Also, they had mayors and stuff, a VERY clear class division and were technically under the rule of Gondor after the Northern Kingdom fell but Gondor didn't really have the resources or urge to do any ruling over there. Once Aragorn was in they were essentially an autonomous zone under military protection in exchange for maintaining the local roads and bridges.
Yeah, cuz I'm sure the ordinary citizens of Gondor are doing a lot of reading, lololol. However I am actually sure there were plenty of witnesses to the fucking ghost army Aragorn controlled by rite of the oath sworn to his ancestors, not to mention his unnatural age and healing abilities. Denethor couldn't even heal his own fractured psyche (another thing I'm sure many people in Gondor were actually well aware of).