Ionia?

This will be terse, but if a Rioter reads this and has an answer, I'm eager to hear it. As many people know, Ionia was an 'IRL' Greek city state in Western(ish) Turkey. What made Riot choose a real, Greek city as the namesake for the in-game equivalent of China and Japan, as opposed to something made up, like 'Zaun', or 'Noxus'? Thanks, Teslablade