Eurasia

[Sombre]

You could drop some sites that increase heat in the deserty provinces. Alternately you can make them wastelands, but add sites like gold mines etc that make them useful in the early game. Midgame the fact they give more magic sites makes them useful.

[LDiCesare]

Why not merge all the desert provinces into one huge waste (thinking of North Africa)? There's no reason why the seas should always be the only big provinces out there.