No space for province expansion

[sid0922]

It looks like i am surround by other players (and they don't play) There is no way to expand after province 8 because they are so close together. I will never be able to get to P11 for Elite units. This is poor design. Is there a way around this?

[Angela]

 Hello sid0922,
It is possible to conquer parts of another players exclusive zones if the player hasn't entered the account for more than 1 week and he has only one province (the capital).