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{{Short description|Political association of mostly former British Empire territories}}
{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; width: 250px;"
{{Redirect|The Commonwealth||Commonwealth (disambiguation)}}
|+ style="font-size: larger; margin-left: inherit;"|<big><big>'''Commonwealth of Nations'''</big></big>
{{EngvarB|date=July 2023}}
|- style="text-align: center;"
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
| colspan="2" |
{{Infobox geopolitical organisation
]<br />
] | name = '''Commonwealth of Nations'''
| linking_name = the Commonwealth of Nations
|-
| image_flag = Commonwealth Flag 2013.svg
| ''']'''
| symbol_type = Logo
| ]
| image_symbol = Commonwealth of Nations logo.svg
|-
| symbol_width = 150px
| ''']'''
| image_map = Carte des pays du Commonwealth.png
| ]
| image_map_size = 300px
|-
| map_caption = {{Legend|#000081|]}}
| ''']'''
{{Legend|lime|]}}
| ] (since 1999)
{{Legend|#F57A00|]}}
|-
{{Legend|lightblue|]<br />and ]}}
| '''Deputy Secretary-General'''
| org_type = ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/our-charter|title=Commonwealth Charter|date=6 June 2013|quote=Recalling that the Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states, each responsible for its own policies, consulting and co-operating in the common interests of our peoples and in the promotion of international understanding and world peace, and influencing international society to the benefit of all through the pursuit of common principles and values|access-date=5 March 2019|archive-date=6 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044606/http://thecommonwealth.org/our-charter|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| ]
| membership_type = Member states
|-
| membership = {{collapsible list
| '''Date of Establishment'''
| titlestyle = background: transparent; text-align: left; font-weight: normal;
| 1926 (as an informal "British" Commonwealth), 1949 (as the modern Commonwealth)
| title = ]
|-
| {{nowrap|{{flagcountry|Antigua and Barbuda}}}}
| ''']'''
| {{flaglist|Australia}}
| 53
| {{flaglist|Bangladesh}}
|-
| {{flaglist|Barbados}}
| ''']'''
| {{flaglist|Belize}}
| ], ]
| {{flaglist|Botswana}}
|-
| {{flaglist|Brunei}}
| '''Official site'''
| {{flaglist|Cameroon}}
|
| {{flaglist|Canada}}
|}
| {{flaglist|Cyprus}}
| {{flaglist|Dominica}}
| {{flaglist|Eswatini}}
| {{flaglist|Fiji}}
| {{flaglist|Gabon}}
| {{flaglist|Gambia}}
| {{flaglist|Ghana}}
| {{flaglist|Grenada}}
| {{flaglist|Guyana}}
| {{flaglist|India}}
| {{flaglist|Jamaica}}
| {{flaglist|Kenya}}
| {{flaglist|Kiribati}}
| {{flaglist|Lesotho}}
| {{flaglist|Malawi}}
| {{flaglist|Malaysia}}
| {{flaglist|Maldives}}
| {{flaglist|Malta}}
| {{flaglist|Mauritius}}
| {{flaglist|Mozambique}}
| {{flaglist|Namibia}}
| {{flaglist|Nauru}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|New Zealand}}}}
| {{flaglist|Nigeria}}
| {{flaglist|Pakistan}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|Papua New Guinea}}}}
| {{flaglist|Rwanda}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|Saint Kitts and Nevis}}}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|Saint Lucia}}}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}}}}
| {{flaglist|Samoa}}
| {{flaglist|Seychelles}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|Sierra Leone}}}}
| {{flaglist|Singapore}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|Solomon Islands}}}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|South Africa}}}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|Sri Lanka}}}}
| {{flaglist|Tanzania}}
| {{flaglist|The Bahamas}}
| {{flaglist|Togo}}
| {{flaglist|Tonga}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|Trinidad and Tobago}}}}
| {{flaglist|Tuvalu}}
| {{flaglist|Uganda}}
| {{nowrap|{{flaglist|United Kingdom}}}}
| {{flaglist|Vanuatu}}
| {{flaglist|Zambia}}
}}
| admin_center_type = Headquarters
| admin_center = ], ], United Kingdom
| languages_type = ]
| languages = English
| p1 = British Empire
| flag_p1 = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
| leader_title1 = ]
| leader_name1 = ]<ref name="commonwealth 090922"/>
| leader_title2 = {{nowrap|]}}
| leader_name2 = ]
| leader_title3 = {{nowrap|]}}
| leader_name3 = ]
| established_event1 = {{nowrap|]}}
| established_date1 = 19 November 1926
| established_event2 = {{nowrap|]}}
| established_date2 = {{nowrap|11 December 1931<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/AnnexB_Commonwealth.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206072849/http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/AnnexB_Commonwealth.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 December 2011 |title=Annex B – Territories Forming Part of the Commonwealth |date=September 2011 |publisher=] |access-date=19 November 2013}}</ref>}}
| established_event3 = {{nowrap|]}}
| established_date3 = 28 April 1949
| area_km2 = 29,958,050
| area_sq_mi = 11,566,870
| population_estimate = 2,418,964,000
| population_estimate_year = 2016
| population_density_km2 = 75
| population_density_sq_mi = 194
| official_website = {{URL|https://thecommonwealth.org/|thecommonwealth.org}}
| footnotes =
| demonym =
| area_rank =
| GDP_PPP =
| GDP_PPP_year =
| HDI =
| HDI_year =
| today =
}}


The '''Commonwealth of Nations''', often simply referred to as '''the Commonwealth''',<ref name="name">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1554175.stm|title=BBC News – Profile: The Commonwealth|website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=February 2012|access-date=15 September 2015|archive-date=6 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906101930/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1554175.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> is an ] of ], the vast majority of which are former ] of the ] from which it developed.<ref name="commonwealth 090922">{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/about-us |website=thecommonwealth.org |publisher=The Commonwealth |access-date=25 March 2024 |archive-date=10 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910080412/https://thecommonwealth.org/about-us |url-status=live }}</ref> They are connected through their ] and historical-cultural ties. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ], which focuses on intergovernmental relations, and the ], which focuses on non-governmental relations between member nations.<ref name="the commonwealth">{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/191247/the_commonwealth|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619122827/http://thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/191247/the_commonwealth/|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 June 2010|title=The Commonwealth|publisher=The Commonwealth|access-date=30 June 2013}}</ref> Numerous ] are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.<ref name="Commonwealth Family">{{cite web |title=Commonwealth Family |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/151814/commonwealth_family/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831143745/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/151814/commonwealth_family/ |archive-date=31 August 2007 |access-date=29 July 2007 |publisher=]}}</ref> It is known colloquially as the '''British Commonwealth'''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Srinivasan |first=Krishnan |title=The rise, decline, and future of the British Commonwealth |date=2008 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-20367-9 |edition=Paperback |location=Basingstoke |page=1}}</ref>
'''The Commonwealth of Nations''' ('''CN'''), usually known as the '''Commonwealth''', is a ] of 53 independent ]s, almost all of which are former colonies of the ].


The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the ] of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was originally created as the '''British Commonwealth of Nations'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/cth11_doc_1926.pdf|title=Imperial Conference 1926 Inter-Imperial Relations Committee Report, Proceedings and Memoranda|date=November 1926|access-date=14 June 2018|quote=Their position and mutual relation may be readily defined. ''They are autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations.''|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050716164959/https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/cth11_doc_1926.pdf|archive-date=16 July 2005|url-status=live}}</ref> through the ] at the ], and formalised by the United Kingdom through the ] in 1931. The current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the ] in 1949, which modernised the community and established the member states as "free and equal".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/document/181889/34293/35468/214257/londondeclaration.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706045924/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/document/181889/34293/35468/214257/londondeclaration.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 July 2010|title=The London Declaration|publisher=The Commonwealth|access-date=4 July 2013}}</ref>
It was once known as the '''British Commonwealth of Nations''' or '''British Commonwealth''', and some still call it by that name, either for historical reasons or to distinguish it from the other ]s around the world. <ref> </ref>. The full name, ''Commonwealth of Nations'', is sufficient to distinguish the Commonwealth from other commonwealths such as the ] or the Commonwealth of Australia.


The ] is ]. He is king of 15 member states, known as the ]s, whilst 36 other members are ], and five others have different monarchs. Although he became head upon the death of his mother, ], the position is not technically hereditary.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Commonwealth|url=https://www.victorialeague.co.uk/our-commonwealth|access-date=1 September 2021|website=The Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship|date=21 May 2019|language=en|archive-date=24 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124092021/https://www.victorialeague.co.uk/our-commonwealth|url-status=live}}</ref>
], who is the Head of State of the 16 ], is the ], and as such is the symbol of the free association of its members. This title, however, does not imply any political power over such members, and does not automatically belong to the ]. In practice Queen Elizabeth heads the Commonwealth in only a symbolic capacity, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the organisation.


Member states have no legal obligations to one another, though some have institutional links to other Commonwealth nations. ] affords benefits in some member countries, particularly in the ], and Commonwealth countries are represented to one another by ] rather than embassies. The ] defines their shared values of ], ] and the ],<ref name="charter">{{cite web|url=https://thecommonwealth.org/charter|title=Commonwealth Charter|publisher=The Commonwealth|access-date=11 April 2023|archive-date=1 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401035517/https://thecommonwealth.org/charter|url-status=live}}</ref> as promoted by the quadrennial ].
The majority of members of the Commonwealth (31) are ]s with their own Heads of state. The remaining members are realms with their own monarchs (], ], ], ], and ]). These members still recognise the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth.


A majority of Commonwealth countries are ], with ] constituting almost half its membership.
The Commonwealth is primarily an ] in which countries with diverse economic backgrounds have an opportunity for close and equal interaction. The primary activities of the Commonwealth are designed to create an atmosphere of economic co-operation between member nations, as well as the promotion of ], ], and ] in those nations.


==History==
The Commonwealth is not a ], and does not allow the ] (UK) to exercise any power over the affairs of the organisation's other members.
===Conceptual origins===
{{Main|British Empire|Historiography of the British Empire}}
Every four years the Commonwealth's members celebrate the ], the world's second-largest ] after the ].
], with "British Empire" crossed out and "British Commonwealth of Nations" added by hand]]
]: (L-R) ] (Canada), ] (]), ] (United Kingdom), ] (New Zealand) and ] (Australia)]]


], in her address to Canada on ] in 1959, pointed out that the ] on 1 July 1867 had been the birth of the "first independent country within the British Empire". She declared: "So, it also marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations."<ref>{{cite video| title=Queen Elizabeth's 1959 Dominion Day Message| publisher=CBC| url=http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/queen-elizabeths-1959-dominion-day-message| date=1 July 1959| location=Government House (Rideau Hall), Ottawa| people=Queen Elizabeth II| access-date=9 November 2015| archive-date=20 November 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120073412/http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/queen-elizabeths-1959-dominion-day-message| url-status=live}}</ref> As long ago as 18 January 1884<ref></ref> ], while visiting ], ], had described the changing British Empire, as some of its colonies ], as a "Commonwealth of Nations".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619122654/http://thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history/|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 June 2010|title=History – Though the modern Commonwealth is just 60 years old, the idea took root in the 19th century|publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |work=thecommonwealth.org|access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref> Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from ], leading to the creation of the ]s in 1911.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mole|first=Stuart|title=Seminars for statesmen': the evolution of the Commonwealth summit|journal=]|date=September 2004|volume=93|issue=376|pages=533–546 |doi=10.1080/0035853042000289128|s2cid=154616079|doi-access=free | issn = 0035-8533 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kendle |first1=J.E. |author-link1=John Kendle |year=1967 |title=The Colonial and Imperial Conferences, 1887-1911: A Study in Imperial Organization |journal=The American Historical Review |url=https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/74/3/999/91500 |series=Imperial Studies |volume=XXVIII |publication-place=] |publisher=] for the ] |asin=B0000CO3QA |doi=10.1086/ahr/74.3.999 }}</ref>
==Origin==
Although performing a vastly different function, the Commonwealth is the successor of the ]. In 1884, whilst visiting ], ], ] described the changing British Empire, as some of its colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations".


The Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. A specific proposal was presented by ] in 1917 when he coined the term "the British Commonwealth of Nations" and envisioned the "future constitutional relations and readjustments in essence"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-12 |title=Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting 2018 - Civil Service |url=https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/12/commonwealth-heads-of-government-meeting-2018/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=civilservice.blog.gov.uk |language=en |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601223841/https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/12/commonwealth-heads-of-government-meeting-2018/ |url-status=live }}</ref> at the ], attended by delegates from the Dominions as well as the United Kingdom.<ref>F.S. Crafford, ''Jan Smuts: A Biography'' (2005) p. 142</ref><ref>The Irish ], agreed in 1921, included the ]'s "adherence to and membership of the group of nations forming the British Commonwealth of Nations".</ref> The term first received imperial statutory recognition in the ] of 1921, when the term ''British Commonwealth of Nations'' was substituted for ''British Empire'' in the wording of the oath taken by members of parliament of the ].<ref>{{cite book|title=Peace by ordeal: an account, from first-hand sources of the negotiation and signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921|last=Pakenham|first=Frank|author-link=Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford|year=1972|publisher=Sidgwick and Jackson|isbn=978-0-283-97908-8}}</ref>
===British Empire weakens===
Conferences of British and colonial ] had occurred periodically since 1887, leading to the creation of the ] in the late 1920s. <ref name="history">{{cite web|title=History of the Commonwealth|url=http://www.chogm99.org/what/history1.htm}}</ref> The formal organisation of the Commonwealth developed from the ], where the independence of the ] and especially of ]s was recognised, particularly in the ] at the Imperial Conference in 1926, when the UK and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". This relationship was eventually formalised by the ] in 1931.


===Adoption and formalisation===
===Many members gain independence===
After ], the Empire was gradually dismantled, partly owing to the rise of independence movements in the then-subject territories (such as that started in ] under the influence of ] and ]), and partly owing to the British Government's strained circumstances resulting from the cost of the war. The word "British" was dropped in 1949 from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect the changing position. <ref name="timeline">{{cite web|title=Commonwealth history timelines|url=http://www.commonwealthonline.info/history/4/}}</ref>] (1948), and ] (1967) are the only former colonies not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Among the former ]s and ], ] (1932), ] (1946), ] (1948), ] (1953), ] (1956), ] (1961), ] (1971), ] (1971), ] (1971), and the ] (1971) never became members of the Commonwealth. The ] left the Commonwealth upon becoming a ] in 1949. However, the ] passed by the ] gave citizens of the Republic of Ireland a status similar to that of other citizens of the Commonwealth in ].


In the ] at the ], the United Kingdom and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". The term ']' was officially adopted to describe the community.<ref name=green>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of European Imperialism|year=1991|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=978-0-313-26257-9|pages=297–298|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uyqepNdgUWkC&pg=PA297}}</ref>
===Republics as members===
The issue of ]an status within the Commonwealth was resolved in April 1949 at a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London. India agreed that when it became a republic in January 1950 it would accept the King as "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such Head of the Commonwealth". The other Commonwealth countries in turn recognised India's continuing membership of the association. (At Pakistan’s insistence, India was not regarded as an exceptional case and it was assumed that other states would be accorded the same treatment as India.) The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of the modern Commonwealth.


These aspects to the relationship were formalised by the ] in 1931, which applied to Canada without the need for ratification, but Australia, New Zealand and ] had to ratify the statute for it to take effect. Newfoundland never did as due to economic hardship and the need for financial assistance from London, Newfoundland voluntarily accepted the suspension of self-government in 1934 and governance reverted to direct control from London. Newfoundland later joined Canada as its ] in 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/commission_gov.html|title=The Commission of Government, 1934–1949|publisher=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website|work=heritage.nf.ca|date=January 2003|access-date=29 July 2011|author=Webb, Jeff A.|archive-date=20 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220171931/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/commission_gov.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Australia and New Zealand ] and ] respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-96.html|title=Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (Cth)|publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House|work=foundingdocs.gov.au (Documenting a Democracy)|access-date=29 July 2011|archive-date=15 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815075419/http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-96.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/ParlSupport/ResearchPapers/9/1/8/00PLLawRP07041-New-Zealand-sovereignty-1857-1907-1947-or-1987.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522195038/http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/ParlSupport/ResearchPapers/9/1/8/00PLLawRP07041-New-Zealand-sovereignty-1857-1907-1947-or-1987.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 May 2011|title=New Zealand Sovereignty: 1857, 1907, 1947, or 1987?|publisher=]|work=parliament.nz|date=August 2007|access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref>
===Old, New and White Commonwealth===
As the Commonwealth grew, the UK and pre-1945 Dominions (a term formally dropped in the 1940s) became informally known as the "]", particularly since the 1960s when some of them disagreed with poorer, ]n and Asian (or ]) members about various issues at ] meetings. Accusations that the old, "White" Commonwealth had different interests from African Commonwealth nations in particular, and charges of ] and ], arose during heated debates about ] in the 1970s, the imposition of ]s against ]-era South Africa in the 1980s and, more recently, about whether to press for democratic reforms in ] and then ]. The term ''New Commonwealth'' is also used in the ] (especially in the 1960s and 1970s) to refer to recently ] countries, which are predominantly non-white and underdeveloped. It was often used in debates about ] from these countries.


Although the Union of South Africa was not amongst the Dominions that needed to adopt the Statute of Westminster for it to take effect, two laws — the ], and the Royal Executive Functions and Seals Act, 1934 — were passed by the ] to confirm South Africa's status as a sovereign state, and to incorporate the Statute of Westminster into the ].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dugard|first1=John|last2=Bethlehem|first2=Daniel|last3=Plessis|first3=Max du|last4=Katz|first4=Anton|title=International law: a South African perspective|date=2005|publisher=Juta|location=Lansdowne, South Africa|isbn=978-0-7021-7121-5|page=19}}</ref>
In recent years, the term "]" has been used in a derogatory sense to imply that the wealthier, white nations of the Commonwealth had different interests and goals from the non-white, and particularly the African members. Zimbabwean President ] has used the term frequently to allege that the Commonwealth's attempts to catalyse political changes in his country is motivated by racism and colonialist attitudes and that the White Commonwealth dominates the Commonwealth of Nations as a whole.


=== Second World War ===
There have been attempts made by groups such as the ] to unite the commonwealth and provide closer ties both culturally and economically, starting with the "White Commonwealth" and expanding to include other nations within the commonwealth generally.
], depicting soldiers from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the ], South Africa and ]]]
{{Main|British Empire in World War II}}
Commonwealth countries and the Empire were ] in every major theatre of the ]. The ] was established for pilots from across the Empire and Dominions, created by the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.<ref name="Hayter">Hayter, Steven. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029051546/http://www.airmuseum.ca/bcatp.html|date=29 October 2010}} ''British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum,'' Retrieved: 18 October 2010.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Fact File : Commonwealth and Allied Forces |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6651218.shtml |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=BBC}}</ref> Troops from Australia, Britain, the ] and New Zealand made up the ] in post-war Japan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Commonwealth Occupation Force 1945–52 |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/bcof |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Australian War Memorial}}</ref>


===Decolonisation and self-governance===
==Membership==
{{Main list|List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom}}
]


After the Second World War ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether ]s or republics, and members of the Commonwealth. There remain the 14 mainly self-governing ] which retain some political association with the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the ], the word "British" was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/187367/celebrating_thecommonwealth_60 |title=Celebrating thecommonwealth@60 |date=26 April 2009 |work=thecommonwealth.org |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |access-date=29 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804012916/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/187367/celebrating_thecommonwealth_60/ |archive-date=4 August 2009}}</ref>
The Commonwealth encompasses a population of approximately 1.975 billion people in 53 countries, making up about 31% of the world's population. The total GDP is about US$7.8 trillion (about 16% of the total world economy). The land area of the Commonwealth nations is about 12.1 million ]s (about 21% of the total world land area).


] (Myanmar since 1989) and ] (now part of Yemen) are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Former British ]s and ] that did not become members of the Commonwealth are Egypt (independent in 1922), Iraq (1932), ] (1946), ] (part of which became the State of Israel in 1948), Sudan (1956), ] (which united with the former ] in 1960 to form the ]), Kuwait (1961), Bahrain (1971), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971) and the United Arab Emirates (1971).<ref>Chris Cook and John Paxton, ''Commonwealth Political Facts'' (Macmillan, 1978).</ref>
The four largest Commonwealth nations by population are ] at 1,100 million, ] at 159 million, ] at 141 million, and ] at 137 million.


The post-war Commonwealth was given a fresh mission by Queen Elizabeth II in her Christmas Day 1953 broadcast, in which she envisioned the Commonwealth as "an entirely new conception – built on the highest qualities of the Spirit of Man: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace".<ref>Brian Harrison, ''Seeking a Role: The United Kingdom 1951—1970'' (Oxford UP, 2009), p. 102.</ref> However, the British treasury was so weak that it could not operate independently of the United States. Furthermore, the loss of defence and financial roles undermined ] early 20th-century vision of a world empire that could combine Imperial preference, mutual defence and social growth. In addition, the United Kingdom's cosmopolitan role in world affairs became increasingly limited, especially with the losses of India and Singapore.<ref>Harrison, ''Seeking a Role: The United Kingdom 1951—1970'', p. 103.</ref> While British politicians at first hoped that the Commonwealth would preserve and project British influence, they gradually lost their enthusiasm, argues ]. Early enthusiasm waned as British policies came under fire at Commonwealth meetings. Public opinion became troubled as immigration from non-white member states became large-scale (see also: ]).<ref>Krishnan Srinivasan, "Nobody's Commonwealth? The Commonwealth in Britain's post-imperial adjustment." ''Commonwealth & Comparative Politics'' 44.2 (2006): 257–269.</ref>
The three largest Commonwealth nations by area are ] at 3.8 million square miles, ] at 3.0 million square miles, and ] at 1.2 million square miles.


