It is my impression that our souls choose a particular location in which to incarnate because of the opportunities available there. Also, it may seek a particular location in which its soulmates are already incarnate. I believe each lifetime is planned with other participating souls to play in specific locations. Some work I'm doing right now indicates we do just that...and our guidance helps us "remember our lines and entrances and exits from the stage" with nudges and impressions.
In my own case, I've had nine consecutive lives in north America dating back to 1748...and those are the ones for which I have some pretty consistent memories...there are several other overlapping memories during the same time period in the US, but mostly England and France, and while they are highly charged in emotion and connection to this lifetime, I have less knowledge of who those beings might have been.