Can I pan the minimap in Civilization 5?

In civilization 5 the minimap displays a rectangle, even though civ is actually played on a cylinder - it just means that the east and west edges of the minimap are touching. Sometimes the minimap displays the "calendar line" in a very uncomfortable position - for example I would like my empire to be in the middle, but it appears very close to the edge of that minimap.

I know that after exiting and then loading a game the minimap changed so that my empire was in a different (better) position, far from the sides. Is there any way to somehow control it in-game?

Unfortunately, I don't believe it's possible to do. The fact that the minimap changes on reload probably has more to do with the way the map itself is handled -- when you start out, the map is centered on your revealed position, but as more of the map becomes revealed, eventually the actual "edges" of the map become visible.

I'm betting Civ V doesn't keep track of how your map started, so on the reload it recenters the map based on the revealed area and not your starting position (which invariably will result in the center of the game map being in the center of the minimap as the greater whole of the world becomes explored)