Crown land
Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realms, Crown land is considered public land and is not part of the monarch's private estate.
Australia
In Australia, public lands without a specific tenure are referred to as Crown land or State Land, which is described as being held in the "right of the Crown" by either an individual State or the Commonwealth of Australia. Most Crown lands in Australia are held by the Crown in the right of a State. The only land held by the Commonwealth consists of land in the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Jervis Bay Territory, and small areas acquired for airports, defence and other government purposes.Each jurisdiction has its own policies towards the sale and use of Crown lands within the State. For example, New South Wales, where over half of all land is Crown land, passed a controversial reform in 2005 requiring Crown lands to be rated at market value. Crown lands include land set aside for various government or public purposes, development, town planning, as well as vacant land. Crown lands comprise around 23% of Australian land, of which the largest single category is vacant land, comprising 12.5% of the land.
Crown land is used for such things as airports, military grounds, public utilities, or is sometimes unallocated and reserved for future development.
In Tasmania, Crown land is managed under the Crown Lands Act 1976. In Queensland, Unallocated State Land is managed under the Land Act 1994. In South Australia, the relevant Act is the Crown Land Management Act 2009. In Victoria, it is the Crown Land Act 1978 and the Land Act 1958.
Austria
From the late 18th century onwards, the territories acquired by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy were called crown lands. Initially ruled in personal union by the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, they played a vital role as constituent lands of the Habsburg nation-building and were ultimately reorganised as administrative divisions of the centralised Austrian Empire established in 1804. During the restoration period after the Revolutions of 1848, the Austrian crown lands were ruled by Statthalter governors directly subordinate to the Emperor according to the 1849 March Constitution.By the 1861 February Patent, proclaimed by Emperor Franz Joseph I, the Austrian crown lands received a certain autonomy. The traditional Landstände assemblies were elevated to Landtage legislatures, partly elected according to the principle of census suffrage.
After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and Fiume became constituent parts of the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen ; ruled in real union with the remaining Austrian crown lands of Cisleithania until the disintegration of the dual monarchy in 1918.
Bohemia
The medieval European state of the Crown of Bohemia, which was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, consisted of crown lands: the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Margraviate of Moravia, the Duchies of Silesia, Upper and Lower Lusatia.Barbados
When it was a Commonwealth realm, in Barbados, the term Crown land extended to all land that is under the control or ownership of the Crown. This could also pertain to land seized by the government,, or toward lands with backed taxes. The term 'Crown lands' had been used in relation to government owned farms, beaches, and other land areas also maintained by the National Housing Corporation. The government did not allow private ownership of Barbados' of coastal beaches in the country, and all areas below the high-tide watermark in the country were considered specifically as "Crown land".After 30 November 2021, Barbados had transitioned to a republic, replacing the Monarchy of Barbados with a president as head of state. This caused all Crown lands to become state lands instead. Effectively in practice, however, functions of state lands remained the same as Crown lands.
Canada
Within Canada, Crown land is a designated territorial area belonging to the Canadian Crown. Though the monarch owns all Crown land in the country, it is divided in parallel with the "division" of the Crown among the federal and provincial jurisdictions, so that some lands within the provinces are administered by the relevant provincial Crown, whereas others are under the federal Crown. About 82% of Canada's land area is Crown land: 6% is federal crown land and 76% is provincial crown land. The remaining 6% is indigenous owned, and 12% is under private ownership. Most federal Crown land is in the territories and is administered by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Only 4% of land in the provinces is federally controlled, largely in the form of national parks, Indian reserves, or Canadian Forces bases. In contrast, provinces hold much of their territory as provincial Crown land, which may be held as provincial parks or wilderness.Crown land is the equivalent of an entailed estate that passes with the monarchy and cannot be alienated from it; thus, per constitutional convention, these lands cannot be unilaterally sold by the monarch, instead passing on to the next king or queen unless the sovereign is advised otherwise by the relevant ministers of the Crown. Crown land provides the country and the provinces with the majority of their profits from natural resources, largely but not exclusively provincial, rented for logging and mineral exploration rights; revenues flow to the relevant government and may constitute a major income stream, such as in Alberta. Crown land may also be rented by individuals wishing to build homes or cottages.