Commonwealth of Nations

{{Main|British Empire|Historiography of the British Empire}}

File:British Commonealth of Nations handwritten on Anglo-Irish Treaty draft.png, with "British Empire" crossed out and "British Commonwealth of Nations" added by hand]]

File:CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944.jpg: (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."{{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}} 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".{{Cite web |title=18 January 1884 |url=https://liberalhistory.org.uk/timeline-event/on-this-day-18-1-1884/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=Journal of Liberal History |language=en-UK}}{{cite web |title=History – Though the modern Commonwealth is just 60 years old, the idea took root in the 19th century |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619122654/http://thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history/ |archive-date=19 June 2010 |access-date=29 July 2011 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}} 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.{{cite journal|last=Mole|first=Stuart|title=Seminars for statesmen': the evolution of the Commonwealth summit|journal=The Round Table|date=September 2004|volume=93|issue=376|pages=533–546 |doi=10.1080/0035853042000289128|s2cid=154616079|doi-access=free | issn = 0035-8533 }}{{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=London |publisher=Longmans for the Royal Commonwealth Society |asin=B0000CO3QA |doi=10.1086/ahr/74.3.999 |url-access=subscription }}

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"{{Cite web |last=McDonald |first=Simon |date=12 March 2018 |title=Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting 2018 |url=https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/12/commonwealth-heads-of-government-meeting-2018/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601223841/https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/12/commonwealth-heads-of-government-meeting-2018/ |archive-date=1 June 2023 |access-date=1 June 2023 |website=civilservice.blog.gov.uk |language=en}} at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, attended by delegates from the Dominions as well as the United Kingdom.F.S. Crafford, Jan Smuts: A Biography (2005) p. 142The Irish Oath of Allegiance, agreed in 1921, included the Irish Free State's "adherence to and membership of the group of nations forming the British Commonwealth of Nations". 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.{{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}}

In the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, the United Kingdom and its dominions agreed that they were "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." The term 'Commonwealth' was officially adopted to describe the community.{{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}}

These aspects of 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.{{cite web |author=Webb, Jeff A. |date=January 2003 |title=The Commission of Government, 1934–1949 |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/commission_gov.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220171931/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/commission_gov.html |archive-date=20 December 2014 |access-date=29 July 2011 |work=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage |publisher=}} Australia and New Zealand ratified the statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively.{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|sowaa1942379|Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942}}{{cite web |date=August 2007 |title=New Zealand Sovereignty: 1857, 1907, 1947, or 1987? |url=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-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 |archive-date=22 May 2011 |access-date=29 July 2011 |work=New Zealand Parliament |publisher=}}

Although the Union of South Africa was not among 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.{{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}}

File:British Commonwealth and allies.jpg, depicting soldiers from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Colony of Southern Rhodesia, South Africa and imperial India]]

{{Main|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.{{Cite web |date=28 September 2010 |title=History of the Creation of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan |url=http://www.airmuseum.ca/bcatp.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100928040820/http://www.airmuseum.ca:80/bcatp.html |archive-date=28 September 2010 |access-date=22 March 2025 |website=Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum}}{{Cite web |title=Fact File : Commonwealth and Allied Forces |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6651218.shtml |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=BBC}} Troops from Australia, Britain, the British Raj and New Zealand made up the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in post-war Japan.{{Cite web |title=British Commonwealth Occupation Force 1945–52 |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/bcof |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=Australian War Memorial}}

{{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 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.{{cite web |date=26 April 2009 |title=Celebrating thecommonwealth@60 |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/187367/celebrating_thecommonwealth_60 |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 |access-date=29 July 2011 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}}

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).Chris Cook and John Paxton, Commonwealth Political Facts (Macmillan, 1978).

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".Brian Harrison, Seeking a Role: The United Kingdom 1951—1970 (Oxford UP, 2009), p. 102. 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.Harrison, Seeking a Role: The United Kingdom 1951—1970, p. 103. 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).Krishnan Srinivasan, "Nobody's Commonwealth? The Commonwealth in Britain's post-imperial adjustment." Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 44.2 (2006): 257–269.

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.{{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=The Telegraph}} The United Kingdom and the pre-1945 dominions became informally known as the "Old Commonwealth", or more pointedly as the "white Commonwealth",

{{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}} in reference to what had been known as the "White Dominions".{{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.}}

{{Main|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.{{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 }} While 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'."{{cite web |date=19 February 2010 |title=Staying loyal to George |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/staying-loyal-to-george/581730/0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515213125/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/staying-loyal-to-george/581730/0 |archive-date=15 May 2011 |access-date=13 April 2011 |work=Indian Express}} Some other Commonwealth countries that have since become republics have chosen to leave, while others, such as Guyana, Mauritius and Dominica, have remained members.{{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}}

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

{{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.{{cite web|title=Constituent Assembly Debates (India)|url=http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol8p1.htm|publisher=Parliament of India|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=Delhi|date=16 May 1949}}

}}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. While some countries retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, their monarchies developed differently and soon became (or had already become) 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.{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}

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 while also protecting the favoured status of the Commonwealth.{{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 }}James R. V. Ellison, "Perfidious Albion? Britain, Plan G and European Integration, 1955–1956", Contemporary British History (1996) 10#4 pp 1–34.Martin Schaad, "Plan G – A "Counterblast"? British Policy Towards the Messina Countries, 1956", Contemporary European History (1998) 7#1 pp 39–60.