The term "New Commonwealth" gained usage in the UK (especially in the 1960s and 1970s) to refer to recently ] countries, predominantly non-] and ] countries. It was often used in debates regarding immigration from these countries.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hennessy |first=Patrick |date=5 June 2004 |title=Blair calls for quotas on immigrants from 'New Commonwealth' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1463759/Blair-calls-for-quotas-on-immigrants-from-New-Commonwealth.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819203727/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1463759/Blair-calls-for-quotas-on-immigrants-from-New-Commonwealth.html |archive-date=19 August 2018 |access-date=6 April 2018 |newspaper=]}}</ref> The United Kingdom and the pre-1945 dominions became informally known as the "Old Commonwealth", or more pointedly as the "white Commonwealth",<ref>
The four largest economies are ] at US$2,600 billion, the ] at US$1,500 billion, ] at US$930 billion, and ] at US$520 billion (on a purchasing power parity basis, from the CIA World Factbook 2005).
{{cite journal |last=de Villiers |first=Marq |year=1998 |title=Review of ''The Ambiguous Champion: Canada and South Africa in the Trudeau and Mulroney Years'' by Linda Freeman |journal=International Journal |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=783–785 : 783 |doi=10.2307/40203728 |issn=0020-7020 |jstor=40203728}};
{{cite journal |last=Miles |first=Robert |year=2016 |title=The Racialization of British Politics |journal=Political Studies |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=277–285 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9248.1990.tb01493.x |issn=0032-3217 |s2cid=145691345}}</ref> in reference to what had been known as the "White Dominions".<ref name="merriman">{{cite encyclopedia |title=British Empire |encyclopedia=Europe since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=Detroit |date=2006 |editor1-last=Merriman |editor1-first=J. |volume=1 |pages=45 |isbn=978-0-684-31366-5 |oclc=68221208 |editor2-last=Winter |editor2-first=J.}}</ref>


===Commonwealth republics===
The largest military spenders are the ] at US$32 billion, ] at US$18 billion, ] at US$12 billion, and ] at US$7.9 billion. The Commonwealth of Nations is not a military alliance.
{{Main|Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations}}
On 18 April 1949, Ireland formally became a republic in accordance with the Irish ]; in doing so, it also formally left the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whyte |first1=J. H. |author-link1=John Henry Whyte |editor1-last=Hill |editor1-first=J. R. |title=A New History of Ireland |volume=VII: Ireland, 1921–84 |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-161559-7 |page=277 (footnote 20) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PfFXarIhGqEC&pg=PA277 |access-date=6 August 2019 |chapter=Economic crisis and political cold war, 1949-57 |quote=The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948...repealed the external relations act, and provided for the declaration of a republic, which came into force on 18 Apr. 1949, when Ireland left the commonwealth. |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215111753/https://books.google.com/books?id=PfFXarIhGqEC&pg=PA277 |url-status=live }}</ref> Whilst Ireland had not actively participated in the Commonwealth since the early 1930s, other dominions wished to become republics without losing Commonwealth ties. The issue came to a head in April 1949 at a ]. Under the ], as drafted by ], India agreed, when it became a republic in January 1950, it would remain in the Commonwealth and accept the British Sovereign as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth". Upon hearing this, King ] told ]: "So, I've become 'as such'".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/staying-loyal-to-george/581730/0|title=Staying loyal to George|work=indianexpress.com|date=19 February 2010|access-date=13 April 2011|archive-date=15 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515213125/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/staying-loyal-to-george/581730/0|url-status=live}}</ref> Some other Commonwealth countries that have since become republics have chosen to leave, whilst others, such as ], ] and ], have remained members.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54174794|title=Barbados to remove Queen Elizabeth as head of state|work=BBC News|date=16 September 2020|access-date=18 March 2021|archive-date=11 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311160055/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54174794|url-status=live}}</ref>


India's inaugural prime minister ] declared on 16 May 1949, shortly following the Declaration, during the ] that:
] is the smallest member, with only 11,000 people.


{{cquote|We join the Commonwealth obviously because we think it is beneficial to us and to certain causes in the world that we wish to advance. The other countries of the Commonwealth want us to remain there because they think it is beneficial to them. It is mutually understood that it is to the advantage of the nations in the Commonwealth and therefore they join. At the same time, it is made perfectly clear that each country is completely free to go its own way; it may be that they may go, sometimes go so far as to break away from the Commonwealth...Otherwise, apart from breaking the evil parts of the association, it is better to keep a co-operative association going which may do good in this world rather than break it.<ref name=debate-cad>{{cite web|title=Constituent Assembly Debates (India)|url=http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol8p1.htm|publisher=]|access-date=25 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109080743/http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol8p1.htm|archive-date=9 November 2013|location=]|date=16 May 1949}}</ref>
], next to the ], London.]]
}}The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of the modern Commonwealth. Following India's precedent, other nations became republics, or ] with their own monarchs. Whilst some countries retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, their monarchies developed differently and soon became essentially independent of the British monarchy. The monarch is regarded as a separate ] in each realm, even though the same person is monarch of each realm.<ref name="Bogdanor">{{citation| last=Bogdanor| first=Vernon| author-link=Vernon Bogdanor| title=The Monarchy and the Constitution| publisher=Oxford University Press| date=12 February 1998| location=New York| page=288| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mN6SzMefot4C&q=%22overseas+realms%22&pg=PA289| isbn=978-0-19-829334-7}}</ref><ref name="HCUK">{{Cite journal|last=High Commissioner in United Kingdom |title=Royal Style and Titles |journal=Documents on Canadian External Relations > Royal Style and Titles |volume=18 |issue=2 |date=24 November 1952 |url=http://www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefid=3498 |id=DEA/50121-B-40 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123050633/http://www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefid=3498| archive-date=23 November 2011| df=dmy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| last=Smy| first=William A.| title=Royal titles and styles| journal=The Loyalist Gazette| volume=XLVI| issue=1| year=2008| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1372/is_1_46/ai_n29437278/| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711172851/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1372/is_1_46/ai_n29437278/| url-status=dead| archive-date=11 July 2012| access-date=3 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="Toporoski">{{cite web| title=The Invisible Crown| publisher=Monarchy Canada| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/invisibl.htm| author=Toporoski, Richard| access-date=20 April 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209220704/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/invisibl.htm| archive-date=9 February 2008}}</ref>
Membership is open to countries that accept the association's basic aims and have a present or past constitutional link to a Commonwealth member. Not all members have had direct constitutional ties to the UK: some South Pacific countries were formerly under Australian or New Zealand administration, while ] was governed by South Africa from 1920 until independence in 1990. ] joined in 1995 although only a fraction of its territory had formerly been under British administration through the ] of 1920–46 and ] Trusteeship arrangement of 1946–61. There is only one member of the present Commonwealth that has never had any constitutional link to the British Empire or a Commonwealth member: ], a former ] ], was admitted in 1995 on the back of the triumphal re-admission of ] and Mozambique's first democratic elections, held in 1994. The move was supported by Mozambique's neighbours, all of whom were members of the Commonwealth and who wished to offer assistance in overcoming the losses incurred from the country's opposition to white minority regimes in ] (now ]) and South Africa. In 1997, amid some discontent, Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed that Mozambique's admission should be seen as a special case and not set a precedent.


===Proposals to include Europe===
==Non-members==
At a time when Germany and France, together with Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, were planning what later became the ], and newly independent African countries were joining the Commonwealth, new ideas were floated to prevent the United Kingdom from becoming isolated in economic affairs. British trade with the Commonwealth was four times larger than its trade with Europe. In 1956 and 1957, the British government, under Prime Minister ], considered a "Plan G" to create a European free trade zone whilst also protecting the favoured status of the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last = Gowland |title = Britain and European Integration Since 1945: On the Sidelines |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dvt-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |year=2009 |publisher=Routledge|page=46|display-authors=etal|isbn=978-1-134-35452-8 }}</ref><ref>James R. V. Ellison, "Perfidious Albion? Britain, Plan G and European Integration, 1955–1956", ''Contemporary British History'' (1996) 10#4 pp 1–34.</ref><ref>Martin Schaad, "Plan G – A "Counterblast"? British Policy Towards the Messina Countries, 1956", ''Contemporary European History'' (1998) 7#1 pp 39–60.</ref> The United Kingdom also considered inviting Scandinavian and other European countries to join the Commonwealth, so that it would become a major economic common market.
===Non-applicants===


At the time of the ] in 1956, and in the face of colonial unrest and international tensions, French prime minister ] proposed to British prime minister ] that their two countries be ]. When that proposal was turned down, Mollet suggested that France join the Commonwealth, possibly with "a common citizenship arrangement ]". These ideas faded away with the end of the Suez Crisis.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatfeedback/4202596/France-offered-to-merge-with-UK-in-1950s.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatfeedback/4202596/France-offered-to-merge-with-UK-in-1950s.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=France offered to 'merge' with UK in 1950s|first=Laura|last=Clout|date=15 January 2007|work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6261885.stm|title= UK – When Britain and France nearly married|website=BBC NEWS |first1=Mike |last1=Thomson |date=15 January 2007|access-date=12 September 2016|archive-date=23 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123072141/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6261885.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Frank Heinlein|title=British Government Policy and Decolonisation, 1945–63: Scrutinising the Official Mind|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZAFeAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA143|year=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|pages=137–43|isbn=978-1-135-28441-1}}</ref>
], USA, still retains the Union Jack]]


=== Expansion ===
], ] twice suggested that ], although it was never a member of the British Empire (even if for centuries English/British monarchs claimed the title ']'), should apply for Commonwealth membership. This idea was never realised, but might be seen as a follow-up to a proposal made by Churchill to join the British and legitimate French governments during ], in opposition to the puppet regime of ].
The first member to be admitted without having any constitutional link to the British Empire was ] in 1995 following its first democratic elections. Mozambique was a former ]. Its entry preceded the ] and the current membership guidelines.<ref name="New Times" /> In 2009, Rwanda became the second country to be admitted to the Commonwealth not to have any constitutional links to Britain. It was a ] that had been a district of ] until ].<ref name="NYT admission" />


In 2022, ], a former French mandate territory, and ], a former French colony, joined the Commonwealth, despite never having been under British rule.<ref name=":3" /> Gabon was partially suspended from the Commonwealth in September 2023 ], with two years given by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group for the country to hold new elections before a full suspension of Commonwealth membership would be considered.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gabon partially suspended from the Commonwealth pending restoration of democracy |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/news/gabon-partially-suspended-commonwealth-pending-restoration-democracy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930044928/https://thecommonwealth.org/news/gabon-partially-suspended-commonwealth-pending-restoration-democracy |archive-date=30 September 2023 |access-date=1 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-09-20 |title=Gabon partially suspended from Commonwealth after coup |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66861734 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004115135/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66861734 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |access-date=2023-10-03 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
In ], the original ] (four of which were since subdivided) which successfully fought the ] for their independence in the ] possess the requisite history of British rule, but they are now member-states of the ]. On the west coast of the USA, what is now part of ] State and ] were first explored by Captain ] of the ]. The island State of ] (the 50th U.S. state) was first visited by Captain ] in ] on his third voyage aboard the ]. The ] was added to the Hawaiian flag in ] as the British gradually took control of the islands. This political allegiance mitigates serious consideration of the USA applying for Commonwealth membership. Nevertheless, the UK maintains close cultural and political ties with the USA apart from the Commonwealth.


Prior to Togo's admission at the ], Togolese Foreign Minister ] said that he expected Commonwealth membership to provide opportunities for Togolese citizens to learn ] and access new educational and cultural resources. He also remarked that the country sought closer ties with the ].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Lawson |first=Alice |date=2022-06-24 |title=Togo sees Commonwealth entry as pivot to English-speaking world |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/togo-sees-commonwealth-entry-pivot-english-speaking-world-2022-06-24/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>
During the late ] and early ], the government of ] reportedly made serious attempts at joining the Commonwealth (as well as entering into a ] with Britain), despite having no history of direct British rule<ref> (Report on the visit to Great Britain by the Norwegian royal family), ''Aftenposten'' 26 October 2005</ref>. Because of the close ties between Britain and Norway, inaugurated in ] with Norway's independence from ], informal proceedings were opened, but they stranded because the ] rejected the proposal that Norway should adopt the ] as its official currency, and because of protocol issues, as the Commonwealth would, upon Norway's entry, have two separate royal heads of state among its members.


==Structure==
] suggested that ] join the Commonwealth, but this proposal was opposed by most Israelis for suggesting dependence upon the UK, and by the organisation as suggesting firmer support for Israel than it offered.
===Head of the Commonwealth===
{{Main|Head of the Commonwealth}}
], the longest-serving ], was in office for 70 years.]]
Under the formula of the ], ] is the ].<ref name="commonwealth 090922"/><ref name="Report of the CCM">{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=174532 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426044116/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=174532 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 April 2009 |title=Report of the Committee on Commonwealth Membership |access-date=29 June 2008 |last=Patterson |first=Percival |author-link=P.J. Patterson |date=24 October 2007 |publisher=] }}</ref> However, when the monarch dies, the successor to the crown does not automatically become the new head of the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930063803/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2006|title=Head of the Commonwealth|publisher=]| access-date=29 June 2008}}</ref> Despite this, at their meeting in April 2018, Commonwealth leaders agreed that ] should succeed his mother ] as head after ].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/20/prince-charles-next-head-commonwealth-queen |title=Prince Charles to be next head of Commonwealth |last=Walker |first=Peter |date=20 April 2018 |work=The Guardian |access-date=3 December 2018 |archive-date=22 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422065938/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/20/prince-charles-next-head-commonwealth-queen |url-status=live }}</ref> The position is symbolic, representing the free association of independent members,<ref name="Report of the CCM"/> the majority of which (36) are ], and five have monarchs of different ]s (], ], ], ] and ]).


===Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting===
] and ] have never shown an interest in joining the Commonwealth, although they are eligible to do so, having histories of British rule. ], ], ], and ] similarly are not members.
{{Main|Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting}}


The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial ] (CHOGM), where ], including (amongst others) ] and presidents, assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the ] and, earlier, the ]s and Colonial Conferences, dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers and others. Members in arrears, as special members before them, are not invited to send representatives to either ministerial meetings or CHOGMs.<ref name="Report of the CCM" />
] could not join the Commonwealth following the end of British rule in 1997, as it became a ] of the ].


The head of government hosting the CHOGM is called the ] and retains the position until the following CHOGM.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecommonwealth.org/about-us/how-we-are-run|title=How we are run|website=The Commonwealth|date=22 August 2013|access-date=17 November 2020|archive-date=14 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114191058/https://thecommonwealth.org/about-us/how-we-are-run|url-status=live}}</ref>
Other countries with historical links to the United Kingdom that could be potential Commonwealth members, but have shown no indication of a wish to join, include ], ], ] and the ].


===Commonwealth Secretariat===
===Current and possible future applicants===
{{main|Commonwealth Secretariat}}
], London, the headquarters of the ], the Commonwealth's principal intergovernmental institution]]
The ], established in 1965, is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and co-operation amongst member governments and countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Commonwealth |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Commonwealth |language=en |archive-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116192301/https://thecommonwealth.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is responsible to member governments collectively. The Commonwealth of Nations is represented in the ] by the secretariat as an ]. The secretariat organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions; it assists policy development and provides policy advice, and facilitates multilateral communication amongst the member governments. It also provides technical assistance to help governments in the social and economic development of their countries and in support of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values.<ref name="Paxton, 1978">Cook and Paxton, ''Commonwealth Political Facts'' (1978) part 3.</ref>


The secretariat is headed by the ], who is elected by the ] for no more than two four-year terms. The secretary-general and two deputy secretaries-general direct the divisions of the Secretariat. The present secretary-general is ], from Dominica, who took office on 1 April 2016, succeeding ] of India (2008–2016). The first secretary-general was ] of Canada (1965–1975), followed by Sir ] of Guyana (1975–1990), Chief ] of Nigeria (1990–1999), and ] of New Zealand (2000–2008).<ref name="Paxton, 1978" />
], ] and ] <ref></ref>have applied to join the Commonwealth, and if a civil administration takes power in ] it might also apply.


=== Commonwealth citizenship and high commissioners ===
It has also been suggested that ], ] and ] might consider joining, while the ] could rejoin. A number of Irish politicians, notably cabinet minister ] (a grandson of ]), have advocated rejoining, and the government of ] considered doing so in the 1960s, Lemass in the mid 1960s had his ] ] raise the issue. Lenihan described his actions as ] to gauge the public reaction. In the aftermath of the 50th anniversary of the ] the idea was controversial and was dropped. It has been raised since by, among others, ] (] July-October 1981) and by Lenihan again in the late 1980s. The current ], ] has suggested that it is unlikely to happen.
] of ] in ]]]
{{Main|Commonwealth citizen|High commissioner (Commonwealth)}}


Some member states grant particular rights to Commonwealth citizens. The United Kingdom and several others, mostly in the ], grant ] to resident Commonwealth citizens.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Belton |first=Kristy A. |date=2019-01-02 |title=Muddy waters: citizenship and the right to vote in the Commonwealth Caribbean migratory context |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14662043.2019.1545526 |journal=Commonwealth & Comparative Politics |language=en |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=93–122 |doi=10.1080/14662043.2019.1545526 |issn=1466-2043}}</ref> Some countries, including the United Kingdom, have preferential citizenship acquisition or residency policies for Commonwealth citizens.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prove you have right of abode in the UK |url=https://www.gov.uk/right-of-abode/commonwealth-citizens |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Immigration |url=https://dgip.gov.pk/immigration/citizenship.php |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Manby |first=Bronwyn |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/44960 |title=Citizenship Law in Africa: 3rd Edition |date=2015 |isbn=9781928331124 |edition=3rd |pages=91–92 |language=English |chapter=Naturalisation |publisher=African Books Collective |oclc=945563529}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Manby |first=Bronwyn |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/44960 |title=Citizenship Law in Africa: 3rd Edition |date=2015 |isbn=9781928331124 |edition=3rd |pages=91–92 |language=English |chapter=Naturalisation |publisher=African Books Collective |oclc=945563529}}</ref> Initially, Commonwealth countries were not considered to be "foreign" to each other as their citizens were ]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dale |first=William |date=July 1982 |title=Is the Commonwealth an International Organisation? |journal=] |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=451–73 |doi=10.1093/iclqaj/31.3.451}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clute |first1=Robert E. |last2=Wilson |first2=Robert R. |date=July 1958 |title=Commonwealth and Favored-Nation Usage |journal=] |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=455–468 |doi=10.2307/2195461 |jstor=2195461 |s2cid=147526549}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hedley |first=Bull |date=July 1959 |title=What is the Commonwealth? |journal=] |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=577–87 |doi=10.2307/2009593 |jstor=2009593 |s2cid=154764036}}</ref> Citizenship laws have evolved independently in each Commonwealth country. For example, in Australia, for the purpose of considering certain constitutional and legal provisions in the ] case of '']'', the United Kingdom was held to be a "foreign power".<ref name="HCA30/1999">{{Cite AustLII |litigants=Sue v Hill |year=1999 |court=HCA |num=30 |parallelcite=(1999)&nbsp;199&nbsp;]&nbsp;462.}}</ref> Similarly, in ''Nolan v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs'', the nationals of other Commonwealth realms were held to be "aliens".{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}
Should ] and ] gain independence or international recognition it is likely they will want to join the Commonwealth too. Any internationally recognised split of the island of ] might also see both the Greek and Turkish halves of the island as Commonwealth members (currently Cyprus is officially a unitary member of the Commonwealth).


Commonwealth citizens may receive ] from other Commonwealth countries. In particular, British embassies and consulates may provide assistance to Commonwealth nationals in non-Commonwealth countries if their own country is not represented.<ref>{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Support for British nationals abroad: a guide |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224126/FCOBritsAbroadA4_0713xx.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019062503/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224126/FCOBritsAbroadA4_0713xx.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2013 |publisher=Foreign and Commonwealth Office |page=5 |quote=We may also help Commonwealth nationals in non-Commonwealth countries where they do not have any diplomatic or consular representation, but will normally ask their nearest embassy to provide any ongoing assistance required.}}</ref> Commonwealth citizens are eligible to apply for ].<ref>{{cite web |title=The new UK Emergency Passport |url=http://centralcontent.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/central-content-pdfs/5619320/etd-leaflet.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121212135632/http://centralcontent.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/central-content-pdfs/5619320/etd-leaflet.pdf |archive-date=12 December 2012 |access-date=15 May 2019 |publisher=] |location=United Kingdom}}</ref> Australia issues ] in exceptional circumstances to resident Commonwealth citizens who are unable to obtain valid travel documents from their countries of origin and must travel urgently.<ref>{{cite web |title=Travel related documents |url=https://www.passports.gov.au/travel-related-documents |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327010248/https://www.passports.gov.au/travel-related-documents |archive-date=27 March 2019 |access-date=15 May 2019 |publisher=] |location=Australia}}</ref>
Two nations with no historical links to the ], ] and ], have also applied to join, but their accession seems unlikely.


The close association amongst Commonwealth countries is reflected in the diplomatic protocols of the Commonwealth countries. For example, when engaging bilaterally with one another, Commonwealth governments exchange ] instead of ]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lloyd |first1=Lorna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4z5Qj-7HZ68C |title=Diplomacy with a Difference: The Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880-2006 |date=2007 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-15497-1 |pages=119–120 |language=en |access-date=18 April 2020}}</ref>
The various remaining territories and dependencies of the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries would almost certainly gain admission to the Commonwealth in their own right should they become independent. These include ], ], the ], the ], ], ], ], the ], ], ], ], the ], the ], ], ], ], ], and the ].


=== Other linkages ===
The four nations that comprise the United Kingdom, ], ], ], and ], have in recent years moved towards a more federal style of relationship. It is however extremely unlikey due to economic and historic reasons that these four nations may become independent. Similarly, the island of ], currently part of ], may eventually separate from its larger neighbour. These would all be potential Commonwealth members in their own right.
Further institutional connections exist between Commonwealth countries. These include, between some, connections to other parts of the Commonwealth in their judicial and military institutions.

