Dominions were autonomous polities that were nominally under the Crown, constituting the British Empire and 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" and, in the decades afterward, the dominions each became fully sovereign from the United Kingdom. Those that became sovereign constitutional monarchies within the Commonwealth of Nations and maintained as their own the same royal house and royal succession from before full sovereignty became known after the year 1953 as Commonwealth realms.Earlier usage of "dominion" to refer to a particular territory dates back to the 16th century and was sometimes used to describe Wales from 1535 to around 1800.