Your Population Exceeds The Domination Limit

[The Mad Monk]

I got this message in red along with a percentage, upon founding yet another city.

What exactly does it mean? It sounds like something that should be avoided, but I see nothing amiss apart from the extra four unhappy faces in each city. Even the number of cities penalty doesn't look bad.

 

[Stormwind]

This is part of a reminder to victory conditions. A Domination Victory has two parts, 25% more population than the next best and more than 65% of the land. If you get close or over one of these you get a warning. In your case, and because its probably very early in the game, a warning about the threshold for population. These messages can be disabled in the BUG menu, the button is in the top left.

 

[The Mad Monk]

Thanks!