==== Judicial ====
] is the ] for several Commonwealth nations.]]
The ] is the ] of 14 Commonwealth countries, including the ] and ] which are under the ] (though New Zealand itself does not make appeals to the Privy Council).<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Practice direction 1 |url=https://www.jcpc.uk/procedures/practice-direction-01.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014182831/https://www.jcpc.uk/procedures/practice-direction-01.html |archive-date=14 October 2017 |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council}}</ref>

Commonwealth nationals are eligible for appointment to the ], with the Court relying on judges from other Commonwealth nations.<ref>, ''Fiji Times'', July 4, 2007</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725033255/http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_9444.shtml|date=2008-07-25}}, Fiji government press release, July 17, 2007</ref>

==== Military ====
] ] in post-war Japan as part of the ], 1946]]
Commonwealth citizens are eligible to serve in the ]. According to the ], "Commonwealth soldiers are, and always will be, an important and valued part of the fabric of the British Army."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nationality and Commonwealth |url=https://jobs.army.mod.uk/how-to-join/can-i-apply/nationality/ |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=British Army}}</ref> Thousands of potential Commonwealth recruits have been turned away due to a lack of eligible vacancies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Allison |first=George |date=2024-05-27 |title=Applications to armed forces from Commonwealth citizens surge |url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/applications-to-armed-forces-from-comonwealth-citizens-surge/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

] soldiers from ], though it is not a Commonwealth country, have long fought alongside British and Commonwealth troops.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Claire |date=12 June 2009 |title=Gurkhas: Terms and Conditions of Service |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04671/SN04671.pdf |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=UK Parliament}}</ref> They continue to be recruited by the British Army (]), ] (]) and ] (]), as well the ] of the ]. Most members of Brunei's Gurkha Reserve Unit are veterans from the British Army and Singaporean police.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-08-27 |title=Agnipath scheme: The pain of Nepal's Gurkhas over Indian army's new hiring plan |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66603133 |access-date=2024-06-09 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-10-18 |title=The Gurkha Regiments Explained |url=https://www.gwt.org.uk/news/the-gurkha-regiments-explained/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=The Gurkha Welfare Trust |language=en}}</ref>

==Membership==
]

===Criteria===
{{main| Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria}}
The criteria for membership of the Commonwealth of Nations have developed over time from a series of separate documents. The ], as a fundamental founding document of the organisation, laid out that membership required dominionhood. The 1949 ] ended this, allowing republican and indigenous monarchic members on the condition that they recognised ] as "]".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=de Smith|first=S.A.|date=July 1949|title=The London Declaration of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers, 28 April 1949|journal=The Modern Law Review|volume=12|issue=3|pages=351–354|jstor=1090506|author-link=Stanley Alexander de Smith|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2230.1949.tb00131.x|doi-access=free}}</ref> In the wake of the wave of ] in the 1960s, these constitutional principles were augmented by political, economic, and social principles. The first of these was set out in 1961, when it was decided that respect for ] would be a requirement for membership, leading directly to the withdrawal of South Africa's re-application (which they were required to make under the formula of the London Declaration upon becoming a republic). The 14 points of the 1971 ] dedicated all members to the principles of ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="Singapore Declaration text"/>

These criteria were unenforceable for two decades,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Williams |first=Paul D.|date=July 2005|title=Blair's Britain and the Commonwealth|journal=]|volume=94|issue=380|pages=381–391|doi=10.1080/00358530500174960|s2cid=154400556}}</ref> until, in 1991, the ] was issued, dedicating the leaders to applying the Singapore principles to the completion of decolonisation, the end of the ], and the end of ] in South Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=34457 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040207030954/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=34457 |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 February 2004 |date=20 October 1991 |title=Harare Commonwealth Declaration |access-date=29 July 2007 |publisher=] }}</ref> The mechanisms by which these principles would be applied were created, and the manner clarified, by the 1995 ], which created the ] (CMAG), which has the power to rule on whether members meet the requirements for membership under the Harare Declaration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/38125/cmag|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930122424/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/38125/cmag/|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2006|title=Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group|access-date=29 July 2007|publisher=]}}</ref> Also in 1995, an Inter-Governmental Group was created to finalise and codify the full requirements for membership. Upon reporting in 1997, as adopted under the ], the Inter-Governmental Group ruled that any future members would "as a rule" have to have a direct constitutional link with an existing member.<ref name="The future of the modern Commonwealth">{{cite web|url=http://www.cpsu.org.uk/downloads/future_aide.pdf|title=The future of the modern Commonwealth: Widening vs. deepening?|access-date=29 July 2007|date=10 October 2005|first=Victoria|last=te Velde-Ashworth|publisher=Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070722134850/http://www.cpsu.org.uk/downloads/future_aide.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2007}}</ref>

In addition to this new rule, the former rules were consolidated into a single document. These requirements are that members must accept and comply with the ], be fully ]s, recognise ] as head of the Commonwealth, accept the ] as the means of Commonwealth communication, and respect the wishes of the general population with regard to Commonwealth membership.<ref name="The future of the modern Commonwealth"/> These requirements had undergone review, and a report on potential amendments was presented by the ] at the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/157526/commonwealth_membership_in_focus_at_london_meeting.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313234502/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/157526/commonwealth_membership_in_focus_at_london_meeting.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 March 2007 |title=Commonwealth membership in focus at London meeting |access-date=29 July 2007 |date=6 December 2006 |publisher=] }}</ref> New members were not admitted at this meeting, though applications for admission were considered at the ].<ref>{{cite news|last=Osike |first=Felix |title=Rwanda membership delayed |url=http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=123&newsId=598876 |newspaper=] |date=24 November 2007 |access-date=29 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123172352/http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=123&newsId=598876 |archive-date=23 January 2013 }}</ref>

New members must "as a general rule" have a direct constitutional link to an existing member. In most cases, this is due to being a former colony of the United Kingdom, but some have links to other countries, either exclusively or more directly (e.g., Bangladesh to Pakistan, Samoa to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea to Australia, and Singapore to Malaysia). Mozambique, in 1995, was the first country to join without such a constitutional connection, leading to the Edinburgh Declaration and the current membership guidelines.<ref name="New Times">{{cite news |title=Rwanda: Joining the Commonwealth|newspaper=] |publisher=AllAfrica|date=27 November 2009}}</ref>

In 2009, Rwanda, formerly under Belgian and German rule, joined.<ref name="NYT admission">{{cite news|last=Kron|first=Josh|title=Rwanda Joins British Commonwealth|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/africa/29rwanda.html|newspaper=]|date=28 November 2009|access-date=29 November 2009|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418031605/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/africa/29rwanda.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Consideration for Rwanda's admission was considered an "exceptional circumstance" by the ].<ref name="New Times exceptional circumstance">{{cite news|title=Conference on Rwanda's Commonwealth bid to be held|url=http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2008-08-03/40316/|newspaper=]|date=3 August 2008|access-date=25 September 2015|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925133322/http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2008-08-03/40316/|url-status=live}}</ref> Rwanda was permitted to join despite the ] (CHRI) finding that "the state of governance and human rights in Rwanda does not satisfy Commonwealth standards", and that it "does not therefore qualify for admission".<ref name=chri>{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/download/Rwanda%20application%20for%20membership.pdf|title=Rwanda's application for membership, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative|access-date=27 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717172217/https://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/download/Rwanda%20application%20for%20membership.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> CHRI commented that: "It does not make sense to admit a state that already does not satisfy Commonwealth standards. This would tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth and confirm the opinion of many people and civic organisations that the leaders of its governments do not really care for democracy and human rights, and that its periodic, solemn declarations are merely hot air."<ref name=chri/>

In 2022, the former French territories of Togo and Gabon joined the Commonwealth.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Camilla |date=22 June 2022 |title=Togo and Gabon to become newest members of Commonwealth this week |newspaper=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/22/togo-gabon-become-newest-members-commonwealth-week/ |access-date=26 June 2022 |archive-date=27 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627070129/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/22/togo-gabon-become-newest-members-commonwealth-week/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Members ===
{{Main|Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations}}

], London]]
] in ]]]

The Commonwealth comprises 56 countries, across all inhabited continents.<ref>Three Commonwealth countries also have long-standing claims to sovereignty in ], although these claims are not widely recognised. The claims, which each include permanent research stations and together cover most of the continent, are the ], the ] and the ] (New Zealand).</ref> 33 members are small states, including 25 small island developing states. In 2023, the Commonwealth had a population of 2.5 billion.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Fast Facts: The Commonwealth |url=https://production-new-commonwealth-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-01/Fast%20Facts%20on%20the%20Commonwealth.pdf?VersionId=R8Y.eVKtTbPlfEUqxgT.10RhnXamTNvs |access-date=20 October 2024 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |publication-date=January 2023}}</ref> The Commonwealth is the largest association of ']' or ']' countries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brandis |first=George |date=2024-10-20 |title=The King loves Australia but his next stop's the big one (and China will be watching) |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/the-king-loves-australia-but-his-next-stop-s-the-big-one-and-china-will-be-watching-20241017-p5kj8q.html |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref>

With a population of 1.4&nbsp;billion, India is the most populous Commonwealth country. Tuvalu is the smallest member, with about 12,000 people.<ref name=":4" />

The status of "member in arrears" is used to denote those that are in arrears in paying subscription dues. The status was originally known as "]", but was renamed on the ]'s recommendation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=McIntyre|first=W. David|author-link=W. David McIntyre|date=April 2008|title=The Expansion of the Commonwealth and the Criteria for Membership|journal=]|volume=97|issue=395|pages=273–85|doi=10.1080/00358530801962089|s2cid=219623317}}</ref> There are currently no members in arrears. The most recent member in arrears, Nauru, returned to full membership in June 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=61413|title=Nauru back as full Commonwealth member|access-date=26 July 2011|publisher=]|date=26 June 2011|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225120630/https://www.radionz.co.nz/international|url-status=live}}</ref> Nauru had alternated between special and full membership since joining the Commonwealth, depending on its financial situation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/press/31555/34582/34786/nauru_accedes_to_full_membership_of_the_commonweal.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011171846/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/press/31555/34582/34786/nauru_accedes_to_full_membership_of_the_commonweal.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 October 2008|title=Nauru Accedes to Full Membership of the Commonwealth |access-date=30 January 2009|publisher=]|date=12 April 1999}}</ref>

===Economy of member countries===
{{Main|List of Commonwealth of Nations countries by GDP (nominal)}}

In 2019, the Commonwealth members had a combined ] of over $9&nbsp;trillion, 78% of which is accounted for by the four largest economies: India ($3.737&nbsp;trillion), United Kingdom ($3.124&nbsp;trillion), Canada ($1.652&nbsp;trillion), and Australia ($1.379&nbsp;trillion).<ref name="GDP IMF">{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2017/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=32&pr.y=19&sy=2015&ey=2016&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C672%2C914%2C946%2C612%2C137%2C614%2C546%2C311%2C962%2C213%2C674%2C911%2C676%2C193%2C548%2C122%2C556%2C912%2C678%2C313%2C181%2C419%2C867%2C513%2C682%2C316%2C684%2C913%2C273%2C124%2C868%2C339%2C921%2C638%2C948%2C514%2C943%2C218%2C686%2C963%2C688%2C616%2C518%2C223%2C728%2C516%2C558%2C918%2C138%2C748%2C196%2C618%2C278%2C624%2C692%2C522%2C694%2C622%2C142%2C156%2C449%2C626%2C564%2C628%2C565%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C359%2C960%2C453%2C423%2C968%2C935%2C922%2C128%2C714%2C611%2C862%2C321%2C135%2C243%2C716%2C248%2C456%2C469%2C722%2C253%2C942%2C642%2C718%2C643%2C724%2C939%2C576%2C644%2C936%2C819%2C961%2C172%2C813%2C132%2C199%2C646%2C733%2C648%2C184%2C915%2C524%2C134%2C361%2C652%2C362%2C174%2C364%2C328%2C732%2C258%2C366%2C656%2C734%2C654%2C144%2C336%2C146%2C263%2C463%2C268%2C528%2C532%2C923%2C944%2C738%2C176%2C578%2C534%2C537%2C536%2C742%2C429%2C866%2C433%2C369%2C178%2C744%2C436%2C186%2C136%2C925%2C343%2C869%2C158%2C746%2C439%2C926%2C916%2C466%2C664%2C112%2C826%2C111%2C542%2C298%2C967%2C927%2C443%2C846%2C917%2C299%2C544%2C582%2C941%2C474%2C446%2C754%2C666%2C698%2C668&s=NGDPD&grp=0&a=|title=World Economic Outlook Database|date=18 April 2017|publisher=]|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-date=24 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624044404/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2017/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=32&pr.y=19&sy=2015&ey=2016&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C672%2C914%2C946%2C612%2C137%2C614%2C546%2C311%2C962%2C213%2C674%2C911%2C676%2C193%2C548%2C122%2C556%2C912%2C678%2C313%2C181%2C419%2C867%2C513%2C682%2C316%2C684%2C913%2C273%2C124%2C868%2C339%2C921%2C638%2C948%2C514%2C943%2C218%2C686%2C963%2C688%2C616%2C518%2C223%2C728%2C516%2C558%2C918%2C138%2C748%2C196%2C618%2C278%2C624%2C692%2C522%2C694%2C622%2C142%2C156%2C449%2C626%2C564%2C628%2C565%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C359%2C960%2C453%2C423%2C968%2C935%2C922%2C128%2C714%2C611%2C862%2C321%2C135%2C243%2C716%2C248%2C456%2C469%2C722%2C253%2C942%2C642%2C718%2C643%2C724%2C939%2C576%2C644%2C936%2C819%2C961%2C172%2C813%2C132%2C199%2C646%2C733%2C648%2C184%2C915%2C524%2C134%2C361%2C652%2C362%2C174%2C364%2C328%2C732%2C258%2C366%2C656%2C734%2C654%2C144%2C336%2C146%2C263%2C463%2C268%2C528%2C532%2C923%2C944%2C738%2C176%2C578%2C534%2C537%2C536%2C742%2C429%2C866%2C433%2C369%2C178%2C744%2C436%2C186%2C136%2C925%2C343%2C869%2C158%2C746%2C439%2C926%2C916%2C466%2C664%2C112%2C826%2C111%2C542%2C298%2C967%2C927%2C443%2C846%2C917%2C299%2C544%2C582%2C941%2C474%2C446%2C754%2C666%2C698%2C668&s=NGDPD&grp=0&a=|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Applicants===
{{see also|Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations#Prospective members}}

In 1997 the Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed that, to become a member of the Commonwealth, an applicant country should, as a rule, have had a constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member; that it should comply with Commonwealth values, principles and priorities as set out in the ]; and that it should accept Commonwealth norms and conventions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/history-of-the-commonwealth/new-criteria-commonwealth-membership|title=New Criteria for Commonwealth Membership|work=thecommonwealth.org|date=23 August 2013|access-date=7 November 2013|archive-date=16 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416182858/http://thecommonwealth.org/history-of-the-commonwealth/new-criteria-commonwealth-membership|url-status=dead}}</ref>

South Sudanese politicians have expressed interest in joining the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/ArticleView/mid/519/articleId/5418/South-Sudan-Launches-Bid-to-Join-Commonwealth.aspx|title=South Sudan Launches Bid to Join Commonwealth|work=gurtong.net|access-date=10 July 2011|archive-date=11 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711061322/http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/ArticleView/mid/519/articleId/5418/South-Sudan-Launches-Bid-to-Join-Commonwealth.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> A senior Commonwealth source stated in 2006 that "many people have assumed an interest from Israel, but there has been no formal approach".<ref name=Isr>{{cite news|last=Alderson|first=Andrew|title=Israelis and Palestinians could join Commonwealth|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1537176/Israelis-and-Palestinians-could-join-Commonwealth.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1537176/Israelis-and-Palestinians-could-join-Commonwealth.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=]|date=17 December 2006|access-date=29 November 2009|location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Israel and Palestine are both potential candidates for membership.<ref name=Isr/>

President ] unilaterally withdrew the Gambia from the Commonwealth in October 2013.<ref name="thecommonwealth.org">{{cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/statement-commonwealth-secretary-general-kamalesh-sharma-gambia|title=Statement by Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma on The Gambia|publisher=The Commonwealth|date=4 October 2013|access-date=6 October 2013|archive-date=1 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501144316/https://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/statement-commonwealth-secretary-general-kamalesh-sharma-gambia|url-status=live}}</ref> However, ] president ] returned the country to the organisation in February 2018.<ref name=gambia/>

Other eligible applicants could be any of the remaining inhabited ], ], ] and the ] if they become fully independent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.15ccem.com/15CCEM/CCEM_MainContent.jsp;jsessionid=367113CBDAC84B7DEAC85D1F77B477D0?pContentID=830&p_applic=CCC&pElementID=443&pMenuID=171&p_service=Content.show&|title=States and Territories|website=15CCEM|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929181918/http://www.15ccem.com/15CCEM/CCEM_MainContent.jsp%3Bjsessionid%3D367113CBDAC84B7DEAC85D1F77B477D0?pContentID=830&p_applic=CCC&pElementID=443&pMenuID=171&p_service=Content.show&|archive-date=29 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many such jurisdictions are already directly represented within the Commonwealth, particularly through the ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Baldacchino|first=Godfrey|author2=Milne, David|date=September 2006|title=Exploring sub-national island jurisdictions: An editorial introduction|journal=]|volume=95|issue=386|pages=487–502|doi=10.1080/00358530600929735|s2cid=154689097}}</ref> There are also former ] that have not become independent. Although ] has become part of China, it continues to participate in some of the institutions within the Commonwealth Family, including the ], the ], the ], the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> and the ] (CWGC).

All three of the Crown dependencies regard their existing situation as unsatisfactory and have lobbied for change. The ] have called on the UK foreign secretary to request that the Commonwealth heads of government "consider granting associate membership to Jersey and the other Crown Dependencies as well as any other territories at a similarly advanced stage of autonomy". Jersey has proposed that it be accorded "self-representation in all Commonwealth meetings; full participation in debates and procedures, with a right to speak where relevant and the opportunity to enter into discussions with those who are full members; and no right to vote in the Ministerial or Heads of Government meetings, which is reserved for full members".<ref>{{cite web|title=Written evidence from States of Jersey|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/114/114we22.htm|publisher=Chief Minister of Jersey|access-date=18 March 2013|archive-date=9 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209074134/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/114/114we22.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The ] and the ] have made calls of a similar nature for a more integrated relationship with the Commonwealth,<ref>{{cite web|title=The role and future of the Commonwealth|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/114/11410.htm|publisher=House of Commons|access-date=18 March 2013|archive-date=6 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206123019/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/114/11410.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> including more direct representation and enhanced participation in Commonwealth organisations and meetings, including Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings.<ref>{{cite web|title=Written evidence from the States of Guernsey|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/114/114we18.htm|publisher=Policy Council of Guernsey|access-date=18 March 2013|archive-date=9 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209074131/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/114/114we18.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The ] has said: "A closer connection with the Commonwealth itself would be a welcome further development of the Island's international relationships".<ref>{{cite news|title=Isle of Man welcomes report on Commonwealth future|url=http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/isleofmanwelcome5.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302143313/http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/isleofmanwelcome5.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 March 2013|access-date=19 March 2013|newspaper=Isle of Man Government|date=23 November 2012}}</ref>


===Suspension=== ===Suspension===
{{Main|Suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations}}
In recent years the Commonwealth has suspended several members "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for failure to uphold democratic government. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation.


Members can be suspended "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for "serious or persistent violations" of the ], particularly in abrogating their responsibility to have democratic government.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Colvile |first=Robert |date=July 2004 |title=A Place to Stand: the Problems and Potential of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group |journal=] |volume=93 |issue=375 |pages=343–53 |doi=10.1080/0035853042000249942|s2cid=153984328 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Suspensions are agreed by the ] (CMAG), which meets regularly to address potential breaches of the Harare Declaration. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation.
], which was not a member of the Commonwealth between 1987 and 1997 as a result of a republican ''coup d'etat'', was suspended in 2000–2001 after a military coup, as was ] from 1999 until 2004.
] was suspended from the Commonwealth during the presidency of ] (pictured), subsequently withdrawing. The country applied to rejoin following Mugabe's removal from power.]]
] was suspended between 11 November 1995 and 29 May 1999,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=October 1999|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=] |volume=88 |issue=352|pages=547–567|doi=10.1080/003585399107758}}</ref> following its execution of ] on the eve of the ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=October 2007|title=Twenty Commonwealth steps from Singapore to Kampala|journal=]|volume=96|issue=392|pages=555–563|doi=10.1080/00358530701625877|s2cid=154737836}}</ref> Pakistan was the second country to be suspended, on 18 October 1999, following the ] by ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist) |date=January 2000|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=]|volume=89|issue=353|pages=45–57|doi=10.1080/750459452|s2cid=219628879}}</ref> The Commonwealth's longest suspension came to an end on 22 May 2004, when Pakistan's suspension was lifted following the restoration of ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ingram |first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=July 2004|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=]|volume=93|issue=375|pages=311–42|doi=10.1080/0035853042000249933|s2cid=219627311}}</ref> Pakistan was suspended for a second time, far more briefly, for six months from 22 November 2007, when Musharraf ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gruenbaum|first=Oren|date=February 2008|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=]|volume=97|issue=394|pages=3–17|doi=10.1080/00358530701864963|s2cid=219625114}}</ref> Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns regarding the electoral and land reform policies of ]'s ] government,<ref name="Apr 2002">{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=April 2002|title=Commonwealth Update |journal=]|volume=91|issue=364|pages=131–59|doi=10.1080/00358530220144148|s2cid=219627051}}</ref> before it withdrew from the organisation in 2003.<ref>{{cite journal| date=January 2004 |title=Editorial: CHOGM 2003, Abuja, Nigeria |journal=]|volume=93|issue=373|pages=3–6|doi=10.1080/0035853042000188139|s2cid=219624427 }}</ref> On 15 May 2018, Zimbabwe applied to rejoin the Commonwealth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/zimbabwe-applies-rejoin-commonwealth-180522062016470.html|title=Zimbabwe applies to rejoin Commonwealth|date=22 May 2018|website=Al Jazeera|access-date=22 May 2018|archive-date=22 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522125429/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/zimbabwe-applies-rejoin-commonwealth-180522062016470.html|url-status=live}}</ref>


The declaration of a Republic in ] in 1987, after ] designed to deny ] political power, was not accompanied by an application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after discriminatory provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made.<ref name="Fiji suspended"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=140761 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041101052757/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=140761 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 November 2004 |title=Fiji Rejoins the Commonwealth |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |date=30 September 1997 |access-date=1 September 2009 }}</ref> Fiji has since been suspended twice, with the first imposed from 6 June 2000<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=July 2000|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=]|volume=89|issue=355|pages=311–55|doi=10.1080/00358530050083406|s2cid=219626283}}</ref> to 20 December 2001 after ].<ref name="Apr 2002"/> Fiji was suspended yet again in December 2006, following ]. At first, the suspension applied only to membership on the Councils of the Commonwealth.<ref name="Fiji suspended">{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/34580/213088/010909fijisuspended.htm |title=Fiji Suspended from the Commonwealth |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |date=1 September 2009 |access-date=1 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904153829/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/34580/213088/010909fijisuspended.htm |archive-date=4 September 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Fiji suspension 2006">{{cite news|title=Fiji suspended from Commonwealth|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6161587.stm|work=BBC News|date=8 December 2006|access-date=1 February 2009|archive-date=19 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119181425/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6161587.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> After failing to meet a Commonwealth deadline for setting a date for national elections by 2010, Fiji was "fully suspended" on 1 September 2009.<ref name="Fiji suspended"/><ref name="Fiji suspension 2006"/> The secretary-general of the Commonwealth, ], confirmed that full suspension meant that Fiji would be excluded from Commonwealth meetings, ] and the technical assistance programme (with an exception for assistance in re-establishing democracy). Sharma stated that Fiji would remain a member of the Commonwealth during its suspension, but would be excluded from emblematic representation by the secretariat.<ref name="Fiji suspended"/> On 19 March 2014 Fiji's full suspension was amended to a suspension from councils of the Commonwealth by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, permitting Fiji to join a number of Commonwealth activities, including the Commonwealth Games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-commonwealth-office-minister-welcomes-commonwealth-statement-on-fiji|title=Foreign & Commonwealth Office Minister welcomes Commonwealth statement on Fiji – GOV.UK|website=www.gov.uk|access-date=31 July 2014|archive-date=2 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002083406/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-commonwealth-office-minister-welcomes-commonwealth-statement-on-fiji|url-status=live}}</ref> Fiji's suspension was lifted in September 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/media/press-release/fiji-rejoins-commonwealth-full-member|title=Fiji rejoins Commonwealth as a full member|publisher=The Commonwealth|date=26 September 2014|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-date=1 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901024106/http://thecommonwealth.org/media/press-release/fiji-rejoins-commonwealth-full-member|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group fully reinstated Fiji as a member following ].<ref>{{cite news|author=Nasik Swami|url=http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=281480|title=We're back|work=Fiji Times|date=28 September 2014|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-date=10 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210201056/http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=281480|url-status=live}}</ref>
] was suspended between 1995 and 1999.


