I've made a map of the world, with some concessions to playability. 
Starting positions are within normal range for random maps, but are chosen to be unevenly distributed.
I used to test AI behavior in different conditions (room to expand, existence of neighbors).
The human player starts in Italy, which I think is the most interesting starting position (in a normal game).
Experienced players (interested in economy) should try the New Zealand starting position some time (by making it the favorite starting position)
To show that New Zealand is playable, and to show the potential power of my favorite Wonder (The Lighthouse) I included a game against SETI instances.
PS Sorry Argentineans, for cutting off a big chunk of the southern hemisphere