Dominions were
semi-independent polities that were nominally under
The Crown, constituting the
British Empire and later the
British Commonwealth, beginning in the later part of the 19th century. They included
Canada,
Australia,
Pakistan,
India,
Ceylon (
Sri Lanka),
New Zealand,
Newfoundland,
South Africa, and the
Irish Free State. The
Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised the Dominions as "autonomous Communities within the British Empire". In 1931 the
Statute of Westminster recognized the Dominions as fully
sovereign from the United Kingdom, with which they shared a common allegiance to the Crown. The Dominions and later
constitutional monarchies within the Commonwealth of Nations maintained the same royal house and royal succession from before full sovereignty, and became known after the year 1953 as
Commonwealth realms.