Most recently, during 2013 and 2014, international pressure mounted to suspend Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth, citing grave human rights violations by the government of President ]. There were also calls to change the ] from Sri Lanka to another member country. Canadian prime minister ] threatened to boycott the event, but was instead represented at the meeting by ]. UK prime minister ] also chose to attend.<ref>{{Cite news|author=David Miliband|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/11/britain-human-rights-sri-lanka|title=Britain must stand up for human rights in Sri Lanka|date=11 March 2013|access-date=18 April 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-date=21 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421121545/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/11/britain-human-rights-sri-lanka|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Mike Blanchfield|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-rebukes-sri-lanka-over-jurists-dismissal-as-talk-of-summit-boycott-heats-up/article7341673|title=Harper rebukes Sri Lanka over jurist's dismissal as talk of summit boycott heats up|work=The Globe and Mail|date=14 January 2013|access-date=18 April 2013|archive-date=24 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524092528/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-rebukes-sri-lanka-over-jurists-dismissal-as-talk-of-summit-boycott-heats-up/article7341673/|url-status=live}}</ref> These concerns were rendered moot by ] of opposition leader ] as president in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rappler.com/world/south-central-asia/sirisena-sri-lanka-new-president|title=Sirisena sworn in as Sri Lanka's new president|website=Rappler|date=9 January 2015|access-date=31 October 2021|archive-date=31 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031150116/https://www.rappler.com/world/south-central-asia/sirisena-sri-lanka-new-president|url-status=live}}</ref>
] was suspended in 2002 over concerns with the electoral and land reform policies of ]'s ] government, before withdrawing from the organisation in 2003. It had previously been suspended from the Commonwealth under the country's former name of ] from its unilateral declaration of independence in 1964 until its internationally-recognised independence as Zimbabwe in 1980.


===Withdrawal=== ===Withdrawal and termination===
{{See also|Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations#Former members|Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations#Dissolved members}}
As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. ] left in ] in protest at Commonwealth recognition of breakaway ], but rejoined in ], withdrew again after the ] coup, and regained admission again in ]. ] left in 2003 when Commonwealth Heads of Government refused to lift the country's suspension on the grounds of human rights violations and deliberate misgovernment.
As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. The first state to do so was Ireland in 1949 following its decision to ], although it had not participated in the Commonwealth since 1932. At the time, all members accepted the ] as head of state as a condition of membership. This rule was changed after Ireland's departure to allow ] to retain membership when it became a republic in 1950, although Ireland did not rejoin. Now, the majority of the Commonwealth members, including all those from Africa, are republics or have their own native monarch.


] left on 30 January 1972 in protest at the Commonwealth's recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined on 2 August 1989. Zimbabwe's membership was suspended in 2002 on the grounds of ] and deliberate misgovernment, and Zimbabwe's government terminated its membership in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/press/31555/34582/35505/zimbabwes_withdrawal_from_the_commonwealth.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705162909/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/press/31555/34582/35505/zimbabwes_withdrawal_from_the_commonwealth.htm|url-status=dead|title=Commonwealth website confirms Zimbabwe "terminated" its membership with effect from 7 December 2003|archive-date=5 July 2008}}</ref> The Gambia left the Commonwealth on 3 October 2013,<ref name="thecommonwealth.org" /> and rejoined on 8 February 2018.<ref name="gambia">{{cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/gambia-rejoins-commonwealth|title=The Gambia rejoins the Commonwealth|date=8 February 2018|publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat|access-date=10 February 2018|archive-date=14 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714083101/http://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/gambia-rejoins-commonwealth|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Other termination===
Although Heads of Government have the power to suspend member states from active participation, the Commonwealth has no provision for the expulsion of members. However, ]s that become ]s automatically cease to be members, unless (like ] in 1950) they obtain the permission of other members to remain in the organisation as a republic.


The Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/secretary-general-statement-maldives-decision-leave-commonwealth|title=The Commonwealth Secretariat|date=13 October 2016|access-date=13 October 2016|archive-date=17 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517085315/https://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/secretary-general-statement-maldives-decision-leave-commonwealth|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mfa">{{cite web|url=http://www.foreign.gov.mv/v2/en/media-center/news/article/1999 |title=The Maldives decides to leave the Commonwealth; commits to continue with its international engagement |publisher=Maldivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=13 October 2016 |access-date=13 October 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014060506/http://www.foreign.gov.mv/v2/en/media-center/news/article/1999 |archive-date=14 October 2016 }}</ref> citing Commonwealth's "punitive actions against the Maldives since 2012" after the allegedly forced resignation of Maldivian President ] amongst the reasons for withdrawal.<ref name="mfa"/> Following the election of ] as president in November 2018, the Maldives announced its intention to reapply to join the Commonwealth.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/asia/maldives-to-rejoin-commonwealth-of-former-british-colonies-1.793718|title=Maldives to rejoin Commonwealth of former British colonies|date=20 November 2018|work=The National|access-date=23 November 2018|language=en|archive-date=24 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124162202/https://www.thenational.ae/world/asia/maldives-to-rejoin-commonwealth-of-former-british-colonies-1.793718|url-status=live}}</ref> It rejoined on 1 February 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/maldives-rejoins-commonwealth-as-united-kingdom-leaves-european-union/article30712478.ece|title = Maldives rejoins Commonwealth after over three years|newspaper = The Hindu|date = February 2020|last1 = Srinivasan|first1 = Meera|access-date = 31 October 2021|archive-date = 31 October 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211031132756/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/maldives-rejoins-commonwealth-as-united-kingdom-leaves-european-union/article30712478.ece|url-status = live}}</ref>] policies, ] was readmitted in 1994 following ].]]
The ] did not apply for re-admittance after becoming a republic in 1949, as the Commonwealth then did not allow republican membership. But the leader of its Opposition at the time, ], believed that this was a mistake, and he and his successor as ], ], both considered re-applying. ], a minister in the present Irish Government (and de Valera's grandson), raised the issue of the Republic's possible reapplication a number of times in the 1990s. But the issue arouses both hostility and indifference in ], where many people still associate the Commonwealth with British ], even though the majority of member states are now republics. The Republic of Ireland was the first nation to leave the Commonwealth and not rejoin.


] was prevented from continuing as a member after it became a republic in 1961, due to hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to its policy of ]. The South African government withdrew its application to remain in the organisation as a republic when it became clear at the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference that any such application would be rejected. South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, following the end of apartheid in 1990. No country has been formally expelled from the Commonwealth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Withdrawals and Suspension |url=https://www.commonwealthofnations.org/commonwealth/commonwealth-membership/withdrawals-and-suspension/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Commonwealth Network |language=en-US}}</ref> However, South Africa's application to remain a member of the organisation after becoming a republic in 1961 was effectively blocked due to hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to ]. The South African government withdrew its application when it became clear at the ] that it would be rejected.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/south-africa-withdraws-commonwealth |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=South African History Online}}</ref> South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, following its ] that year. The Commonwealth provided technical assistance and training for a peacekeeping force prior to election, with Commonwealth observers significantly present during the election itself.<ref>{{cite book|author=Commonwealth Observer Group|title=The National and Provincial Elections in South Africa, 2 June 1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vOVHuLGt-YwC&pg=PA7|year=1999|page=7|publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat|isbn=978-0-85092-626-2|access-date=10 February 2018|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164807/https://books.google.com/books?id=vOVHuLGt-YwC&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref>


The ] in 1997 ended the territory's status as a part of the Commonwealth through the United Kingdom. Non-sovereign states or regions are not permitted to become members of the Commonwealth. The government of China has not pursued membership. Hong Kong has nevertheless continued to participate in some of the organisations of the ], such as the ] (hosted the Commonwealth Lawyers Conference in 1983 and 2009), the ] (and the Westminster Seminar on Parliamentary Practice and Procedures), the ] and the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel,<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.opc.gov.au/calc/constit.htm |title=Office of Parliamentary Counsel – CALC – Constitution & Membership |date=11 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311223653/http://www.opc.gov.au/calc/constit.htm |archive-date=11 March 2011 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.opc.gov.au/calc/docs/LDOs.pdf |website=OPC.gov.au |title=Legislative drafting offices in which there are CALC members |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311234928/http://www.opc.gov.au/calc/docs/LDOs.pdf |archive-date=11 March 2011 }}</ref> as well as the ] (CWGC).
The ] left the Commonwealth in 1965 after unilaterally declaring their independence from the United Kingdom; they were re-admitted to the Commonwealth on ] ].


==Politics==
The declaration of a republic in the ] Islands in 1987, after ] designed to deny ] political power in Fiji, was not accompanied by application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after ] provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made.


===Objectives and activities===
] ceased to be a member after the 1997 handover of British rule to ].
The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 ], which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of ]; promotion of ] and ]; the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/sites/default/files/history-items/documents/Singapore%20Declaration.pdf|date=22 January 1971|title=Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles 1971|access-date=15 November 2013|work=thecommonwealth.org|publisher=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223804/http://thecommonwealth.org/sites/default/files/history-items/documents/Singapore%20Declaration.pdf|archive-date=2 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender by the ] of 1979,<ref name="Singapore Declaration text">{{cite web |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/document/34293/35468/35776/lusaka.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930123038/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/document/34293/35468/35776/lusaka.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2006|title=Lusaka Declaration on Racism and Racial Prejudice|access-date=3 April 2008|date=7 August 1979|publisher=] }}</ref> and ] by the ] of 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpages.net.my/node/4|title=Langkawi Declaration on the Environment|access-date=3 April 2008|date=21 October 1989|publisher=USM Regional Center of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development|archive-date=16 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416202526/http://www.greenpages.net.my/node/4|url-status=dead}}</ref> These objectives were reinforced by the ] in 1991.<ref>Patel, Hasu (2000), "Southern Africa and democracy, in the light of the Harare declaration." ''The Round Table'' 89.357: 585–592.</ref>


The Commonwealth's current highest-priority aims are on the promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003 ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150952/our_work |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820140553/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150952/our_work/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 August 2006 |title=Our Work |access-date=3 April 2008 |publisher=] }}</ref> which built on those in Singapore and Harare and clarified their terms of reference, stating, "We are committed to democracy, good governance, human rights, gender equality, and a more equitable sharing of the benefits of globalisation."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/%7BE7A2A23D-FD9F-418B-B2D4-CC39FFD2FEF2%7D_Aso%20Rock%20Declaration.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613105849/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/%7BE7A2A23D-FD9F-418B-B2D4-CC39FFD2FEF2%7D_Aso%20Rock%20Declaration.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 June 2006 |title=Aso Rock Commonwealth Declaration |access-date=3 April 2008 |date=8 December 2003 |publisher=] }}</ref> The Commonwealth website lists its areas of work as: democracy, economics, education, gender, governance, human rights, law, small states, sport, sustainability, and youth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/|title=Commonwealth Secretariat|access-date=3 April 2008|date=7 August 1979|publisher=]|archive-date=2 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302215837/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Organisation and objectives==

{| align=right
===Competence===
| ], Head of the Commonwealth.]]
In October 2010, a leaked memo from the Secretary General instructing staff not to speak out on human rights was published, leading to accusations that the Commonwealth was not being vocal enough on its core values.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/oct/08/commonwealth-human-rights-leaked-document|title=Commonwealth has abandoned human rights commitment – leaked memo|first1=Julian|last1=Borger|date=8 October 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=14 December 2016|archive-date=29 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929032835/https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/oct/08/commonwealth-human-rights-leaked-document|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ] considered a report by a ] (EPG) panel which asserted that the organisation had lost its relevance and was decaying due to the lack of a mechanism to censure member countries when they violated human rights or democratic norms.<ref name=star30/> The panel made 106 "urgent" recommendations including the adoption of a Charter of the Commonwealth, the creation of a new commissioner on the rule of law, democracy and human rights to track persistent human rights abuses and allegations of political repression by Commonwealth member states, recommendations for the repeal of ] ] in 41 Commonwealth states and a ban on ].<ref>{{cite news|last=Cheadle|first=Bruce|title=Commonwealth leaders still haggling over human rights reforms|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1078175--commonwealth-leaders-still-haggling-over-human-rights-reforms?bn=1|access-date=29 October 2011|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=29 October 2011|archive-date=28 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328053107/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1078175--commonwealth-leaders-still-haggling-over-human-rights-reforms?bn=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=2011Meeting>{{cite news|last=Watt|first=Nicholas|title=Commonwealth leaders under fire for refusing to publish human rights report|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/29/commonwealth-meeting-human-rights-disgrace|access-date=29 October 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=29 October 2011|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816202352/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/29/commonwealth-meeting-human-rights-disgrace|url-status=live}}</ref> The failure to release the report, or accept its recommendations for reforms in the area of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, was described as a "disgrace" by former British foreign secretary ], a member of the EPG, who told a press conference: "The Commonwealth faces a very significant problem. It's not a problem of hostility or antagonism, it's more of a problem of indifference. Its purpose is being questioned, its relevance is being questioned and part of that is because its commitment to enforce the values for which it stands is becoming ambiguous in the eyes of many member states. The Commonwealth is not a private club of the governments or the secretariat. It belongs to the people of the Commonwealth."<ref name=2011Meeting/>

In the end, two-thirds of the EPG's 106 urgently recommended reforms were referred to study groups, an act described by one EPG member as having them "kicked into the long grass". There was no agreement to create the recommended position of human rights commissioner, instead a ministerial management group was empowered with enforcement: the group includes alleged human rights offenders. It was agreed to develop a charter of values for the Commonwealth without any decision on how compliance with its principles would be enforced.<ref name=star30>{{cite news|last=Cheadle|first=Bruce|title=Commonwealth leaders agree to develop charter of values and little else|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1078397--commonwealth-leaders-agree-to-develop-charter-of-values-and-little-else?bn=1|access-date=30 October 2011|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=30 October 2011|archive-date=23 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323043809/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1078397--commonwealth-leaders-agree-to-develop-charter-of-values-and-little-else?bn=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

The result of the effort was that a new ] was signed by Queen Elizabeth II on 11 March 2013 at Marlborough House, which opposes "all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/queen-to-sign-new-charter-backing-equal-rights-for-gay-people-across-commonwealth-8528587.html|title=Queen to sign new charter backing equal rights for gay people across Commonwealth|publisher=Standard.co.uk|date=11 March 2013|access-date=18 April 2013|archive-date=15 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815190412/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/queen-to-sign-new-charter-backing-equal-rights-for-gay-people-across-commonwealth-8528587.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-11/uk/37622297_1_gay-rights-equal-rights-commonwealth-secretary-general-kamalesh-sharma|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411035652/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-11/uk/37622297_1_gay-rights-equal-rights-commonwealth-secretary-general-kamalesh-sharma|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 April 2013|title=Commonwealth charter to focus on gay rights|first=Kounteya|last= Sinha|date=11 March 2013|work=]|access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref>

==Economy==
{{also|List of Commonwealth of Nations countries by GDP}}
===Economic data by member===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center;"
! Economies of the Commonwealth of Nations 2012&nbsp;<!-- Please do not change figure for individual cells. These figures are all from the publications of the World Bank in July 2013. Using figures from different dates or sources is a poor basis for comparison and ranking. -->
|-
| style="padding: 0; border: none;" |
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right; margin: 0;"
! rowspan="2"| ]
! rowspan="2"| Population{{UN_Population|ref}}<br />{{small|({{UN_Population|Year}})}}
!colspan=2"|GDP (nominal, US$)
!colspan="2"|GDP (PPP, US$)
!rowspan="2"|Comm.<br />realm?
|- |-
! scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | millions<ref>{{cite web
| ], Commonwealth Secretary-General]]
| url = http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP.pdf
|}
| title = Gross domestic product 2012
] is the nominal ]. Some members of the Commonwealth, known as ]s, also recognise the Queen as their ]. However, the majority of members are ]s, and a handful of others are indigenous monarchies. The Queen's position as Head of the Commonwealth is not hereditary, and when and if the ] becomes King, it will be for Commonwealth Heads of Government to decide whether he assumes the role of Head of the Commonwealth.
| date = 1 July 2013
| publisher = ]
| access-date = 1 July 2013
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130810035505/http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP.pdf
| archive-date= 10 August 2013 }}</ref>
! scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | per capita<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
| title = GDP per capita (current US$)
| publisher = ]
| access-date = 1 July 2013
| archive-date = 11 May 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110511123254/http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
! scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | millions<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP_PPP.pdf
| title = Gross domestic product 2012, PPP
| date = 1 July 2013
| publisher = ]
| access-date = 1 July 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130810005545/http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP_PPP.pdf
| archive-date = 10 August 2013
| url-status=live
}}</ref>
! scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | per capita<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD
| title = GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)
| publisher = ]
| access-date = 1 July 2013
| archive-date = 22 June 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190622102516/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Antigua and Barbuda}}
| {{UN_Population|Antigua and Barbuda}}
| 1,176
| 12,480
| 1,778
| 18,492
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Australia}}
| {{UN_Population|Australia}}
| 1,520,608
| 61,789
| 1,008,547
| 41,974
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Bahamas}}
| {{UN_Population|Bahamas}}
| 8,149
| 22,431
| 11,765
| 31,978
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Bangladesh}}
| {{UN_Population|Bangladesh}}
| 115,610
| 743
| 291,299
| 1,777
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Barbados}}
| {{UN_Population|Barbados}}
| 3,685
| 13,453
| —
| —
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Belize}}
| {{UN_Population|Belize}}
| 1,448
| 4,059
| 2,381
| 6,672
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Botswana}}
| {{UN_Population|Botswana}}
| 14,411
| 8,533
| 34,038
| 14,746
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Brunei}}
| {{UN_Population|Brunei Darussalam}}
| 16,954
| 40,301
| 21,992
| 51,760
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Cameroon}}
| {{UN_Population|Cameroon}}
| 24,984
| 1,260
| 50,820
| 2,359
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Canada}}
| {{UN_Population|Canada}}
| 1,821,424
| 50,344
| 1,489,165
| 40,420
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Cyprus}}
| {{UN_Population|Cyprus}}
| 22,981
| 30,670
| 26,720
| 32,254
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Dominica}}
| {{UN_Population|Dominica}}
| 480
| 7,154
| 906
| 13,288
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Ghana}}
| {{UN_Population|Ghana}}
| 40,710
| 1,570
| 51,943
| 1,871
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Grenada}}
| {{UN_Population|Grenada}}
| 790
| 7,780
| 1,142
| 10,837
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Guyana}}
| {{UN_Population|Guyana}}
| 2,851
| 3,408
| 2,704
| —
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|India}}
| {{UN_Population|India}}
| 3,732,224
| 2,171
| 11,468,022
| 7,874
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Jamaica}}
| {{UN_Population|Jamaica}}
| 14,840
| 5,335
| —
| —
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Kenya}}
| {{UN_Population|Kenya}}
| 37,229
| 808
| 76,016
| 1,710
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Kiribati}}
| {{UN_Population|Kiribati}}
| 176
| 1,649
| 248
| 2,337
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Lesotho}}
| {{UN_Population|Lesotho}}
| 2,448
| 1,106
| 4,027
| 1,691
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Malawi}}
| {{UN_Population|Malawi}}
| 4,264
| 365
| 14,344
| 893
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Malaysia}}
| {{UN_Population|Malaysia}}
| 303,526
| 9,977
| 501,249
| 16,051
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Maldives}}
| {{UN_Population|Maldives}}
| 2,222
| 6,405
| 3,070
| 8,871
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Malta}}
| {{UN_Population|Malta}}
| 8,722
| 21,380
| 12,138
| 27,504
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Mauritius}}
| {{UN_Population|Mauritius}}
| 10,492
| 8,755
| 20,210
| 14,420
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Mozambique}}
| {{UN_Population|Mozambique}}
| 14,588
| 533
| 25,805
| 975
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Namibia}}
| {{UN_Population|Namibia}}
| 12,807
| 5,383
| 16,918
| 6,801
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Nauru}}
| {{UN_Population|Nauru}}
| —
| —
| —
| —
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|New Zealand}}
| {{UN_Population|New Zealand}}
| 139,768
| 36,254
| 139,640
| 31,082
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Nigeria}}
| {{UN_Population|Nigeria}}
| 262,606
| 1,502
| 449,289
| 2,533
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Pakistan}}
| {{UN_Population|Pakistan}}
| 231,182
| 1,189
| 517,873
| 2,745
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Papua New Guinea}}
| {{UN_Population|Papua New Guinea}}
| 15,654
| 1,845
| 20,771
| 2,676
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Rwanda}}
| {{UN_Population|Rwanda}}
| 7,103
| 8,874
| 15,517
| 1,282
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Saint Kitts and Nevis}}
| {{UN_Population|Saint Kitts and Nevis}}
| 748
| 13,144
| 966
| 17,226
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Saint Lucia}}
| {{UN_Population|Saint Lucia}}
| 1,186
| 7,154
| 2,016
| 11,597
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}}
| {{UN_Population|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}}
| 713
| 6,291
| 1,202
| 10,715
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Samoa}}
| {{UN_Population|Samoa}}
| 677
| 3,485
| 853
| 4,475
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Seychelles}}
| {{UN_Population|Seychelles}}
| 1,032
| 12,321
| 2,371
| 25,788
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Sierra Leone}}
| {{UN_Population|Sierra Leone}}
| 3,796
| 496
| 8,125
| 1,131
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Singapore}}
| {{UN_Population|Singapore}}
| 274,701
| 46,241
| 328,323
| 60,688
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Solomon Islands}}
| {{UN_Population|Solomon Islands}}
| 1,008
| 1,517
| 1,718
| 2,923
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|South Africa}}
| {{UN_Population|South Africa}}
| 384,313
| 8,070
| 585,625
| 10,960
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Sri Lanka}}
| {{UN_Population|Sri Lanka}}
| 59,421
| 2,835
| 126,993
| 5,582
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Eswatini}}
| {{UN_Population|Eswatini}}
| 3,747
| 3,831
| 6,458
| 6,053
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Tanzania}}
| {{UN_Population|United Republic of Tanzania}}
| 28,249
| 532
| 74,269
| 1,512
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Tonga}}
| {{UN_Population|Tonga}}
| 472
| 4,152
| 527
| 4,886
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Trinidad and Tobago}}
| {{UN_Population|Trinidad and Tobago}}
| 23,986
| 16,699
| 35,638
| 25,074
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Tuvalu}}
| {{UN_Population|Tuvalu}}
| 37
| 3,636
| —
| —
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Uganda}}
| {{UN_Population|Uganda}}
| 19,881
| 487
| 49,130
| 1,345
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| {{UN_Population|United Kingdom}}
| 3,124,650<ref>{{Cite web|title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects|url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2021/April/weo-report|access-date=31 August 2021|website=IMF|language=en|archive-date=7 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407080844/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2021/April/weo-report|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 38,974
| 3,174,921
| 35,598
| Yes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Vanuatu}}
| {{UN_Population|Vanuatu}}
| 785
| 3,094
| 1,139
| 4,379
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Zambia}}
| {{UN_Population|Zambia}}
| 20,678
| 1,425
| 24,096
| 1,621
| No
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Commonwealth of Nations|name=Commonwealth}}
| '''2,418,964,000'''<!-- 2016 -->
| '''9,766,209'''
| '''3,844'''
| '''13,119,929'''
| '''4,035'''
| —
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | {{flag|Commonwealth of Nations|name=Commonwealth (realms)}}
| '''144,033,000'''<!-- 2016 -->
| '''5,966,408'''
| '''43,493'''
| '''4,945,842'''
| '''36,053'''
| —
|}
|}


