Managing your country's pops in Victoria 3 involves many moving parts and, if you're leading an empire or have conquest on your agenda, understanding how cultural assimilation works can help you sail or even avoid troubled waters.
In Victoria 3, cultural assimilation is the process through which pops gradually change the culture to which they belong. In order for it to trigger, however, said pops need to be culturally accepted in your country.
Victoria 3 Cultural Assimilation
Much like in the case of religion, laws determine whether or not certain cultures are accepted or discriminated against.
In this case, we're looking specifically at citizenship laws, which can be found on the leftmost column of the Laws tab in the Politics menu accessible via the first button on the left side of your screen or by pressing F1.
During the course of a game, you can unlock five potential choices which range from Ethnostate – in which only pops of the country's primary cultures are accepted – to Multiculturalism, where all pops are accepted, regardless of their cultures and cultural traits.
Accepted pops are the only ones who will consider cultural assimilation in Victoria 3, but, while they'll generally gravitate towards the country's primary culture, there are exceptions. This is where Homelands come into play.
They are state regions that certain cultures feel are historically or naturally their territory. If a foreign culture in your country lives in a state region it deems its Homeland, it will not consider assimilation at all.
If said pops live in a state region that's considered a Homeland of (one of) your primary cultures, they will assimilate into it.
In the case of state regions that aren't Homelands to primary cultures, foreign pops assimilate into the dominant culture there.
Cultural assimilation in Victoria 3 occurs at a fixed rate that can be bolstered through the Public Schools law or the Promote National Values decree. Assimilated pops take on the taboos and obsessions of their new culture.
These helpful pointers should make it easier to grasp how cultural assimilation works in Victoria 3. For more help with the game, check out our articles on formable nations and stockpiling gold.
Keep updated on the latest PC Gaming news by following GameWatcher on Twitter, checking out our videos on YouTube, giving us a like on Facebook, and joining us on Discord. We may also include links to affiliate stores, which gives us a small commission if you purchase anything via them. Thank you.
