Keeping your population happy or in control matters a lot in Victoria 3 and having a good sense of the religion of different pops alongside what it influences can help you prevent a potential disaster.
In Victoria 3, religion determines whether or not the pops sharing a particular set of beliefs are discriminated against in their country. You can get a breakdown of the current situation by clicking the population button on the left side of your screen or pressing F9.
Victoria 3 Religion
You can scroll down on the Overview tab to get a quick look at the percentage of pops belonging to different religions in your country, while the detailed list tab lets you figure out what categories said pops belong to.
Whether or not pops belonging to a certain religion are discriminated against depends on your State and Church laws, which you can see under the Laws tab in the Politics menu (shortcut F1).
Each country has a state religion and, under the State Religion law, only pops belonging to it are accepted. The Freedom of Conscience law labels as accepted all religions that share a trait with the state religion.
If you hover above any religion, the tooltip that pops up will show its trait. If, for example, your state religion is Protestant, the Freedom of Conscience law makes it so that Orthodox, Catholic, and Oriental Orthodox pops won't be discriminated against, while any others will be considerably less lucky.
The third law that affects Victoria 3's religions is Total Separation, which essentially means that pops won't be discriminated against based on their beliefs.
Discriminated pops get paid less than accepted pops, have less political strength, are less likely to develop qualifications, have a higher tendency to become radicals, and will seriously consider emigrating.
You also won't see too many pops looking to come to your country if they'd end up being treated poorly.
That being said, it is worth noting that discriminated pops will seek to convert to an accepted religion. Whether or not that's the state religion depends on the situation in their region.
The conversion process carries on at a steady rate and can be bolstered through means such as the Religious Schools education law.
Much like culture, to which it is connected, paying attention to religion in Victoria 3 and properly managing your handling of discriminated pops can help avoid some headaches as you advance through the Age of Progress.
Having a clearer picture of how religion works in Victoria 3, you can continue learning more about the game by reading up on its formable nations and available mods.
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