===Postwar===
Since 1965 there has been a London-based ]. The current (2006) ] is ], a former Foreign Minister of ]. The organisation is celebrated each year on ], the second Monday in March.
During the Second World War, the British Empire played a major role in supporting British finances. Foreign exchange reserves were pooled in London, to be used to fight the war. In effect the United Kingdom procured £2.3&nbsp;billion, of which £1.3&nbsp;billion was from ]. The debt was held in the form of British government securities and became known as "sterling balances". By 1950, India, Pakistan and Ceylon had spent much of their sterling, whilst other countries accumulated more. The sterling area included all of the Commonwealth except for Canada, together with some smaller countries especially in the Persian Gulf. They held their foreign-exchange in sterling, protecting that currency from runs and facilitating trade and investment inside the Commonwealth. It was a formal relationship with fixed exchange rates, periodic meetings at Commonwealth summits to coordinate trade policy, and domestic economic policies. The United Kingdom ran a trade surplus, and the other countries were mostly producers of raw materials sold to the United Kingdom. The commercial rationale was gradually less attractive to the Commonwealth; however, access to the growing London capital market remained an important advantage to the newly independent nations. As the United Kingdom moved increasingly close to Europe, however, the long-term ties began to be in doubt.<ref>Catherine R. Schenk, "Britain in the world economy." in Paul Addison and Harriet Jones, eds., ''A Companion to Contemporary Britain: 1939–2000'' (2005): 436–481, esp. 469-71.</ref>


====UK joins the European Economic Community====
The Commonwealth has long been distinctive as an international forum where highly developed economies (the ], ], ], ]) and many of the world's poorer countries seek to reach agreement by ]. This aim has sometimes been difficult to achieve, as when disagreements over ] in the 1970s and over ] in South Africa in the 1980s led to a cooling of relations between the UK and African members.
By 1961, with a sluggish economy, the United Kingdom attempted to join the ], but this was repeatedly vetoed by ].<ref>Alan S. Milward, ''The rise and fall of a national strategy, 1945–1963'' (2002).</ref> ] was finally achieved in 1973. Queen Elizabeth was one of the few remaining links between the UK and the Commonwealth. Historian ] argues that joining Europe "constituted the most decisive step yet in the progress of severance of familial ties between the United Kingdom and its former Empire... It reduced the remaining links to sentimental and cultural ones, and legal niceties."<ref>{{cite book|author=Ben Pimlott|title=The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VkhSn5Fi7c4C|date=1998|page=416|publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-28330-0}}</ref>


The newly independent countries of Africa and Asia concentrated on their own internal political and economic development, and sometimes their role in the ]. The United States, international agencies, and the Soviet Union became important players, and the British role receded. Whilst there was opposition to British entry into the EEC from many countries, such as Australia, others preferred the economic advantages brought by British access to the Common Market.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gill Bennett|title=Six Moments of Crisis: Inside British Foreign Policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1_EUTmXbDwC&pg=PP87|date=2013|page=87|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-164163-3|access-date=10 February 2018|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330171246/https://books.google.com/books?id=m1_EUTmXbDwC&pg=PP87|url-status=live}}</ref> The historic ties between the former dominion nations and the United Kingdom were rapidly fraying. The Canadian economy increasingly focused on trade with the United States, and not on trade with the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth nations. Internal Canadian disputes revolved around the growing American cultural and economic presence, and the strong force of ]. In 1964, the ] replaced the ], with Gregory Johnson describing it as "the last gasp of empire".<ref>Gregory A. Johnson, "The Last Gasp of Empire: The 1964 Flag Debate Revisited", in Phillip Buckner, ed., ''Canada and the End of Empire'' (University of British Columbia Press, 2005), p. 6.</ref> Australia and New Zealand were generally opposed to the United Kingdom's entry and exerted considerable influence on the eventual terms of accession in 1972, for which the United Kingdom agreed to transitional arrangements and monetary compensation to protect important export markets.<ref>Andrea Benvenuti, {{"'}}Layin' Low and Sayin' Nuffin': Australia's Policy towards Britain's Second Bid to Join the European Economic Community (1966–67)" ''Australian Economic History Review'' 46#2 (2006): 155–175.</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Bruce |last=Brown |title=New Zealand in World Affairs: 1972–1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-pRHIw8R0-kC&pg=PA23 |date=1977 |publisher=Victoria UP |page=23 |isbn=978-0-86473-372-6 |access-date=10 February 2018 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330153527/https://books.google.com/books?id=-pRHIw8R0-kC&pg=PA23 |url-status=live }}</ref> Russell Ward summarises the period in economic terms: "In fact the United Kingdom, as Australia's chief trading partner, was being very rapidly replaced just at this time by the United States and an economically resurgent Japan, but most people were scarcely aware of this.... It was feared that British entry into the Common Market was bound to mean abolition, or at least scaling down, of preferential tariff arrangements for Australians goods."<ref>Russell Ward, ''A Nation for a Continent: the history of Australia, 1901–1975'' (1977) p 343</ref>
The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial ] (CHOGM), where Commonwealth presidents or prime ministers assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Prime Ministers' Conferences and earlier Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers, etc.


===Trade===
The most important statement of the Commonwealth's principles is the 1991 ], which dedicated the organisation to democracy and good government, and allowed for action to be taken against members who breached these principles. Before then the Commonwealth's collective actions had been limited by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other members.
{{further|Commonwealth free trade}}


Although the Commonwealth does not have a multilateral trade agreement, research by the ] has shown that trade with another Commonwealth member is up to 50% more than with a non-member on average, with smaller and less wealthy states having a higher propensity to trade within the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thercs.org/assets/Uploads/Trading-Places-the-Commonwealth-effect-revisited.pdf|title=Trading Places: The "Commonwealth effect" revisited, p. 9.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704235738/https://thercs.org/assets/Uploads/Trading-Places-the-Commonwealth-effect-revisited.pdf|archive-date=4 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> At the 2005 Summit in Malta, the heads of government endorsed pursuing free trade amongst Commonwealth members on a bilateral basis.<ref name=VallettaStatement>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/190628/163075/147476/valletta_statement_on_multilateral_trade.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415225827/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/190628/163075/147476/valletta_statement_on_multilateral_trade.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 April 2013 |title=Commonwealth Secretariat – Valletta Statement on Multilateral Trade |publisher=Thecommonwealth.org |date=26 November 2005 |access-date=27 September 2012 }}</ref>
==Benefits of membership and contemporary concerns==
The Commonwealth has often been likened to an English ], and the issue of who is and who is not a member often seems to be more important, and certainly attracts much more attention, than what the organisation actually does. This is because the main benefit of membership is the opportunity for close and relatively frequent interaction, on an informal and equal basis, between members who share many ties of language, culture, and history.


Following its ],<ref>{{cite web |date=15 November 2012 |title=The role and future of the Commonwealth |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/114/114.pdf |access-date=29 June 2013 |publisher=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126164617/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmfaff/114/114.pdf |archive-date=26 November 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> some in the United Kingdom suggested the Commonwealth as an alternative to its ] in the ];<ref>{{Cite book |last=Milne |first=Ian |title=Time to say no: alternatives to EU membership |date=2011 |publisher=Civitas |isbn=978-1-906837-32-7 |location=London |oclc=760992166}}</ref> however, it is far from clear that this would either offer sufficient economic benefit to replace the impact of leaving the EU or be acceptable to other member states.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2017/02/commonwealth-global-britain-sounds-nostalgia-something-else|title=To the Commonwealth, "Global Britain" sounds like nostalgia for something else|work=New Statesman 28th February 2017|date=25 February 2017|access-date=4 September 2017|archive-date=5 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905004925/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2017/02/commonwealth-global-britain-sounds-nostalgia-something-else|url-status=live}}</ref> Although the EU is already in the process of negotiating free trade agreements with many Commonwealth countries such as India and Canada, it took the EU almost ten years to come to an agreement with Canada,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2008/october/tradoc_141032.pdf|title=Assessing the Costs and Benefits of a Closer EU – Canada Economic Partnership: A Joint Study by the European Commission and the Government of Canada|website=Trade.EC.Europe.eu|access-date=10 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309011158/http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2008/october/tradoc_141032.pdf|archive-date=9 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/eu-ue/can-eu.aspx?view=d |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503140912/http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/eu-ue/can-eu.aspx?view=d |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 May 2012 |title=Canada-European Union: CETA |publisher=International.gc.ca |access-date=27 September 2012}}</ref> due to the challenge associated with achieving the necessary EU-wide approvals.
In its early days, the Commonwealth also constituted a significant economic bloc. Commonwealth countries accorded each others' goods privileged access to their markets ("Commonwealth Preference"), and there was a free or preferred right of migration from one Commonwealth country to another. These rights have been steadily eroded, but their consequences remain. Within most Commonwealth countries, there are substantial communities with family ties to other members of the Commonwealth, going beyond the effects of the original colonization of parts of the Commonwealth by settlers from the British Isles. Furthermore, consumers in Commonwealth countries retain many preferences for goods from other members of the Commonwealth, so that even in the absence of tariff privileges, there continues to be more trade within the Commonwealth than might be predicted. On the UK's entry to the ], the ] preserved some of the preferential access rights of Commonwealth goods to the UK market.


On 17 December 2021, following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, Australia and the United Kingdom signed the ], which on ratification eliminated tariffs and increased opportunities for movement between the two countries.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 June 2021 |title=Australia trade deal will not hit UK farmers, says Liz Truss |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57478412 |access-date=23 July 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616090913/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57478412 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=23 July 2022 |title=Australia signs UK free trade deal, scrapping import tariffs and opening British jobs market |work=] |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-17/australia-signs-free-trade-agreement-united-kingdom/100706992 |access-date=19 December 2021 |archive-date=19 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219002156/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-17/australia-signs-free-trade-agreement-united-kingdom/100706992 |url-status=live }}</ref>
But in recent decades there has been a mutual decline of interest in maintaining active inter-Commonwealth relations, and the organisation's direct political and economic importance has declined. ] critics have argued that in the 21st Century the organisation is an inherently arbitrary alliance with members that are united only through a historical accident of British colonialism. They argue that the organisation lacks a balanced membership, and point out that it is very unusual for any ] to exclude highly important regions of the world such as most of ] and ] from membership. Indeed, many Commonwealth members look increasingly to regional partners, non-Commonwealth as well as Commonwealth, to form their most important alliances.


==Commonwealth Family==
The UK has forged closer relationships with other European countries through the European Union; this was widely felt as a betrayal by citizens of the "Old Commonwealth" whose economies had been developed on the assumption of access to British markets. Similarly, former British colonies have forged closer relationships with non-Commonwealth trading partners and closer geographic neighbours. Reaction to immigration from the new Commonwealth countries into the UK in the 1950s and early 1960s led to the restriction of the right of migration. The Commonwealth today mainly restricts itself to encouraging community between nations and to placing moral pressure on members who violate international laws, such as ] laws, and abandon ] government. Key activities today include training experts in developing countries and assisting with and monitoring elections.
]]]
{{main|Commonwealth Family}}
Commonwealth countries share many links outside government, with over a hundred non-governmental organisations, notably for sport, culture, education, law, and charity claiming to operate on a Commonwealth-wide basis.


The Commonwealth Secretariat regulates formal accreditation with the Commonwealth through its Accreditation Committee. The admittance criteria includes upholding a commitment to the Commonwealth Charter. There are currently approximately 80 organisations holding formal accreditation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/organisations-directory |title=Directory of accredited organisations |website=The Commonwealth |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325041630/https://thecommonwealth.org/organisations-directory |url-status=live }}</ref> These include the ] which manages the ] allowing students to study in other Commonwealth countries, and the ] which links together over 180 Commonwealth ]s.
Some Commonwealth countries give Commonwealth citizens privileges that are not accorded to aliens. For example, in the UK the right to vote is given to all Commonwealth citizens resident in that country. This is reciprocated mainly in the Commonwealth ], even to the point that in some countries (including the UK) resident Commonwealth citizens may even be elected or appointed to the national legislature. But these privileges are largely not reciprocal, and it is up to each country to decide what privileges it accords to Commonwealth citizenship, except for the ]. Other privileges that the UK grants Commonwealth citizens include access to immigration programmes such as the ]. Some privileges offered by individual countries have eroded over the last few decades, but most countries continue to afford special treatment for immigration (e.g. ] for some) and visas.


===Commonwealth Foundation===
==Cultural links==
{{main|Commonwealth Foundation}}
The Commonwealth is also useful as an ] that represents significant cultural and historical links between wealthy first-world countries and poorer nations with diverse social and religious backgrounds. The common inheritance of the ] and literature, the common law, and British systems of administration all underpin the club-like atmosphere of the Commonwealth.
The ] is an intergovernmental organisation, resourced by and reporting to Commonwealth governments, and guided by Commonwealth values and priorities. Its mandate is to strengthen civil society in the achievement of Commonwealth priorities: democracy and good governance, respect for human rights and gender equality, poverty eradication, people-centred and sustainable development, and to promote arts and culture.<ref name="CF About" />


The Foundation was established in 1965 by the ]. Admittance is open to all members of the Commonwealth, and in December 2008, stood at 46 out of the 53 member countries. Associate Membership, which is open to associated states or overseas territories of member governments, has been granted to Gibraltar. 2005 saw celebrations for the Foundation's 40th Anniversary. The Foundation is headquartered in ], ]. Regular liaison and co-operation between the Secretariat and the Foundation is in place. The Foundation continues to serve the broad purposes for which it was established as written in the Memorandum of Understanding.<ref name="CF About">{{cite web|url=http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/about/index.cfm |title=Commonwealth Foundation – About Us |date=5 January 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060105094948/http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/about/index.cfm |archive-date=5 January 2006 }}</ref>
Mostly due to their history of British rule, many Commonwealth nations share certain identifiable traditions and customs that are elements of a shared Commonwealth culture. Examples include common sports such as ] and ], ], parliamentary and legal traditions, and the use of British rather than American spelling conventions (see ]). None of these is universal within the Commonwealth countries, nor exclusive to them, but all of them are more common in the Commonwealth than elsewhere.


===Commonwealth Games===
Commonwealth countries share many links outside government, with over a hundred Commonwealth-wide ]s, notably for sport, culture, education and charity. A multi-sports championship called the ] is held every four years, in the same year as the ]. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, the games include sports popular in the Commonwealth such as ]. The ] is an important vehicle for academic links, particularly through scholarships, principally the ], for students to study in ] in other Commonwealth countries. There are also many non-official associations that bring together individuals who work within the spheres of law and government, such as the ] and the ].
{{main|Commonwealth Games}}
] are the third-largest multi-sport event in the world, bringing together globally popular sports and peculiarly "Commonwealth" sports, such as ], shown here at the ] in ].|220x220px]]
The Commonwealth Games, a ], is held every four years; the ] were held in ], ] in ] and ] in ]. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, as at the ], the games include sports particularly popular in the Commonwealth, such as ], ], and ]. Started in 1930 as the Empire Games, the games were founded on the Olympic model of ], but were deliberately designed to be "the Friendly Games",<ref name="A Commonwealth of Values">{{cite journal|last=McKinnon|first=Don|author-link=Don McKinnon|date=February 2008|title=A Commonwealth of Values: a Commonwealth of incomparable value|journal=]|volume=97|issue=394|pages=19–28|doi=10.1080/00358530801890561|s2cid=153395786}}</ref> with the goal of promoting relations between Commonwealth countries and celebrating their shared sporting and cultural heritage.<ref name="Commonwealth Games and Art Festival">{{cite journal| date=July 2002 |title=Commonwealth Games and Art Festival|journal=]|volume=91|issue=365|pages=293–296|doi=10.1080/0035853022000010308|s2cid=219624041}}</ref>


The games are the Commonwealth's most visible activity<ref name="A Commonwealth of Values"/> and interest in the operation of the Commonwealth increases greatly when the Games are held.<ref>{{cite journal|last=McDougall|first=Derek|date=July 2005|title=Australia and the Commonwealth|journal=]|volume=94|issue=380|pages=339–349|doi=10.1080/00358530500175033|s2cid=154343051}}</ref> There is controversy over whether the games—and sport generally—should be involved in the Commonwealth's wider political concerns.<ref name="Commonwealth Games and Art Festival"/> The 1977 ] was signed to commit Commonwealth countries to combat ] through discouraging sporting contact with South Africa (which was not then a member), whilst the ] were boycotted by most African, Asian, and Caribbean countries for the failure of other countries to enforce the Gleneagles Agreement.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Muda|first=Muhammad|date=April 1998|title=The significance of the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia's foreign policy|journal=]|volume=87|issue=346|pages=211–226|doi=10.1080/00358539808454416|doi-access=free}}</ref>
In recent years the Commonwealth model has inspired similar initiatives on the part of ], ] and ] and their respective ex-colonies, and in the former case, other sympathetic governments: the ''organisation internationale de ]'' , the "Comunidad Iberoamericana de Naciones" (]) and the '']'' (Community of Portuguese-speaking countries).


===Commonwealth Youth Games===
===Literature===
{{main|Commonwealth Youth Games}}
The shared history of British rule has also produced a substantial body of writing in many languages - Commonwealth literature. There is an Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies () with nine chapters worldwide. ACLALS holds an international conference every three years. The was held in Hyderabad, India, in August 2004; the next will be held in 2007 in Vancouver, Canada from August 17 - 22, 2007.
The ] is the youth version of the Commonwealth Games and it is aimed from younger athletes aged between 14 and 18 years. The ] was the inaugural edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games, first held in Edinburgh, Scotland.


The ] of the games was held in 2023 in Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin." ] won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2004 for '']''. ] won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2004 Best First Book prize worth £3,000 for '']''.


===Commonwealth War Graves Commission===
Although not affiliated with the Commonwealth in an official manner, the prestigious ] is awarded annually to an author from a Commonwealth country or the ]. This honour is one of the highest in literature.
==Commonwealth Business Council== {{main|Commonwealth War Graves Commission}}
] commemorates 1.7&nbsp;million Commonwealth war dead and maintains 2,500 war cemeteries around the world, including this one in ].|220x220px]]
The ] (CBC) was formed at the Edinburgh ] in 1997. The aim was to utilise the global network of the Commonwealth more effectively for the promotion of global trade and investment for shared prosperity.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for maintaining the ]s of 1.7&nbsp;million service personnel who died in the First and Second World Wars fighting for Commonwealth member states. Founded in 1917 (as the Imperial War Graves Commission), the commission has constructed 2,500 ], and maintains individual graves at another 20,000 sites around the world.<ref name="Ten Key Things About War Graves">{{cite news|title=Ten Key Things About War Graves|first=Annie|last=Dare|newspaper=]|date=15 October 2000|page=29}}</ref> The vast majority of the latter are civilian cemeteries in the United Kingdom. In 1998, the CWGC made the records of its buried available online to facilitate easier searching.<ref name="Millions trace war dead on Internet">{{cite news|title=Millions trace war dead on Internet|first=Michael|last=Binyon|newspaper=]|date=22 January 1999|page=3}}</ref>


Commonwealth war cemeteries often feature similar ] and architecture, with larger cemeteries being home to a ] and ]. The CWGC is notable for marking the graves identically, regardless of the rank, country of origin, race, or religion of the buried.<ref name="Millions trace war dead on Internet"/>{{NoteTag|Each headstone contains the national emblem or regimental badge, rank, name, unit, date of death and age of each casualty inscribed above an appropriate religious symbol and a more personal dedication chosen by relatives.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cemeteries of the Great War By Sir Edwin Lutyens |first=Jeroen |last=Geurst |year=2010 |publisher=010 Publishers |isbn=978-90-6450-715-1}}</ref>}} It is funded by voluntary agreement by six Commonwealth members, in proportion to the nationality of the casualties in the graves maintained,<ref name="Ten Key Things About War Graves" /> with 75% of the funding coming from the United Kingdom.<ref name="Millions trace war dead on Internet"/>
The CBC acts as a bridge for cooperation between business and government, concentrating efforts on these specific areas:


===Commonwealth of Learning===
* Enhancing Trade
{{Main|Commonwealth of Learning}}
* Mobilising Investment
* Promoting ]
* Facilitating ]
* ]


The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by the ] to encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. COL is helping developing nations improve access to quality education and training.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.col.org/about/|title=About the Commonwealth of Learning|access-date=11 April 2023|archive-date=11 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411163836/https://www.col.org/about/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Commonwealth countries are major stakeholders in the process and success of the ]. Together the 53 member countries account for 30% of the world’s population, 25% of international trade and investment, and 40% of WTO membership.


=== Commonwealth Local Government Forum ===
CBC’s trade development objectives include encouraging trade facilitation and further liberalisation of services; encouraging developing countries to play an active role in the ], and in new trade rounds, by maximising their negotiating strength through cooperative action.
{{Main|Commonwealth Local Government Forum}}


The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) is a global local government organisation, bringing together local authorities, their national associations and the ministries responsible for local government in the member countries of the Commonwealth. CLGF works with national and ]s to support the development of ] and good local governance and is the associated organisation officially recognised by ] as the representative body for local government in the Commonwealth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/organisation/commonwealth-local-government-forum-clgf|title=Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) {{!}} The Commonwealth|website=thecommonwealth.org|date=31 July 2013|language=en|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-date=1 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201155851/http://thecommonwealth.org/organisation/commonwealth-local-government-forum-clgf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The CBC helps to mobilise investment into Commonwealth countries through measures including ensuring access to international capital markets; strengthening 26 domestic capital markets; encouraging regional integration; committing the private sector to work together with governments to help achieve a successful market economy for generating investment.


CLGF is unique in bringing together central, provincial and local spheres of government involved in local government policy and decision-making. CLGF members include local government associations, individual local authorities, ministries dealing with local government, and research and professional organisations who work with local government. Practitioner to practitioner support is at the core of CLGF's work across the Commonwealth and within the region, using CLGF's own members to support others both within and between regions. CLGF is a member of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, the formal partner of the UN Major Group of Local Authorities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gtf2016.org/about-us|title=Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments|website=globaltaskforce|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-date=11 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111201233/http://www.gtf2016.org/about-us|url-status=dead}}</ref>
A key feature of CBC is its global membership, comprising corporate members from both ] and ]. This gives CBC the capacity to make a special contribution to the debate on corporate citizenship, dominated by developed countries.


==Culture==
The CBC has been working to involve the ] in facilitating the implementation of an Information Communications Technologies for Development programme. The CBC programme enhances collaborative partnerships between the various stakeholders including governments, private sector, donor agencies and ]. Major goals include:
{{See also|British culture}}
Commonwealth countries share a common culture which includes the English language, sports, legal systems, education and government. These commonalities are the result of the Commonwealth's heritage, having developed out of the British Empire.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The Commonwealth |url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/peace-rights-and-security/the-commonwealth/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |language=en-NZ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=UK Representation in the Commonwealth |url=https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/uk-representation-in-the-commonwealth |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Government of the United Kingdom |language=en}}</ref> Symbols of the Commonwealth include the ] and ]. ] is commemorated across the Commonwealth.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Remembrance |url=https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/outreach/remembrance/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Commonwealth War Graces Commission |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Remembrance Day vs ANZAC Day explained |url=https://remembertoremember.com.au/blog/remembrance-day-vs-anzac-day-explained?dicbo=v4-9816lox-1076708621 |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=RSL Australia |language=en}}</ref> Celebrations for ] take place in some Commonwealth countries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Slater |first=Jack |date=2022-10-29 |title=Do any other countries celebrate Bonfire Night? |url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/29/is-bonfire-night-only-in-the-uk-17662141/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Metro |language=en}}</ref>


===Sport===
* Bridging the ] for social and economic development.
], ], ]. Commonwealth membership has been credited with popularising the game in the country, which was never in the British Empire.]]
* Promoting ] in Commonwealth countries.
* Promoting an experience exchange among stakeholders in Commonwealth countries.
* Promoting business and government cooperation for development.
* Creating awareness and enhancing the knowledge of policy makers about economic, technical and legal aspects of implementation of ICT for development.
* Providing and facilitating training and ].


