Only one copy of a static member of a class is created, regardless of how many instances of the class are instantiated. This single copy is shared across all objects of that class. Static members belong to the class itself rather than any individual object, so they exist independently of class instances and can be accessed using the class name directly

. In summary:

• There is exactly one copy of a static member per class.
• This copy is shared among all instances of the class.
• Static members are initialized once, typically before the program starts executing main, or when first accessed depending on the language rules

• Static methods and properties cannot access non-static members unless explicitly passed an instance.

This behavior applies in languages like C++ and C# and is fundamental to how static members function in object-oriented programming.