Personal union

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A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent interlinked, such as by sharing some limited governmental institutions. It differs from a federation in that each constituent state has an independent government, whereas a federal state is united by a central government. The ruler in a personal union does not need to be a hereditary monarch. The term was coined by German jurist Johann Stephan Pütter, introducing it into Elementa iuris publici germanici (Elements of German Public Law) of 1760. Personal unions can arise for several reasons, such as: inheritance through a dynastic union, e.g., Louis X of France inherited France from his father and Navarre from his mother decolonization, where ex-colonies install the monarch of the former colonizing power as their own upon becoming independent, e.g., several...

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