Many Commonwealth nations play similar sports that are considered quintessentially British in character, rooted in and developed under British rule or hegemony, including ], ], ], ] and ]. These ties are particularly strong between the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa across ], ], ], and ], with Australia in ], with the Caribbean nations in cricket and netball, and with the Indian subcontinent ] and hockey. Canada, by contrast, is dominated by North American sports, including baseball instead of cricket, basketball rather than netball, ice hockey rather than field hockey and Canadian football, rather than rugby union or league. Canada does, however, maintain small enthusiastic communities in all the more traditional Commonwealth sports, having reached the World Cup in each of them, and is the homeplace of the ], hosting the ] in 1930.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Perkin|first=Harold|date=September 1989|title=Teaching the nations how to play: sport and society in the British Empire and Commonwealth |journal=International Journal of the History of Sport|volume=6|issue=2|pages=145–155|doi=10.1080/09523368908713685}}</ref>
CBC believes that there remains a significant gap for independent support to emerging market governments in the structuring and transacting of ICT infrastructure opportunities. The key CBC objectives are:


This shared sporting landscape has led to the development of friendly national rivalries between the main sporting nations that have often defined their relations with each other, and in the cases of India, Australia and New Zealand, have played a major part in defining their emerging national character (in cricket, rugby league and rugby union). Indeed, said rivalries preserved close ties by providing a constant in international relationships, even as the Empire transformed into the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Michael|last=Dawson|date=February 2006|title=Acting global, thinking local: 'Liquid imperialism' and the multiple meanings of the 1954 British Empire & Commonwealth Games|journal=International Journal of the History of Sport|volume=23|issue=1|pages=3–27|doi=10.1080/09523360500386419|doi-access=free}}</ref> Externally, playing these sports is seen to be a sign of sharing a certain Commonwealth culture; the adoption of ] is seen as symbolic of the country's move towards Commonwealth membership.<ref>{{cite news|last=Clayton|first=Jonathan|title=Schoolboy cricketers bat their way to a place in the Commonwealth|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article2903598.ece|newspaper=]|date=20 November 2007|access-date=27 March 2009|location=London|archive-date=8 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008004746/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article2903598.ece|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Mike |last=Pflanz|title=Rwanda in drive to join Commonwealth|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1558285/Rwanda-in-drive-to-join-Commonwealth.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1558285/Rwanda-in-drive-to-join-Commonwealth.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=]|date=24 July 2007|access-date=27 March 2009|location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> More broadly, Rwanda's membership of the Commonwealth has been credited with helping popularise cricket in the country, with both men and women playing it in orphanages, schools, universities and cricket clubs.<ref name="Duncan">{{cite book |last=Duncan |first=Isabelle |title=Skirting the Boundary: A History of Women's Cricket |publisher=Robson Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781849545464 |location=London}}</ref>
* Examine how support from highly experienced individuals can assist through the creation of an infrastructure technical advisory unit.
* Provide senior-level government support to provide focused advice.
* Provide mechanisms that will help governments leverage the huge capacity of the private sector to address the demand for better infrastructure.


The Commonwealth Games alongside the youth version, a quadrennial multi-sports event held in the middle year of an ] cycle is the most visible demonstration of these sporting ties. The Games include standard multi-sports disciplines like athletics, swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, boxing, field hockey, and cycling, but also includes sports popular in the Commonwealth that are distinct to the Games such as netball, squash and lawn bowls. They are also more avowedly political than events like the Olympics, promoting what are seen as Commonwealth values; historically, a history of shared military endeavour was celebrated and promoted, parasport and disability sport is fully integrated, and the Commonwealth Games Federation has publicly backed the rights of LGBT people, despite the continuing criminalisation of homosexuality in many Commonwealth countries.
The CBC has a dedicated team, ], based in ] and focused on the international technology and global services industry throughout the Commonwealth.


==Footnotes== ===Literature===
{{See also|Postcolonial literature|Migrant literature|The Journal of Commonwealth Literature}}


The shared history of British presence has produced a substantial body of writing in many languages, known as Commonwealth literature.<ref>{{cite news|title=A report on stories from the outposts of Commonwealth literature|first=Douglas|last=Hill|newspaper=]|date=1 October 1988|page=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=English Is a World Language – and That's to Be Prized|first=Robert|last=McCrum|newspaper=]|date=13 October 2003|page=B15}}</ref> The Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) has 11 branches worldwide and holds an international conference every three years.<ref name="Tunca 2018">{{cite web | last=Tunca | first=Daria | title=ACLALS: Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies | website=ACLALS | date=27 September 2018 | url=http://www.aclals.ulg.ac.be/ | access-date=13 December 2018 | archive-date=16 December 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216032000/http://www.aclals.ulg.ac.be/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
<!--<nowiki>
] won the ] in 2014.]]
See http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how
In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the annual ] "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin". Prizes are awarded for the best book and best first book in the Commonwealth; there are also regional prizes for the best book and best first book in each of four regions. Although not officially affiliated with the Commonwealth, the prestigious annual ], one of the highest honours in literature,<ref>{{cite news|title=The Empire Writes Back|first=Pico|last=Iyer|newspaper=]|date=12 February 1993|page=1}}</ref> used to be awarded only to authors from Commonwealth countries or former members such as Ireland and Zimbabwe. Since 2014, however, writers of any nationality have been eligible for the prize providing that they write originally in English and their novels are published by established publishers in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://manbookerprize.com/news/2013/12/12/meet-man-booker-prize-2014-judges|title=Meet the Man Booker Prize 2014 Judges|website=The Man Booker Prizes|date=12 December 2013|access-date=10 June 2017}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Today, the Commonwealth Foundation awards the annual ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Commonwealth Short Story Prize |url=https://commonwealthfoundation.com/short-story-prize/ |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=Commonwealth Foundation |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202062846/https://commonwealthfoundation.com/short-story-prize/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
to generate footnotes using the <ref> and </ref> tags, and the template below
</nowiki>-->
{{FootnotesSmall|resize=92%}}


There had been a few important works in English prior to 1950 from the then ]. From 1950 on, a significant number of writers from the countries of the Commonwealth began gaining international recognition, including some who migrated to the United Kingdom.
==References==
]]]
*''The Constitutional Structure of the Commonwealth'', by K C Wheare. Clarendon Press, 1960. ISBN 0-313-23624-0
] ]'s famous novel '']'' was published in 1883 and ] ] published her first collection of short stories, '']'', in 1911. The first major novelist, writing in English, from the ], ], began publishing in England in the 1930s, thanks to the encouragement of English novelist ].<ref>{{cite book| editor-last=Drabble|editor-first=Margaret|title=The Oxford Companion to English Literature|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1996}}</ref> ] ]'s writing career began as early as 1928, though her most famous work, '']'', was not published until 1966. South Africa's ]'s famous '']'' dates from 1948. ] from ], now Zimbabwe, was a dominant presence in the English literary scene, frequently publishing from 1950 on throughout the 20th century. She won the ] in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2007/index.html|title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 2007|website=Nobelprize.org|access-date=10 June 2017|archive-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810175617/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2007/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>


] is another post-Second World War writer from the former British colonies who ]. Rushdie achieved fame with '']'' (1981). His most controversial novel, '']'' (1989), was inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. ] (born 1932), born in ], was another immigrant, who wrote, amongst other things, '']'' (1979). Naipaul won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001.<ref name="nobelweb">{{cite web | url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2001/ | work = Literature | title = The Nobel Prize in Literature 2001 | publisher = Nobel Prize Outreach AB | access-date = 26 June 2016 | archive-date = 15 September 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120915131638/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2001/ | url-status = live }}</ref>
==List of Commonwealth members==
* ]
* ]
* ]


Many other Commonwealth writers have achieved an international reputation for works in English, including ] ], and playwright ]. Soyinka won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, as did South African novelist ] in 1995. Other South African writers in English are novelist ] (Nobel Prize 2003) and playwright ]. Kenya's most internationally renowned author is ], who has written novels, plays and short stories in English. Poet ], from ] in the Caribbean, was another Nobel Prize winner in 1992. An Australian, ], a major novelist in this period, whose first work was published in 1939, won in 1973. Other noteworthy Australian writers at the end of this period are poet ], and novelist ], who is one of only four writers to have won the ] twice.<ref>Man Booker official site: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129070148/http://themanbookerprize.com/search/node/j%20g%20farrell |date=29 January 2017 }}; : {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317185406/http://themanbookerprize.com/people/j-m-coetzee |date=17 March 2016 }}.</ref>
==See also==
*]
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Numerous academic journals cover the Commonwealth, including '']'', the '']'', '']'' and '']''. Amongst literature written about the Commonwealth itself is Indian diplomat and former Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General ]'s ''The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth'' (2005)''.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mcintyre |first1=W. David |last2=Mole |first2=Stuart |last3=Ashworth |first3=Lucian M. |last4=Shaw |first4=Timothy M. |last5=May |first5=Alex |date=2007 |title=Whose Commonwealth? Responses to Krishnan Srinivasan's The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00358530601167335 |journal=The Round Table |language=en |volume=96 |issue=388 |pages=57–70 |doi=10.1080/00358530601167335 |s2cid=153747809 |issn=0035-8533 |access-date=5 January 2024 |archive-date=5 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105050619/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00358530601167335 |url-status=live }}</ref>
'''Other organizations:'''
*]
*]
*]
*]


==Further reading== ===Political system===
], ], India. The Commonwealth Charter states the Commonwealth's commitment to democracy, and many Commonwealth countries use the ].]]
* ''The Commonwealth in the World'', by J D B Miller. Harvard University Press, 1965. ISBN 0-674-14700-6
] for ] in 2022 in ], New Zealand]]
* ''The Commonwealth Experience: From British to Multiracial Commonwealth'', by N Mansergh. University of Toronto Press, 1982. ISBN 0-8020-2492-0
Whilst, due to their shared constitutional histories, most countries in the Commonwealth have outwardly similar legal and political systems, several of them – including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Nigeria, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Uganda – have experienced one-party rule, civilian or military dictatorships or destructive civil wars, and many still suffer from rampant corruption and poor governance despite the fact that the Commonwealth requires its members to be functioning democracies that respect ] and the ]. The Commonwealth leadership was criticized for admitting Gabon as a member at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda – a country with poor human rights record - despite the fact that Gabon had been governed for 56 years by the kleptocratic Bongo family, until they were overthrown in a coup in 2023.<ref>''Why was a country as corrupt as Ali Bongo’s Gabon ever admitted to the Commonwealth?'' https://www.commonwealthroundtable.co.uk/general/eye-on-the-commonwealth/why-was-a-country-as-corrupt-as-ali-bongos-gabon-ever-admitted-to-the-commonwealth/# {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108230326/https://www.commonwealthroundtable.co.uk/general/eye-on-the-commonwealth/why-was-a-country-as-corrupt-as-ali-bongos-gabon-ever-admitted-to-the-commonwealth/ |date=8 January 2024 }}</ref>
* ''Making the New Commonwealth'', by R J Moore. Clarendon Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-820112-5

Most Commonwealth countries have the bicameral ] of ] democracy. The ] facilitates co-operation between legislatures across the Commonwealth, and the ] promotes ] amongst ] officials.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Statesman's Yearbook 2017: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PBs9DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|year=2017|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|page=46|isbn=978-1-349-68398-7|access-date=27 January 2018|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330165149/https://books.google.com/books?id=PBs9DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|url-status=live}}</ref> Most Commonwealth members use ], modelled on ]. The ] adopted in 2003 reflect the ].

===Symbols===
The Commonwealth has adopted a number of symbols that represent the association of its members. The English language is recognised as a symbol of the members' heritage; as well as being considered a symbol of the Commonwealth, recognition of it as "the means of Commonwealth communication" is a prerequisite for Commonwealth membership.

The ] consists of the symbol of the Commonwealth Secretariat, a gold globe surrounded by emanating rays, on a dark blue field; it was designed for the ] in 1973, and officially adopted on 26 March 1976. 1976 also saw the organisation agree to a common date on which to commemorate ], the second Monday in March, having developed separately on different dates from ] celebrations.<ref>''Flags of All Nations: Flags of the British Commonwealth of Nations'' (Brown, Son & Ferguson, 1952)</ref>

Also to mark the 60th anniversary (Diamond Jubilee) of the Commonwealth in 2009, the Commonwealth Secretariat commissioned Paul Carroll to compose "The Commonwealth Anthem". The lyrics of the Anthem are taken from the 1948 ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.commonwealth-music-council.net/sapphire-jubilee-celebration-cd.html|title=A Celebration of Her Majesty's Sapphire Jubilee|website=Commonwealth Music Council|date=2016|access-date=29 July 2018|archive-date=29 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729081603/http://www.commonwealth-music-council.net/sapphire-jubilee-celebration-cd.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Commonwealth has published the Anthem, performed by the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra, with and without an introductory narrative.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp4PCicIJl4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/Bp4PCicIJl4 |archive-date=15 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Commonwealth Anthem (with introductory narrative)|website=]|date=13 September 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rns3N4nfo7I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/rns3N4nfo7I |archive-date=15 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Windsor Suite Commonwealth Anthem|website=]|date=20 March 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref><!--credit to ]-->

===Recognition===
In 2009, to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth, the ] commissioned a poll of public opinion in seven of the member states: Australia, Canada, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It found that most people in these countries were largely ignorant of the Commonwealth's activities, aside from the ], and indifferent toward its future. Support for the Commonwealth was twice as high in developing countries as in developed countries; it was lowest in the United Kingdom.<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808043749/https://thercs.org/assets/Research-/Commonwealth-Conversation-Final-Report.pdf |date=8 August 2014 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |author-link=Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah|first= Dhananjayan |last=Sriskandarajah |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/canada-commonwealth-and-the-key-to-relevance/article4279734/ |title=Canada, Commonwealth and the key to relevance |work=The Globe and Mail|date=21 July 2009 |access-date=18 April 2013 |archive-date=10 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510024750/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/canada-commonwealth-and-the-key-to-relevance/article4279734/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Elizabeth |last=Renzetti |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/commonwealth-quaint-historical-relic-or-meaningful-bloc/article4279618/ |title=Commonwealth: quaint historical relic or meaningful bloc? |work=The Globe and Mail |date=20 July 2009|access-date=18 April 2013 |archive-date=10 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510011926/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/commonwealth-quaint-historical-relic-or-meaningful-bloc/article4279618/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7931706.stm |title=Queen marks Commonwealth launch |work=BBC News |date=9 March 2009|access-date=5 August 2014 |archive-date=10 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810030912/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7931706.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|Countries|United Kingdom}}
* ]
* ]
* ], an equivalent grouping of ] countries and territories
* ]
* ]
* ], an association of countries where the French language and French culture are prominent
* ], consisting of ] nations

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* Ashton, Sarah R. "British government perspectives on the Commonwealth, 1964–71: An asset or a liability?". ''Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'' 35.1 (2007): 73–94.
* Bloomfield, Valerie. ''Commonwealth Elections 1945–1970'' (1976).
* Cook, Chris and John Paxton. ''Commonwealth Political Facts'' (Macmillan, 1978).
* Hall, H. Duncan. "The genesis of the Balfour declaration of 1926". ''Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics'' 1.3 (1962): 169–193.
* Holland, Robert F. ''Britain and the Commonwealth Alliance, 1918-39'' (Springer, 1981).
* {{cite book |last1=Jebb |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Claverhouse Jebb|title=The Empire and the century |year = 1905 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |pages=332–348 |chapter=]}}
* Lloyd, Lorna. ''Diplomacy with a difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880–2006'' (Brill, 2007).
* McIntyre, W. David. "The strange death of dominion status". ''Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'' 27.2 (1999): 193–212.
* McIntyre, W. David. ''The commonwealth of nations: Origins and impact, 1869–1971'' (University of Minnesota Press, 1977); Comprehensive coverage giving London's perspective on political and constitutional relations with each possession.
* McIntyre, W. David. ''A Guide to the Contemporary Commonwealth'', Palgrave, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-333-96310-4}}.
* McIntyre, W. David. "The Unofficial Commonwealth Relations Conferences, 1933–59: Precursors of the Tri-sector Commonwealth." ''Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'' 36.4 (2008): 591–614.
* Madden, Frederick and John Darwin, eds. ''The Dependent Empire, 1900–1948: Colonies, Protectorates, and the Mandates'' (1994), 908 pp. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202045423/https://www.questia.com/library/91753673/the-dependent-empire-1900-1948-colonies-protectorates |date=2 February 2017 }}
* Maitland, Donald. ed. ''Britain, the Commonwealth and Europe'' (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2001) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819203743/http://vm3.ehaus2.co.uk/macmillan/resources/sample-chapters/9780333800133_sample.pdf |date=19 August 2018 }}
* ] ''The Commonwealth in the World'', ], 1982. {{ISBN|978-0-8020-2492-3}}.
* Moore, R.J. ''Making the New Commonwealth'', Clarendon Press, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-19-820112-0}}.
* Murphy, Philip. ''Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government, and the Postwar Commonwealth'' (Oxford UP 2013) {{doi|10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214235.001.0001}}
* Perkin, Harold. "Teaching the nations how to play: sport and society in the British empire and Commonwealth". ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' 6.2 (1989): 145–155.
* Shaw, Timothy M. ''Commonwealth: Inter- and Non-State Contributions to Global Governance'', Routledge, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-415-35120-1}}
* Srinivasan, Krishnan. ''The rise, decline and future of the British Commonwealth'' (Springer, 2005).
* Wheare, K. C. ''The Constitutional Structure of the Commonwealth'', Clarendon Press, 1960. {{ISBN|978-0-313-23624-2}}.
* Williams, Paul D. "Blair's Britain and the Commonwealth". ''The Round Table'' 94.380 (2005): 381–391.
* Winks, Robin, ed. ''The Historiography of the British Empire-Commonwealth: Trends, Interpretations and Resources'' (1966) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623131142/https://www.questia.com/library/95979771/the-historiography-of-the-british-empire-commonwealth |date=23 June 2017 }}
{{refend}}

===Primary sources===
{{refbegin}}
* Madden, Frederick, ed. ''The End of Empire: Dependencies since 1948: Select Documents on the Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth: The West Indies, British Honduras, Hong Kong, Fiji, Cyprus, Gibraltar, and the Falklands'' (2000) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819204658/https://www.questia.com/library/120072134/the-end-of-empire-dependencies-since-1948-select |date=19 August 2018 }} 596pp
* Madden, Frederick, and John Darwin, ed. ''The Dependent Empire: 1900–1948: Colonies, Protectorates, and Mandates'' (1963), 908pp {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202050706/https://www.questia.com/read/91753692/the-dependent-empire-1900-1948-colonies-protectorates |date=2 February 2017 }}
* Mansergh, Nicholas, ed. ''Documents and Speeches on Commonwealth Affairs, 1952–1962'' (1963), 804pp {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819212015/https://www.questia.com/library/1817157/documents-and-speeches-on-commonwealth-affairs-1952-1962 |date=19 August 2018 }}
{{refend}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons}}
* - UK government site
{{Wikivoyage}}
*
{{Wikisource|Territories forming part of the Commonwealth|British Nationality Act (1981 c 61) Annex B – The territories forming part of the Commonwealth}}
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Latest revision as of 04:53, 9 January 2025

Political association of mostly former British Empire territories "The Commonwealth" redirects here. For other uses, see Commonwealth (disambiguation).

Commonwealth of Nations
Flag of Commonwealth of Nations Flag Logo of Commonwealth of Nations Logo
  Current member states   Partially suspended member state   Former member states   British Overseas Territories
and Crown Dependencies
HeadquartersMarlborough House, London, United Kingdom
Working languageEnglish
TypeVoluntary association
Member states 56 states
Leaders
• Head Charles III
• Secretary-General The Baroness Scotland of Asthal
• Chair-in-Office Fiame Naomi Mata'afa
Establishment
• Balfour Declaration 19 November 1926
• Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931
• London Declaration 28 April 1949
Area
• Total29,958,050 km (11,566,870 sq mi)
Population
• 2016 estimate2,418,964,000
• Density75/km (194.2/sq mi)
Website
thecommonwealth.org
Preceded by
British Empire

The Commonwealth of Nations, often simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which it developed. They are connected through their use of the English language and historical-cultural ties. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental relations, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member nations. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth. It is known colloquially as the British Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster in 1931. The current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernised the community and established the member states as "free and equal".

The Head of the Commonwealth is Charles III. He is king of 15 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, whilst 36 other members are republics, and five others have different monarchs. Although he became head upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, the position is not technically hereditary.

Member states have no legal obligations to one another, though some have institutional links to other Commonwealth nations. Citizenship of a Commonwealth country affords benefits in some member countries, particularly in the United Kingdom, and Commonwealth countries are represented to one another by high commissions rather than embassies. The Commonwealth Charter defines their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.

A majority of Commonwealth countries are small states, with small island developing states constituting almost half its membership.

History

Conceptual origins

Main articles: British Empire and Historiography of the British Empire
Draft of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, with "British Empire" crossed out and "British Commonwealth of Nations" added by hand
The prime ministers of five members at the 1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference: (L-R) Mackenzie King (Canada), Jan Smuts (South Africa), Winston Churchill (United Kingdom), Peter Fraser (New Zealand) and John Curtin (Australia)

Queen Elizabeth II, in her address to Canada on Dominion Day in 1959, pointed out that the Confederation of Canada on 1 July 1867 had been the birth of the "first independent country within the British Empire". She declared: "So, it also marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations." As long ago as 18 January 1884 Lord Rosebery, while visiting Adelaide, South Australia, had described the changing British Empire, as some of its colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations". Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, leading to the creation of the Imperial Conferences in 1911.

The Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. A specific proposal was presented by Jan Smuts in 1917 when he coined the term "the British Commonwealth of Nations" and envisioned the "future constitutional relations and readjustments in essence" at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, attended by delegates from the Dominions as well as the United Kingdom. The term first received imperial statutory recognition in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, when the term British Commonwealth of Nations was substituted for British Empire in the wording of the oath taken by members of parliament of the Irish Free State.

Adoption and formalisation

In the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, the United Kingdom and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". The term 'Commonwealth' was officially adopted to describe the community.

These aspects to the relationship were formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which applied to Canada without the need for ratification, but Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland had to ratify the statute for it to take effect. Newfoundland never did as due to economic hardship and the need for financial assistance from London, Newfoundland voluntarily accepted the suspension of self-government in 1934 and governance reverted to direct control from London. Newfoundland later joined Canada as its tenth province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively.

Although the Union of South Africa was not amongst the Dominions that needed to adopt the Statute of Westminster for it to take effect, two laws — the Status of the Union Act, 1934, and the Royal Executive Functions and Seals Act, 1934 — were passed by the Parliament of South Africa to confirm South Africa's status as a sovereign state, and to incorporate the Statute of Westminster into the law of South Africa.

Second World War

Poster from the Second World War, depicting soldiers from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Colony of Southern Rhodesia, South Africa and imperial India
Main article: British Empire in World War II

Commonwealth countries and the Empire were involved in every major theatre of the Second World War. The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was established for pilots from across the Empire and Dominions, created by the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Troops from Australia, Britain, the British Raj and New Zealand made up the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in post-war Japan.

Decolonisation and self-governance

For a more comprehensive list, see List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom.

