Tools & Data Reference · Updated for 1.13.9

Victoria 3 Formable Nations: Full Reference

Victoria 3 has 74 formable nations in total: 15 exist as playable starting nations already, 12 more can only be formed through specific events, and the rest require a player to actively satisfy formation conditions and form them manually. Understanding how formation actually works is the foundation for deciding whether a unification campaign is worth pursuing in a given playthrough.

Two formation mechanisms

• Major Unification — only 5 nations use this path: the Federation of the Andes, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, and Yugoslavia. Forming one of these involves competing for “unification candidate” status and contesting leadership, which is meaningfully more involved than the standard path.
• Minor Unification — every other formable nation. The core requirement is directly controlling the required percentage of states in the target region; once that threshold is met, forming the nation costs a set amount of Bureaucracy.

How to use the lookup tool below

1. Type a nation name or region into the search box
2. Review the required state percentage, region, and any additional conditions (specific technology requirements, minimum power rank, and so on)
3. The 5 Major Unification nations currently have full requirement detail; Minor Unification nations are being filled in progressively as country-specific guides are published

The five Major Unification nations, briefly

• Federation of the Andes — unites the North and South Andean culture groups; requires roughly 80% (28 of 35) of the region’s states, plus the Colossus of the South DLC content and Bolívar’s Ambition journal entry, and requires at least Major Power status
• Germany — the classic unification target, most commonly pursued by Prussia; success depends heavily on out-competing rival German states economically and diplomatically before they can claim the leadership role themselves
• Italy — similarly contested among Italian-culture states, with a comparable “who leads the unification” dynamic to Germany
• Scandinavia — unites the Scandinavian culture group across the Nordic states
• Yugoslavia — unites South Slavic culture groups in the Balkans

Each of these five has its own specific culture, region, and state-percentage requirements, along with additional conditions like DLC or journal entry prerequisites — the tool above lists what’s currently confirmed for each.

Scenario: when it’s worth planning a unification campaign

• You’re weighing whether to push for German unification this campaign and want to know exactly which states you still need before committing military and diplomatic resources to it
• You’ve started in an unfamiliar culture and want to know if there’s an existing formable target worth aiming for, instead of expanding without a clear destination
• You’re planning a long campaign and want to compare the barrier to entry between “form a new nation” and “simply expand without forming anything”

FAQ

Why do some nations show full requirements and others don’t? Minor Unification covers 70 nations total. Detailed per-nation state requirements are being added alongside the country-specific guides as they’re published — it’s a scheduling gap, not a data omission.

Which is harder, Major or Minor Unification? Major Unification is politically harder — it usually requires staying ahead of rival candidates within the same culture group in both power and recognition. Minor Unification is more mechanically straightforward: the bar is mostly about actual territorial control.

I meet the requirements but can’t form the nation. What am I missing? Check for inverse conditions — some formations require you to NOT currently be in a specific state (for example, not currently a dual monarchy). Those are listed under “additional conditions” in the table above where known.

Does losing a state after forming a nation undo the formation? No — formation is a one-time transition, not a continuously-checked condition. Once formed, losing territory afterward doesn’t revert the nation back to its pre-formation state.

Why the requirement data is being rolled out gradually

Rather than publish rough, unverified state lists for all 70 Minor Unification nations at once, this reference is built out region by region, cross-checked against the same country guides being written for the Nations pillar. That means a nation you’re specifically researching might not have its exact state list here yet — but when it does appear, it’s been checked against the game’s own regional data rather than estimated. If you’re planning a specific unification and the nation you need isn’t detailed yet, the country-specific guide for that region (where published) is usually the fastest way to get partial information in the meantime.

Formation timing relative to great power politics

Even when territorial requirements are met, the diplomatic moment matters. Forming a nation that other great powers view as a threat to the regional balance can trigger intervention before the formation is fully consolidated. Checking the diplomatic stance of neighboring great powers before finalizing a formation — rather than treating it as a purely mechanical checklist — often makes the difference between a formation that sticks and one that immediately draws unwanted attention.

Cross-checking formation requirements against your current laws

Some formation conditions interact with your current Governance Principles or other active laws, not just territorial control. Before assuming a formation is purely a matter of controlling enough states, it’s worth checking whether any of the “additional conditions” columns above apply to your current political setup, since an otherwise-eligible nation can still be blocked by an incompatible law.

As more country-specific guides are published on this site, the detailed requirement rows for the remaining Minor Unification nations will be filled in incrementally rather than all at once, so it’s worth checking back periodically if the nation you need isn’t listed yet.

As a general rule, treat this tool as a starting point for planning rather than a final word — always confirm current requirements in-game before committing significant military or diplomatic resources to a specific formation target.

Bookmark this page and check back as new country guides are published — the requirement tables here are updated in step with the Nations pillar rather than as a one-time release.

Further reading

To understand what forming a larger nation actually buys you in practice, see the diplomacy and Power Blocs guide — national power rank and Power Bloc leverage are directly linked.

Related guides

• Victoria 3 Diplomacy and Power Blocs Guide