Population & Culture Management
Understanding population promotion, religious conversion, cultural assimilation, and acceptance mechanics.
Population Promotion
100 Stability DOUBLES Promotion Speed
This is why rushing 100 stability in the opening 1-2 years is absolutely critical. The compounding effect lasts the entire campaign.
How Promotion Works
Population promotion moves pops from Peasants to Laborers/Burgers based on economic needs.
What triggers promotion:
- Buildings that require laborers (RGOs, workshops, guilds)
- Urban development (marketplaces, administrative buildings)
- Trade and commerce growth
Promotion speed affected by:
- Stability (100 stability = 2x speed)
- Control (higher control = faster promotion)
- Estate privileges (e.g., Caballeros Villanos for Castile)
- Building construction (creates demand for promoted pops)
Build Infrastructure to Create Promotion Demand
Each marketplace, RGO, and building creates demand for promoted pops. Build first, pops promote automatically to fill the demand.
Don't Panic After Black Death Population Loss
Buildings remain empty after plague. Focus on infrastructure (roads, marketplaces) that doesn't require pops. Stability will naturally promote population to refill buildings over time.
Religious Conversion vs Cultural Assimilation
Religious Conversion
Speed:
Faster (typically 5-15 years depending on stability and control)
Benefit:
Province becomes core at ≥50% state religion (no culture requirement!)
Recommendation:
Prioritize conversion for immediate coring benefits. Most players convert first.
Cultural Assimilation
Speed:
Slower (typically 20-50+ years depending on culture size and distance)
Benefit:
Permanent culture change. Province becomes primary culture (full bonuses forever).
Recommendation:
Optional long-term goal. Convert religion first, assimilate culture later if desired.
Strategic Approach for Conquered Territories
- 1Assign cabinet member to integrate province (Conquered → Integrated status)
- 2Religious conversion (achieve ≥50% state religion for core status)
- 3Optional: Cultural assimilation to primary culture (long-term, not required)
Culture Acceptance System
Acceptance Costs by Culture Relationship
Same Culture Group (Very Cheap)
Cost: 5 prestige + 0.15 cultural capacity
Example: Castilian accepting Galician or Leonese. Trivial cost—accept immediately.
Different Culture Group (Expensive)
Cost: 5 prestige + 2.8 to 5.7+ cultural capacity
Example: Castilian accepting Andalusian or Moroccan. Very expensive—requires high cultural capacity cap.
Cultural Capacity Cap
Castile starts with cultural capacity cap of only 2
Accepting expensive cultures (5.7 cost) would exceed cap and destroy cultural influence. Must increase cap first via technologies and government reforms.
Reduce Costs via Cultural Opinion (Vassal Trick)
Create a custom vassal with the "problem" culture as their primary (e.g., Andalusian from Granada conquests). Improve cultural opinion with that vassal nation.
Result: Cultural acceptance cost drops from 5.7 to 2.8. 50-year cooldown. By the time you annex the vassal, the culture may be cheaply accepted or already converted.
Only Accept Militarily Important Cultures Early
Only primary and accepted culture pops can be raised as levies. If you need military manpower from a culture, accept it. Otherwise, convert/assimilate instead.
Discrimination Tiers
TIER 1Accepted Cultures
Full bonuses: Can raise levies from these pops, no penalties
Includes: Primary culture + any cultures you've accepted
Population satisfaction: 100% (0% control debuff)
TIER 2Tolerated Cultures
Reduced debuffs: Better than discriminated but worse than accepted
Cannot raise levies from tolerated pops
Population satisfaction: 50-80% (minor control debuff)
TIER 3Discriminated Cultures
Maximum penalties: Reduced pop satisfaction and control, cannot raise levies
Population satisfaction: 0-30% (up to -10% control debuff)
Strategic problem: Newly conquered provinces with discriminated cultures can have 0-20% effective control
Advanced Population & Culture Mechanics
Related Topics
Government & Estates
Stability's impact on promotion and conversion speeds
Diplomacy & Expansion
Learn about province integration and vassal strategies