After the Second World War ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, and members of the Commonwealth. There remain the 14 mainly self-governing British overseas territories which retain some political association with the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word "British" was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature.

Burma (Myanmar since 1989) and Aden (now part of Yemen) are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Former British protectorates and mandates that did not become members of the Commonwealth are Egypt (independent in 1922), Iraq (1932), Transjordan (1946), Palestine (part of which became the State of Israel in 1948), Sudan (1956), British Somaliland (which united with the former Italian Somaliland in 1960 to form the Somali Republic), Kuwait (1961), Bahrain (1971), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971) and the United Arab Emirates (1971).

The post-war Commonwealth was given a fresh mission by Queen Elizabeth II in her Christmas Day 1953 broadcast, in which she envisioned the Commonwealth as "an entirely new conception – built on the highest qualities of the Spirit of Man: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace". However, the British treasury was so weak that it could not operate independently of the United States. Furthermore, the loss of defence and financial roles undermined Joseph Chamberlain's early 20th-century vision of a world empire that could combine Imperial preference, mutual defence and social growth. In addition, the United Kingdom's cosmopolitan role in world affairs became increasingly limited, especially with the losses of India and Singapore. While British politicians at first hoped that the Commonwealth would preserve and project British influence, they gradually lost their enthusiasm, argues Krishnan Srinivasan. Early enthusiasm waned as British policies came under fire at Commonwealth meetings. Public opinion became troubled as immigration from non-white member states became large-scale (see also: Commonwealth diaspora).

The term "New Commonwealth" gained usage in the UK (especially in the 1960s and 1970s) to refer to recently decolonised countries, predominantly non-white and developing countries. It was often used in debates regarding immigration from these countries. The United Kingdom and the pre-1945 dominions became informally known as the "Old Commonwealth", or more pointedly as the "white Commonwealth", in reference to what had been known as the "White Dominions".

Commonwealth republics

Main article: Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations

On 18 April 1949, Ireland formally became a republic in accordance with the Irish Republic of Ireland Act 1948; in doing so, it also formally left the Commonwealth. Whilst Ireland had not actively participated in the Commonwealth since the early 1930s, other dominions wished to become republics without losing Commonwealth ties. The issue came to a head in April 1949 at a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London. Under the London Declaration, as drafted by V. K. Krishna Menon, India agreed, when it became a republic in January 1950, it would remain in the Commonwealth and accept the British Sovereign as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth". Upon hearing this, King George VI told Menon: "So, I've become 'as such'". Some other Commonwealth countries that have since become republics have chosen to leave, whilst others, such as Guyana, Mauritius and Dominica, have remained members.

India's inaugural prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared on 16 May 1949, shortly following the Declaration, during the Constituent Assembly Debates that:

We join the Commonwealth obviously because we think it is beneficial to us and to certain causes in the world that we wish to advance. The other countries of the Commonwealth want us to remain there because they think it is beneficial to them. It is mutually understood that it is to the advantage of the nations in the Commonwealth and therefore they join. At the same time, it is made perfectly clear that each country is completely free to go its own way; it may be that they may go, sometimes go so far as to break away from the Commonwealth...Otherwise, apart from breaking the evil parts of the association, it is better to keep a co-operative association going which may do good in this world rather than break it.

The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of the modern Commonwealth. Following India's precedent, other nations became republics, or constitutional monarchies with their own monarchs. Whilst some countries retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, their monarchies developed differently and soon became essentially independent of the British monarchy. The monarch is regarded as a separate legal personality in each realm, even though the same person is monarch of each realm.

Proposals to include Europe

At a time when Germany and France, together with Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, were planning what later became the European Union, and newly independent African countries were joining the Commonwealth, new ideas were floated to prevent the United Kingdom from becoming isolated in economic affairs. British trade with the Commonwealth was four times larger than its trade with Europe. In 1956 and 1957, the British government, under Prime Minister Anthony Eden, considered a "Plan G" to create a European free trade zone whilst also protecting the favoured status of the Commonwealth. The United Kingdom also considered inviting Scandinavian and other European countries to join the Commonwealth, so that it would become a major economic common market.

At the time of the Suez Crisis in 1956, and in the face of colonial unrest and international tensions, French prime minister Guy Mollet proposed to British prime minister Anthony Eden that their two countries be joined in a "union". When that proposal was turned down, Mollet suggested that France join the Commonwealth, possibly with "a common citizenship arrangement on the Irish basis". These ideas faded away with the end of the Suez Crisis.

Expansion

The first member to be admitted without having any constitutional link to the British Empire was Mozambique in 1995 following its first democratic elections. Mozambique was a former Portuguese colony. Its entry preceded the Edinburgh Declaration and the current membership guidelines. In 2009, Rwanda became the second country to be admitted to the Commonwealth not to have any constitutional links to Britain. It was a Belgian trust territory that had been a district of German East Africa until World War I.

In 2022, Togo, a former French mandate territory, and Gabon, a former French colony, joined the Commonwealth, despite never having been under British rule. Gabon was partially suspended from the Commonwealth in September 2023 following a military coup, with two years given by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group for the country to hold new elections before a full suspension of Commonwealth membership would be considered.

Prior to Togo's admission at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said that he expected Commonwealth membership to provide opportunities for Togolese citizens to learn English and access new educational and cultural resources. He also remarked that the country sought closer ties with the Anglophone world.

Structure

Head of the Commonwealth

Main article: Head of the Commonwealth
Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving Head of the Commonwealth, was in office for 70 years.

Under the formula of the London Declaration, Charles III is the Head of the Commonwealth. However, when the monarch dies, the successor to the crown does not automatically become the new head of the Commonwealth. Despite this, at their meeting in April 2018, Commonwealth leaders agreed that Prince Charles should succeed his mother Elizabeth II as head after her death. The position is symbolic, representing the free association of independent members, the majority of which (36) are republics, and five have monarchs of different royal houses (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia and Tonga).

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

Main article: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth Heads of Government, including (amongst others) prime ministers and presidents, assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Commonwealth Prime Ministers Meetings and, earlier, the Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences, dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers and others. Members in arrears, as special members before them, are not invited to send representatives to either ministerial meetings or CHOGMs.

The head of government hosting the CHOGM is called the chair-in-office (CIO) and retains the position until the following CHOGM.

Commonwealth Secretariat

Main article: Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House, London, the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth's principal intergovernmental institution

The Commonwealth Secretariat, established in 1965, is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and co-operation amongst member governments and countries. It is responsible to member governments collectively. The Commonwealth of Nations is represented in the United Nations General Assembly by the secretariat as an observer. The secretariat organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions; it assists policy development and provides policy advice, and facilitates multilateral communication amongst the member governments. It also provides technical assistance to help governments in the social and economic development of their countries and in support of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values.

The secretariat is headed by the Commonwealth secretary-general, who is elected by the Commonwealth heads of government for no more than two four-year terms. The secretary-general and two deputy secretaries-general direct the divisions of the Secretariat. The present secretary-general is Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, from Dominica, who took office on 1 April 2016, succeeding Kamalesh Sharma of India (2008–2016). The first secretary-general was Arnold Smith of Canada (1965–1975), followed by Sir Shridath Ramphal of Guyana (1975–1990), Chief Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria (1990–1999), and Don McKinnon of New Zealand (2000–2008).

Commonwealth citizenship and high commissioners

The high commission of The Gambia in New Delhi
Main articles: Commonwealth citizen and High commissioner (Commonwealth)

Some member states grant particular rights to Commonwealth citizens. The United Kingdom and several others, mostly in the Caribbean, grant the right to vote to resident Commonwealth citizens. Some countries, including the United Kingdom, have preferential citizenship acquisition or residency policies for Commonwealth citizens. Initially, Commonwealth countries were not considered to be "foreign" to each other as their citizens were British subjects. Citizenship laws have evolved independently in each Commonwealth country. For example, in Australia, for the purpose of considering certain constitutional and legal provisions in the High Court case of Sue v Hill, the United Kingdom was held to be a "foreign power". Similarly, in Nolan v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, the nationals of other Commonwealth realms were held to be "aliens".

Commonwealth citizens may receive consular assistance from other Commonwealth countries. In particular, British embassies and consulates may provide assistance to Commonwealth nationals in non-Commonwealth countries if their own country is not represented. Commonwealth citizens are eligible to apply for British emergency passports. Australia issues Documents of Identity in exceptional circumstances to resident Commonwealth citizens who are unable to obtain valid travel documents from their countries of origin and must travel urgently.

The close association amongst Commonwealth countries is reflected in the diplomatic protocols of the Commonwealth countries. For example, when engaging bilaterally with one another, Commonwealth governments exchange high commissioners instead of ambassadors.

Other linkages

Further institutional connections exist between Commonwealth countries. These include, between some, connections to other parts of the Commonwealth in their judicial and military institutions.

Judicial

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest court of appeal for several Commonwealth nations.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the supreme court of 14 Commonwealth countries, including the Cook Islands and Niue which are under the Realm of New Zealand (though New Zealand itself does not make appeals to the Privy Council).

Commonwealth nationals are eligible for appointment to the High Court of Fiji, with the Court relying on judges from other Commonwealth nations.

Military

Soldiers of the Indian Army 5th Gurkha Rifles in post-war Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, 1946

Commonwealth citizens are eligible to serve in the British Armed Forces. According to the British Army, "Commonwealth soldiers are, and always will be, an important and valued part of the fabric of the British Army." Thousands of potential Commonwealth recruits have been turned away due to a lack of eligible vacancies.

Gurkha soldiers from Nepal, though it is not a Commonwealth country, have long fought alongside British and Commonwealth troops. They continue to be recruited by the British Army (Brigade of Gurkhas), Indian Army (Gorkha regiments) and Royal Brunei Armed Forces (Gurkha Reserve Unit), as well the Gurkha Contingent of the Singapore Police Force. Most members of Brunei's Gurkha Reserve Unit are veterans from the British Army and Singaporean police.

Membership

The members of the Commonwealth shaded according to their political status. Commonwealth realms are shown in blue, whilst republics are shaded pink, and members with their own monarchies are displayed in green.

Criteria

Main article: Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria

The criteria for membership of the Commonwealth of Nations have developed over time from a series of separate documents. The Statute of Westminster 1931, as a fundamental founding document of the organisation, laid out that membership required dominionhood. The 1949 London Declaration ended this, allowing republican and indigenous monarchic members on the condition that they recognised King George VI as "Head of the Commonwealth". In the wake of the wave of decolonisation in the 1960s, these constitutional principles were augmented by political, economic, and social principles. The first of these was set out in 1961, when it was decided that respect for racial equality would be a requirement for membership, leading directly to the withdrawal of South Africa's re-application (which they were required to make under the formula of the London Declaration upon becoming a republic). The 14 points of the 1971 Singapore Declaration dedicated all members to the principles of world peace, liberty, human rights, equality, and free trade.

These criteria were unenforceable for two decades, until, in 1991, the Harare Declaration was issued, dedicating the leaders to applying the Singapore principles to the completion of decolonisation, the end of the Cold War, and the end of apartheid in South Africa. The mechanisms by which these principles would be applied were created, and the manner clarified, by the 1995 Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, which created the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which has the power to rule on whether members meet the requirements for membership under the Harare Declaration. Also in 1995, an Inter-Governmental Group was created to finalise and codify the full requirements for membership. Upon reporting in 1997, as adopted under the Edinburgh Declaration, the Inter-Governmental Group ruled that any future members would "as a rule" have to have a direct constitutional link with an existing member.

In addition to this new rule, the former rules were consolidated into a single document. These requirements are that members must accept and comply with the Harare principles, be fully sovereign states, recognise King Charles III as head of the Commonwealth, accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication, and respect the wishes of the general population with regard to Commonwealth membership. These requirements had undergone review, and a report on potential amendments was presented by the Committee on Commonwealth Membership at the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. New members were not admitted at this meeting, though applications for admission were considered at the 2009 CHOGM.

New members must "as a general rule" have a direct constitutional link to an existing member. In most cases, this is due to being a former colony of the United Kingdom, but some have links to other countries, either exclusively or more directly (e.g., Bangladesh to Pakistan, Samoa to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea to Australia, and Singapore to Malaysia). Mozambique, in 1995, was the first country to join without such a constitutional connection, leading to the Edinburgh Declaration and the current membership guidelines.

In 2009, Rwanda, formerly under Belgian and German rule, joined. Consideration for Rwanda's admission was considered an "exceptional circumstance" by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Rwanda was permitted to join despite the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) finding that "the state of governance and human rights in Rwanda does not satisfy Commonwealth standards", and that it "does not therefore qualify for admission". CHRI commented that: "It does not make sense to admit a state that already does not satisfy Commonwealth standards. This would tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth and confirm the opinion of many people and civic organisations that the leaders of its governments do not really care for democracy and human rights, and that its periodic, solemn declarations are merely hot air."

In 2022, the former French territories of Togo and Gabon joined the Commonwealth.

Members

Main article: Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
Flags of the members of the Commonwealth in Parliament Square, London
The Commonwealth flag flying at the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa

The Commonwealth comprises 56 countries, across all inhabited continents. 33 members are small states, including 25 small island developing states. In 2023, the Commonwealth had a population of 2.5 billion. The Commonwealth is the largest association of 'Third World' or 'Global South' countries.

With a population of 1.4 billion, India is the most populous Commonwealth country. Tuvalu is the smallest member, with about 12,000 people.

The status of "member in arrears" is used to denote those that are in arrears in paying subscription dues. The status was originally known as "special membership", but was renamed on the Committee on Commonwealth Membership's recommendation. There are currently no members in arrears. The most recent member in arrears, Nauru, returned to full membership in June 2011. Nauru had alternated between special and full membership since joining the Commonwealth, depending on its financial situation.

Economy of member countries

Main article: List of Commonwealth of Nations countries by GDP (nominal)

In 2019, the Commonwealth members had a combined gross domestic product of over $9 trillion, 78% of which is accounted for by the four largest economies: India ($3.737 trillion), United Kingdom ($3.124 trillion), Canada ($1.652 trillion), and Australia ($1.379 trillion).

Applicants

See also: Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations § Prospective members

In 1997 the Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed that, to become a member of the Commonwealth, an applicant country should, as a rule, have had a constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member; that it should comply with Commonwealth values, principles and priorities as set out in the Harare Declaration; and that it should accept Commonwealth norms and conventions.

South Sudanese politicians have expressed interest in joining the Commonwealth. A senior Commonwealth source stated in 2006 that "many people have assumed an interest from Israel, but there has been no formal approach". Israel and Palestine are both potential candidates for membership.

President Yahya Jammeh unilaterally withdrew the Gambia from the Commonwealth in October 2013. However, newly elected president Adama Barrow returned the country to the organisation in February 2018.

Other eligible applicants could be any of the remaining inhabited British Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies, Australian external territories and the Associated States of New Zealand if they become fully independent. Many such jurisdictions are already directly represented within the Commonwealth, particularly through the Commonwealth Family. There are also former British possessions that have not become independent. Although Hong Kong has become part of China, it continues to participate in some of the institutions within the Commonwealth Family, including the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

All three of the Crown dependencies regard their existing situation as unsatisfactory and have lobbied for change. The States of Jersey have called on the UK foreign secretary to request that the Commonwealth heads of government "consider granting associate membership to Jersey and the other Crown Dependencies as well as any other territories at a similarly advanced stage of autonomy". Jersey has proposed that it be accorded "self-representation in all Commonwealth meetings; full participation in debates and procedures, with a right to speak where relevant and the opportunity to enter into discussions with those who are full members; and no right to vote in the Ministerial or Heads of Government meetings, which is reserved for full members". The States of Guernsey and the Government of the Isle of Man have made calls of a similar nature for a more integrated relationship with the Commonwealth, including more direct representation and enhanced participation in Commonwealth organisations and meetings, including Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings. The Chief Minister of the Isle of Man has said: "A closer connection with the Commonwealth itself would be a welcome further development of the Island's international relationships".

Suspension

Main article: Suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations

Members can be suspended "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for "serious or persistent violations" of the Harare Declaration, particularly in abrogating their responsibility to have democratic government. Suspensions are agreed by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which meets regularly to address potential breaches of the Harare Declaration. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation.

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth during the presidency of Robert Mugabe (pictured), subsequently withdrawing. The country applied to rejoin following Mugabe's removal from power.

Nigeria was suspended between 11 November 1995 and 29 May 1999, following its execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa on the eve of the 1995 CHOGM. Pakistan was the second country to be suspended, on 18 October 1999, following the military coup by Pervez Musharraf. The Commonwealth's longest suspension came to an end on 22 May 2004, when Pakistan's suspension was lifted following the restoration of the country's constitution. Pakistan was suspended for a second time, far more briefly, for six months from 22 November 2007, when Musharraf called a state of emergency. Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns regarding the electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government, before it withdrew from the organisation in 2003. On 15 May 2018, Zimbabwe applied to rejoin the Commonwealth.

The declaration of a Republic in Fiji in 1987, after military coups designed to deny Indo-Fijians political power, was not accompanied by an application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after discriminatory provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made. Fiji has since been suspended twice, with the first imposed from 6 June 2000 to 20 December 2001 after another coup. Fiji was suspended yet again in December 2006, following the most recent coup. At first, the suspension applied only to membership on the Councils of the Commonwealth. After failing to meet a Commonwealth deadline for setting a date for national elections by 2010, Fiji was "fully suspended" on 1 September 2009. The secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, confirmed that full suspension meant that Fiji would be excluded from Commonwealth meetings, sporting events and the technical assistance programme (with an exception for assistance in re-establishing democracy). Sharma stated that Fiji would remain a member of the Commonwealth during its suspension, but would be excluded from emblematic representation by the secretariat. On 19 March 2014 Fiji's full suspension was amended to a suspension from councils of the Commonwealth by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, permitting Fiji to join a number of Commonwealth activities, including the Commonwealth Games. Fiji's suspension was lifted in September 2014. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group fully reinstated Fiji as a member following elections in September 2014.

Most recently, during 2013 and 2014, international pressure mounted to suspend Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth, citing grave human rights violations by the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. There were also calls to change the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2013 from Sri Lanka to another member country. Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper threatened to boycott the event, but was instead represented at the meeting by Deepak Obhrai. UK prime minister David Cameron also chose to attend. These concerns were rendered moot by the election of opposition leader Maithripala Sirisena as president in 2015.

Withdrawal and termination

See also: Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations § Former members, and Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations § Dissolved members

As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. The first state to do so was Ireland in 1949 following its decision to declare itself a republic, although it had not participated in the Commonwealth since 1932. At the time, all members accepted the British monarch as head of state as a condition of membership. This rule was changed after Ireland's departure to allow India to retain membership when it became a republic in 1950, although Ireland did not rejoin. Now, the majority of the Commonwealth members, including all those from Africa, are republics or have their own native monarch.

Pakistan left on 30 January 1972 in protest at the Commonwealth's recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined on 2 August 1989. Zimbabwe's membership was suspended in 2002 on the grounds of alleged human rights violations and deliberate misgovernment, and Zimbabwe's government terminated its membership in 2003. The Gambia left the Commonwealth on 3 October 2013, and rejoined on 8 February 2018.

The Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016, citing Commonwealth's "punitive actions against the Maldives since 2012" after the allegedly forced resignation of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed amongst the reasons for withdrawal. Following the election of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as president in November 2018, the Maldives announced its intention to reapply to join the Commonwealth. It rejoined on 1 February 2020.

Having left the Commonwealth over its apartheid policies, South Africa was readmitted in 1994 following non-racial elections.

No country has been formally expelled from the Commonwealth. However, South Africa's application to remain a member of the organisation after becoming a republic in 1961 was effectively blocked due to hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to apartheid. The South African government withdrew its application when it became clear at the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference that it would be rejected. South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, following its first multiracial elections that year. The Commonwealth provided technical assistance and training for a peacekeeping force prior to election, with Commonwealth observers significantly present during the election itself.

The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 ended the territory's status as a part of the Commonwealth through the United Kingdom. Non-sovereign states or regions are not permitted to become members of the Commonwealth. The government of China has not pursued membership. Hong Kong has nevertheless continued to participate in some of the organisations of the Commonwealth Family, such as the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (hosted the Commonwealth Lawyers Conference in 1983 and 2009), the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (and the Westminster Seminar on Parliamentary Practice and Procedures), the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel, as well as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

Politics

Objectives and activities

The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of world peace; promotion of representative democracy and individual liberty; the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free trade. To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender by the Lusaka Declaration of 1979, and environmental sustainability by the Langkawi Declaration of 1989. These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.

The Commonwealth's current highest-priority aims are on the promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003 Aso Rock Declaration, which built on those in Singapore and Harare and clarified their terms of reference, stating, "We are committed to democracy, good governance, human rights, gender equality, and a more equitable sharing of the benefits of globalisation." The Commonwealth website lists its areas of work as: democracy, economics, education, gender, governance, human rights, law, small states, sport, sustainability, and youth.

Competence

In October 2010, a leaked memo from the Secretary General instructing staff not to speak out on human rights was published, leading to accusations that the Commonwealth was not being vocal enough on its core values.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011 considered a report by a Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (EPG) panel which asserted that the organisation had lost its relevance and was decaying due to the lack of a mechanism to censure member countries when they violated human rights or democratic norms. The panel made 106 "urgent" recommendations including the adoption of a Charter of the Commonwealth, the creation of a new commissioner on the rule of law, democracy and human rights to track persistent human rights abuses and allegations of political repression by Commonwealth member states, recommendations for the repeal of laws against homosexuality in 41 Commonwealth states and a ban on forced marriage. The failure to release the report, or accept its recommendations for reforms in the area of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, was described as a "disgrace" by former British foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind, a member of the EPG, who told a press conference: "The Commonwealth faces a very significant problem. It's not a problem of hostility or antagonism, it's more of a problem of indifference. Its purpose is being questioned, its relevance is being questioned and part of that is because its commitment to enforce the values for which it stands is becoming ambiguous in the eyes of many member states. The Commonwealth is not a private club of the governments or the secretariat. It belongs to the people of the Commonwealth."

In the end, two-thirds of the EPG's 106 urgently recommended reforms were referred to study groups, an act described by one EPG member as having them "kicked into the long grass". There was no agreement to create the recommended position of human rights commissioner, instead a ministerial management group was empowered with enforcement: the group includes alleged human rights offenders. It was agreed to develop a charter of values for the Commonwealth without any decision on how compliance with its principles would be enforced.

The result of the effort was that a new Charter of the Commonwealth was signed by Queen Elizabeth II on 11 March 2013 at Marlborough House, which opposes "all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds".

