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A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 sovereign states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II as their respective monarch.[1] The term is informal, having no legal or official status. These countries have a combined area totalling 18.8 million km² (excluding Antarctic claims), and a combined population of 131 million[2] The relationship of the realms to each other is analagous to a personal union and is sometimes so referred (that is, the realms, though completely sovereign, are united in that they share one monarch as their own).[3] While the term Dominion has never been officially revoked, since the 1950s it has been replaced by use of the word realm in order to reflect the relationship of equality amongst all 16 countries. Commonwealth realms are each members of, but distinguished from, the Commonwealth of Nations, which is an organisation of mostly former British colonies.[1] Within the Commonwealth, there is no difference in status between the Commonwealth realms and other Commonwealth members. Under the 1981 Cook Islands constitution, the Queen in Right of New Zealand is head of state, but any change in the succession made by New Zealand would have no effect in the Cook Islands unless separately ratified there. This effectively makes the Realm of New Zealand a personal union of the Cook Islands and New Zealand.
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