Economy

See also: List of Commonwealth of Nations countries by GDP

Economic data by member

Economies of the Commonwealth of Nations 2012 
Member states Population
(2021)
GDP (nominal, US$) GDP (PPP, US$) Comm.
realm?
millions per capita millions per capita
 Antigua and Barbuda 93,219 1,176 12,480 1,778 18,492 Yes
 Australia 25,921,089 1,520,608 61,789 1,008,547 41,974 Yes
 Bahamas 407,906 8,149 22,431 11,765 31,978 Yes
 Bangladesh 169,356,251 115,610 743 291,299 1,777 No
 Barbados 281,200 3,685 13,453 No
 Belize 400,031 1,448 4,059 2,381 6,672 Yes
 Botswana 2,588,423 14,411 8,533 34,038 14,746 No
 Brunei 445,373 16,954 40,301 21,992 51,760 No
 Cameroon 27,198,628 24,984 1,260 50,820 2,359 No
 Canada 38,155,012 1,821,424 50,344 1,489,165 40,420 Yes
 Cyprus 1,244,188 22,981 30,670 26,720 32,254 No
 Dominica 72,412 480 7,154 906 13,288 No
 Ghana 32,833,031 40,710 1,570 51,943 1,871 No
 Grenada 124,610 790 7,780 1,142 10,837 Yes
 Guyana 804,567 2,851 3,408 2,704 No
 India 1,407,563,842 3,732,224 2,171 11,468,022 7,874 No
 Jamaica 2,827,695 14,840 5,335 Yes
 Kenya 53,005,614 37,229 808 76,016 1,710 No
 Kiribati 128,874 176 1,649 248 2,337 No
 Lesotho 2,281,454 2,448 1,106 4,027 1,691 No
 Malawi 19,889,742 4,264 365 14,344 893 No
 Malaysia 33,573,874 303,526 9,977 501,249 16,051 No
 Maldives 521,457 2,222 6,405 3,070 8,871 No
 Malta 526,748 8,722 21,380 12,138 27,504 No
 Mauritius 1,298,915 10,492 8,755 20,210 14,420 No
 Mozambique 32,077,072 14,588 533 25,805 975 No
 Namibia 2,530,151 12,807 5,383 16,918 6,801 No
 Nauru 12,511 No
 New Zealand 5,129,727 139,768 36,254 139,640 31,082 Yes
 Nigeria 213,401,323 262,606 1,502 449,289 2,533 No
 Pakistan 231,402,117 231,182 1,189 517,873 2,745 No
 Papua New Guinea 9,949,437 15,654 1,845 20,771 2,676 Yes
 Rwanda 13,461,888 7,103 8,874 15,517 1,282 No
 Saint Kitts and Nevis 47,606 748 13,144 966 17,226 Yes
 Saint Lucia 179,651 1,186 7,154 2,016 11,597 Yes
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 104,332 713 6,291 1,202 10,715 Yes
 Samoa 218,764 677 3,485 853 4,475 No
 Seychelles 106,471 1,032 12,321 2,371 25,788 No
 Sierra Leone 8,420,641 3,796 496 8,125 1,131 No
 Singapore 5,941,060 274,701 46,241 328,323 60,688 No
 Solomon Islands 707,851 1,008 1,517 1,718 2,923 Yes
 South Africa 59,392,255 384,313 8,070 585,625 10,960 No
 Sri Lanka 21,773,441 59,421 2,835 126,993 5,582 No
 Eswatini 1,192,271 3,747 3,831 6,458 6,053 No
 Tanzania 63,588,334 28,249 532 74,269 1,512 No
 Tonga 106,017 472 4,152 527 4,886 No
 Trinidad and Tobago 1,525,663 23,986 16,699 35,638 25,074 No
 Tuvalu 11,204 37 3,636 Yes
 Uganda 45,853,778 19,881 487 49,130 1,345 No
 United Kingdom 67,281,039 3,124,650 38,974 3,174,921 35,598 Yes
 Vanuatu 319,137 785 3,094 1,139 4,379 No
 Zambia 19,473,125 20,678 1,425 24,096 1,621 No
 Commonwealth 2,418,964,000 9,766,209 3,844 13,119,929 4,035
 Commonwealth (realms) 144,033,000 5,966,408 43,493 4,945,842 36,053

Postwar

During the Second World War, the British Empire played a major role in supporting British finances. Foreign exchange reserves were pooled in London, to be used to fight the war. In effect the United Kingdom procured £2.3 billion, of which £1.3 billion was from British India. The debt was held in the form of British government securities and became known as "sterling balances". By 1950, India, Pakistan and Ceylon had spent much of their sterling, whilst other countries accumulated more. The sterling area included all of the Commonwealth except for Canada, together with some smaller countries especially in the Persian Gulf. They held their foreign-exchange in sterling, protecting that currency from runs and facilitating trade and investment inside the Commonwealth. It was a formal relationship with fixed exchange rates, periodic meetings at Commonwealth summits to coordinate trade policy, and domestic economic policies. The United Kingdom ran a trade surplus, and the other countries were mostly producers of raw materials sold to the United Kingdom. The commercial rationale was gradually less attractive to the Commonwealth; however, access to the growing London capital market remained an important advantage to the newly independent nations. As the United Kingdom moved increasingly close to Europe, however, the long-term ties began to be in doubt.

UK joins the European Economic Community

By 1961, with a sluggish economy, the United Kingdom attempted to join the European Economic Community, but this was repeatedly vetoed by Charles de Gaulle. Entry was finally achieved in 1973. Queen Elizabeth was one of the few remaining links between the UK and the Commonwealth. Historian Ben Pimlott argues that joining Europe "constituted the most decisive step yet in the progress of severance of familial ties between the United Kingdom and its former Empire... It reduced the remaining links to sentimental and cultural ones, and legal niceties."

The newly independent countries of Africa and Asia concentrated on their own internal political and economic development, and sometimes their role in the Cold War. The United States, international agencies, and the Soviet Union became important players, and the British role receded. Whilst there was opposition to British entry into the EEC from many countries, such as Australia, others preferred the economic advantages brought by British access to the Common Market. The historic ties between the former dominion nations and the United Kingdom were rapidly fraying. The Canadian economy increasingly focused on trade with the United States, and not on trade with the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth nations. Internal Canadian disputes revolved around the growing American cultural and economic presence, and the strong force of Quebec nationalism. In 1964, the Maple Leaf flag replaced the Canadian Ensign, with Gregory Johnson describing it as "the last gasp of empire". Australia and New Zealand were generally opposed to the United Kingdom's entry and exerted considerable influence on the eventual terms of accession in 1972, for which the United Kingdom agreed to transitional arrangements and monetary compensation to protect important export markets. Russell Ward summarises the period in economic terms: "In fact the United Kingdom, as Australia's chief trading partner, was being very rapidly replaced just at this time by the United States and an economically resurgent Japan, but most people were scarcely aware of this.... It was feared that British entry into the Common Market was bound to mean abolition, or at least scaling down, of preferential tariff arrangements for Australians goods."

Trade

Further information: Commonwealth free trade

Although the Commonwealth does not have a multilateral trade agreement, research by the Royal Commonwealth Society has shown that trade with another Commonwealth member is up to 50% more than with a non-member on average, with smaller and less wealthy states having a higher propensity to trade within the Commonwealth. At the 2005 Summit in Malta, the heads of government endorsed pursuing free trade amongst Commonwealth members on a bilateral basis.

Following its vote in June 2016 to leave the EU, some in the United Kingdom suggested the Commonwealth as an alternative to its membership in the European Union; however, it is far from clear that this would either offer sufficient economic benefit to replace the impact of leaving the EU or be acceptable to other member states. Although the EU is already in the process of negotiating free trade agreements with many Commonwealth countries such as India and Canada, it took the EU almost ten years to come to an agreement with Canada, due to the challenge associated with achieving the necessary EU-wide approvals.

On 17 December 2021, following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, Australia and the United Kingdom signed the Australia–United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement, which on ratification eliminated tariffs and increased opportunities for movement between the two countries.

Commonwealth Family

Commonwealth House, the headquarters of the Royal Commonwealth Society
Main article: Commonwealth Family

Commonwealth countries share many links outside government, with over a hundred non-governmental organisations, notably for sport, culture, education, law, and charity claiming to operate on a Commonwealth-wide basis.

The Commonwealth Secretariat regulates formal accreditation with the Commonwealth through its Accreditation Committee. The admittance criteria includes upholding a commitment to the Commonwealth Charter. There are currently approximately 80 organisations holding formal accreditation. These include the Association of Commonwealth Universities which manages the Commonwealth Scholarship allowing students to study in other Commonwealth countries, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which links together over 180 Commonwealth parliaments.

Commonwealth Foundation

Main article: Commonwealth Foundation

The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation, resourced by and reporting to Commonwealth governments, and guided by Commonwealth values and priorities. Its mandate is to strengthen civil society in the achievement of Commonwealth priorities: democracy and good governance, respect for human rights and gender equality, poverty eradication, people-centred and sustainable development, and to promote arts and culture.

The Foundation was established in 1965 by the Heads of Government. Admittance is open to all members of the Commonwealth, and in December 2008, stood at 46 out of the 53 member countries. Associate Membership, which is open to associated states or overseas territories of member governments, has been granted to Gibraltar. 2005 saw celebrations for the Foundation's 40th Anniversary. The Foundation is headquartered in Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London. Regular liaison and co-operation between the Secretariat and the Foundation is in place. The Foundation continues to serve the broad purposes for which it was established as written in the Memorandum of Understanding.

Commonwealth Games

Main article: Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games are the third-largest multi-sport event in the world, bringing together globally popular sports and peculiarly "Commonwealth" sports, such as rugby sevens, shown here at the 2006 Games in Melbourne.

The Commonwealth Games, a multi-sport event, is held every four years; the 2018 Commonwealth Games were held in Gold Coast, Australia, 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, as at the Summer Olympic Games, the games include sports particularly popular in the Commonwealth, such as bowls, netball, and rugby sevens. Started in 1930 as the Empire Games, the games were founded on the Olympic model of amateurism, but were deliberately designed to be "the Friendly Games", with the goal of promoting relations between Commonwealth countries and celebrating their shared sporting and cultural heritage.

The games are the Commonwealth's most visible activity and interest in the operation of the Commonwealth increases greatly when the Games are held. There is controversy over whether the games—and sport generally—should be involved in the Commonwealth's wider political concerns. The 1977 Gleneagles Agreement was signed to commit Commonwealth countries to combat apartheid through discouraging sporting contact with South Africa (which was not then a member), whilst the 1986 games were boycotted by most African, Asian, and Caribbean countries for the failure of other countries to enforce the Gleneagles Agreement.

Commonwealth Youth Games

Main article: Commonwealth Youth Games

The Commonwealth Youth Games is the youth version of the Commonwealth Games and it is aimed from younger athletes aged between 14 and 18 years. The 2000 Commonwealth Youth Games was the inaugural edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games, first held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The most recent edition of the games was held in 2023 in Trinidad and Tobago.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Main article: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemorates 1.7 million Commonwealth war dead and maintains 2,500 war cemeteries around the world, including this one in Gallipoli.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for maintaining the war graves of 1.7 million service personnel who died in the First and Second World Wars fighting for Commonwealth member states. Founded in 1917 (as the Imperial War Graves Commission), the commission has constructed 2,500 war cemeteries, and maintains individual graves at another 20,000 sites around the world. The vast majority of the latter are civilian cemeteries in the United Kingdom. In 1998, the CWGC made the records of its buried available online to facilitate easier searching.

Commonwealth war cemeteries often feature similar horticulture and architecture, with larger cemeteries being home to a Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance. The CWGC is notable for marking the graves identically, regardless of the rank, country of origin, race, or religion of the buried. It is funded by voluntary agreement by six Commonwealth members, in proportion to the nationality of the casualties in the graves maintained, with 75% of the funding coming from the United Kingdom.

Commonwealth of Learning

Main article: Commonwealth of Learning

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by the heads of government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. COL is helping developing nations improve access to quality education and training.

Commonwealth Local Government Forum

Main article: Commonwealth Local Government Forum

The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) is a global local government organisation, bringing together local authorities, their national associations and the ministries responsible for local government in the member countries of the Commonwealth. CLGF works with national and local governments to support the development of democratic values and good local governance and is the associated organisation officially recognised by Commonwealth Heads of Government as the representative body for local government in the Commonwealth.

CLGF is unique in bringing together central, provincial and local spheres of government involved in local government policy and decision-making. CLGF members include local government associations, individual local authorities, ministries dealing with local government, and research and professional organisations who work with local government. Practitioner to practitioner support is at the core of CLGF's work across the Commonwealth and within the region, using CLGF's own members to support others both within and between regions. CLGF is a member of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, the formal partner of the UN Major Group of Local Authorities.

Culture

See also: British culture

Commonwealth countries share a common culture which includes the English language, sports, legal systems, education and government. These commonalities are the result of the Commonwealth's heritage, having developed out of the British Empire. Symbols of the Commonwealth include the Commonwealth Flag and Commonwealth Day. Remembrance Day is commemorated across the Commonwealth. Celebrations for Guy Fawkes Night take place in some Commonwealth countries.

Sport

Rwanda Cricket Stadium, Kigali, Rwanda. Commonwealth membership has been credited with popularising the game in the country, which was never in the British Empire.

Many Commonwealth nations play similar sports that are considered quintessentially British in character, rooted in and developed under British rule or hegemony, including cricket, association football, rugby football, field hockey and netball. These ties are particularly strong between the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa across rugby union, cricket, netball, and field hockey, with Australia in rugby league, with the Caribbean nations in cricket and netball, and with the Indian subcontinent in cricket and hockey. Canada, by contrast, is dominated by North American sports, including baseball instead of cricket, basketball rather than netball, ice hockey rather than field hockey and Canadian football, rather than rugby union or league. Canada does, however, maintain small enthusiastic communities in all the more traditional Commonwealth sports, having reached the World Cup in each of them, and is the homeplace of the Commonwealth Games, hosting the inaugural edition in Hamilton in 1930.

This shared sporting landscape has led to the development of friendly national rivalries between the main sporting nations that have often defined their relations with each other, and in the cases of India, Australia and New Zealand, have played a major part in defining their emerging national character (in cricket, rugby league and rugby union). Indeed, said rivalries preserved close ties by providing a constant in international relationships, even as the Empire transformed into the Commonwealth. Externally, playing these sports is seen to be a sign of sharing a certain Commonwealth culture; the adoption of cricket at schools in Rwanda is seen as symbolic of the country's move towards Commonwealth membership. More broadly, Rwanda's membership of the Commonwealth has been credited with helping popularise cricket in the country, with both men and women playing it in orphanages, schools, universities and cricket clubs.

The Commonwealth Games alongside the youth version, a quadrennial multi-sports event held in the middle year of an Olympic cycle is the most visible demonstration of these sporting ties. The Games include standard multi-sports disciplines like athletics, swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, boxing, field hockey, and cycling, but also includes sports popular in the Commonwealth that are distinct to the Games such as netball, squash and lawn bowls. They are also more avowedly political than events like the Olympics, promoting what are seen as Commonwealth values; historically, a history of shared military endeavour was celebrated and promoted, parasport and disability sport is fully integrated, and the Commonwealth Games Federation has publicly backed the rights of LGBT people, despite the continuing criminalisation of homosexuality in many Commonwealth countries.

Literature

See also: Postcolonial literature, Migrant literature, and The Journal of Commonwealth Literature

The shared history of British presence has produced a substantial body of writing in many languages, known as Commonwealth literature. The Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) has 11 branches worldwide and holds an international conference every three years.

Ugandan-British novelist Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2014.

In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the annual Commonwealth Writers' Prize "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin". Prizes are awarded for the best book and best first book in the Commonwealth; there are also regional prizes for the best book and best first book in each of four regions. Although not officially affiliated with the Commonwealth, the prestigious annual Man Booker Prize, one of the highest honours in literature, used to be awarded only to authors from Commonwealth countries or former members such as Ireland and Zimbabwe. Since 2014, however, writers of any nationality have been eligible for the prize providing that they write originally in English and their novels are published by established publishers in the United Kingdom. Today, the Commonwealth Foundation awards the annual Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

There had been a few important works in English prior to 1950 from the then British Empire. From 1950 on, a significant number of writers from the countries of the Commonwealth began gaining international recognition, including some who migrated to the United Kingdom.

South African writer Olive Schreiner

South African writer Olive Schreiner's famous novel The Story of an African Farm was published in 1883 and New Zealander Katherine Mansfield published her first collection of short stories, In a German Pension, in 1911. The first major novelist, writing in English, from the Indian sub-continent, R. K. Narayan, began publishing in England in the 1930s, thanks to the encouragement of English novelist Graham Greene. Caribbean writer Jean Rhys's writing career began as early as 1928, though her most famous work, Wide Sargasso Sea, was not published until 1966. South Africa's Alan Paton's famous Cry, the Beloved Country dates from 1948. Doris Lessing from Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, was a dominant presence in the English literary scene, frequently publishing from 1950 on throughout the 20th century. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007.

Salman Rushdie is another post-Second World War writer from the former British colonies who permanently settled in the United Kingdom. Rushdie achieved fame with Midnight's Children (1981). His most controversial novel, The Satanic Verses (1989), was inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. V. S. Naipaul (born 1932), born in Trinidad, was another immigrant, who wrote, amongst other things, A Bend in the River (1979). Naipaul won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001.

Many other Commonwealth writers have achieved an international reputation for works in English, including Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, and playwright Wole Soyinka. Soyinka won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, as did South African novelist Nadine Gordimer in 1995. Other South African writers in English are novelist J. M. Coetzee (Nobel Prize 2003) and playwright Athol Fugard. Kenya's most internationally renowned author is Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who has written novels, plays and short stories in English. Poet Derek Walcott, from Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, was another Nobel Prize winner in 1992. An Australian, Patrick White, a major novelist in this period, whose first work was published in 1939, won in 1973. Other noteworthy Australian writers at the end of this period are poet Les Murray, and novelist Peter Carey, who is one of only four writers to have won the Booker Prize twice.

Numerous academic journals cover the Commonwealth, including The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History and The Round Table. Amongst literature written about the Commonwealth itself is Indian diplomat and former Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Krishnan Srinivasan's The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth (2005).

Political system

Parliament House, New Delhi, India. The Commonwealth Charter states the Commonwealth's commitment to democracy, and many Commonwealth countries use the Westminster system.
Lighting of a jubilee beacon for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in 2022 in Wellington, New Zealand

Whilst, due to their shared constitutional histories, most countries in the Commonwealth have outwardly similar legal and political systems, several of them – including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Nigeria, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Uganda – have experienced one-party rule, civilian or military dictatorships or destructive civil wars, and many still suffer from rampant corruption and poor governance despite the fact that the Commonwealth requires its members to be functioning democracies that respect human rights and the rule of law. The Commonwealth leadership was criticized for admitting Gabon as a member at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda – a country with poor human rights record - despite the fact that Gabon had been governed for 56 years by the kleptocratic Bongo family, until they were overthrown in a coup in 2023.

Most Commonwealth countries have the bicameral Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association facilitates co-operation between legislatures across the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum promotes good governance amongst local government officials. Most Commonwealth members use common law, modelled on English law. The Latimer House Principles adopted in 2003 reflect the separation of powers.

Symbols

The Commonwealth has adopted a number of symbols that represent the association of its members. The English language is recognised as a symbol of the members' heritage; as well as being considered a symbol of the Commonwealth, recognition of it as "the means of Commonwealth communication" is a prerequisite for Commonwealth membership.

The flag of the Commonwealth consists of the symbol of the Commonwealth Secretariat, a gold globe surrounded by emanating rays, on a dark blue field; it was designed for the second CHOGM in 1973, and officially adopted on 26 March 1976. 1976 also saw the organisation agree to a common date on which to commemorate Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March, having developed separately on different dates from Empire Day celebrations.

Also to mark the 60th anniversary (Diamond Jubilee) of the Commonwealth in 2009, the Commonwealth Secretariat commissioned Paul Carroll to compose "The Commonwealth Anthem". The lyrics of the Anthem are taken from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Commonwealth has published the Anthem, performed by the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra, with and without an introductory narrative.

Recognition

In 2009, to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth, the Royal Commonwealth Society commissioned a poll of public opinion in seven of the member states: Australia, Canada, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It found that most people in these countries were largely ignorant of the Commonwealth's activities, aside from the Commonwealth Games, and indifferent toward its future. Support for the Commonwealth was twice as high in developing countries as in developed countries; it was lowest in the United Kingdom.

See also

Notes

  1. Each headstone contains the national emblem or regimental badge, rank, name, unit, date of death and age of each casualty inscribed above an appropriate religious symbol and a more personal dedication chosen by relatives.

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Further reading

  • Ashton, Sarah R. "British government perspectives on the Commonwealth, 1964–71: An asset or a liability?". Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 35.1 (2007): 73–94.
  • Bloomfield, Valerie. Commonwealth Elections 1945–1970 (1976).
  • Cook, Chris and John Paxton. Commonwealth Political Facts (Macmillan, 1978).
  • Hall, H. Duncan. "The genesis of the Balfour declaration of 1926". Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 1.3 (1962): 169–193.
  • Holland, Robert F. Britain and the Commonwealth Alliance, 1918-39 (Springer, 1981).
  • Jebb, Richard (1905). "Imperial Organization" . The Empire and the century. London: John Murray. pp. 332–348.
  • Lloyd, Lorna. Diplomacy with a difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880–2006 (Brill, 2007).
  • McIntyre, W. David. "The strange death of dominion status". Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 27.2 (1999): 193–212.
  • McIntyre, W. David. The commonwealth of nations: Origins and impact, 1869–1971 (University of Minnesota Press, 1977); Comprehensive coverage giving London's perspective on political and constitutional relations with each possession.
  • McIntyre, W. David. A Guide to the Contemporary Commonwealth, Palgrave, 2001. ISBN 978-0-333-96310-4.
  • McIntyre, W. David. "The Unofficial Commonwealth Relations Conferences, 1933–59: Precursors of the Tri-sector Commonwealth." Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 36.4 (2008): 591–614.
  • Madden, Frederick and John Darwin, eds. The Dependent Empire, 1900–1948: Colonies, Protectorates, and the Mandates (1994), 908 pp. online Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  • Maitland, Donald. ed. Britain, the Commonwealth and Europe (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2001) online Archived 19 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  • Mansergh, Nicholas The Commonwealth in the World, University of Toronto Press, 1982. ISBN 978-0-8020-2492-3.
  • Moore, R.J. Making the New Commonwealth, Clarendon Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0-19-820112-0.
  • Murphy, Philip. Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government, and the Postwar Commonwealth (Oxford UP 2013) doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214235.001.0001
  • Perkin, Harold. "Teaching the nations how to play: sport and society in the British empire and Commonwealth". International Journal of the History of Sport 6.2 (1989): 145–155.
  • Shaw, Timothy M. Commonwealth: Inter- and Non-State Contributions to Global Governance, Routledge, 2008. ISBN 978-0-415-35120-1
  • Srinivasan, Krishnan. The rise, decline and future of the British Commonwealth (Springer, 2005).
  • Wheare, K. C. The Constitutional Structure of the Commonwealth, Clarendon Press, 1960. ISBN 978-0-313-23624-2.
  • Williams, Paul D. "Blair's Britain and the Commonwealth". The Round Table 94.380 (2005): 381–391.
  • Winks, Robin, ed. The Historiography of the British Empire-Commonwealth: Trends, Interpretations and Resources (1966) online Archived 23 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine

Primary sources

  • Madden, Frederick, ed. The End of Empire: Dependencies since 1948: Select Documents on the Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth: The West Indies, British Honduras, Hong Kong, Fiji, Cyprus, Gibraltar, and the Falklands (2000) online Archived 19 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine 596pp
  • Madden, Frederick, and John Darwin, ed. The Dependent Empire: 1900–1948: Colonies, Protectorates, and Mandates (1963), 908pp online Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  • Mansergh, Nicholas, ed. Documents and Speeches on Commonwealth Affairs, 1952–1962 (1963), 804pp online Archived 19 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine

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