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.{{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}}{{Cite news |last1=Thomson |first1=Mike |date=15 January 2007 |title=UK – When Britain and France nearly married |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6261885.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123072141/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6261885.stm |archive-date=23 January 2009 |access-date=12 September 2016 |website=BBC News}}{{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}}

The first member admitted without any constitutional link to the British Empire was Mozambique – a former Portuguese colony – in 1995 following its first democratic elections. Its entry preceded the Edinburgh Declaration and the current membership guidelines. In 2009, Rwanda became the second country admitted to the Commonwealth without 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. Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said that he expected Commonwealth membership to provide opportunities for Togolese citizens to learn English, as well as expand their access to education and culture. Dussey also remarked that the country sought closer ties with the Anglophone world.{{Cite news |last=Lawson |first=Alice |date=24 June 2022 |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=1 July 2022 |work=Reuters}} 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.{{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 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}}{{Cite news |date=20 September 2023 |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=3 October 2023 |work=BBC News}} In 2024, trade between Togo and Britain increased by 94 percent; the country also sought to expand trade with India.{{Cite web |title=Togo’s Commonwealth Advantage: A Gateway to Investment and Growth |url=https://www.cweic.org/insights/interview-with-togo/ |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=CWEIC |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Verma |first=Nidhi |date=6 March 2025 |editor-last=Paul |editor-first=Sonali |title=India fertiliser company in talks to buy phosphate from Togo, sources say |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/india-fertiliser-company-talks-buy-phosphate-togo-sources-say-2025-03-06/ |access-date=10 March 2025 |website=Reuters}}

Commonwealth relations saw renewed interest during the second term of United States president Donald Trump. In 2025, during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Commonwealth countries Australia, Canada, Cyprus and New Zealand aligned themselves with the "coalition of the willing" spearheaded by British prime minister Keir Starmer to provide support for Ukraine.{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Rob |date=11 March 2025 |title=Rubio says Ukraine may need to do 'difficult things' to get peace deal |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/peacekeeper-nations-including-australia-to-meet-on-ukraine-20250311-p5lij4.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed |access-date=12 March 2025 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |quote=British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will host what he has called “a coalition of the willing” – a group of mainly European and Commonwealth countries.}}{{Cite web |last=Wong |first=Vicky |date=2 March 2025 |title=Starmer: Coalition of willing to guarantee Ukraine peace |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9vygkzkkrvo |access-date=2 March 2025 |website=BBC}}{{Cite web |last=Liboreiro |first=Jorge |date=2025-04-02 |title=Everything we know about the 'Coalition of the Willing' for Ukraine |url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/04/02/everything-we-know-so-far-about-the-coalition-of-the-willing-for-ukraine |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=euronews |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=14 March 2025 |title=Prime Minister confirms he will join world leaders in 'coalition of the willing' phone call |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/544860/prime-minister-confirms-he-will-join-world-leaders-in-coalition-of-the-willing-phone-call |access-date=14 March 2025 |website=RNZ |language=en-nz}} In Canada, during the 2025 Liberal Party leadership contest, and in light of aggressive actions taken by the United States, the ultimate victor Mark Carney expressed support for deepening relations with Britain, Australia and New Zealand.{{cite news |last1=Tasker |first1=John Paul |title=Canada races to revive Commonwealth ties with its U.S. relationship on shaky ground |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-commonwealth-canzuk-1.7468363 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250311064841/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-commonwealth-canzuk-1.7468363 |archive-date=11 March 2025 |access-date=11 March 2025 |publisher=CBC}} Donald Trump expressed interest in the United States becoming a member or "associate" member following tabloid reporting that this would be offered by Britain.{{Cite web |date=21 March 2025 |title=Donald Trump suggests US could join British Commonwealth |url=https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-suggests-us-could-join-british-commonwealth-2048679 |access-date=21 March 2025 |website=Newsweek}} Writing about America's shirking of global responsibility and the supposed ineffectiveness of the United Nations, Australian-British lawyer Geoffrey Robertson opined that "Europe and the Commonwealth countries, plus Japan and Brazil and Indonesia, might together have more impact than the Security Council – if for example China moved to invade Taiwan."{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Geoffrey |date=2025-04-18 |title=Trump has declared war on the world order, so nations like Australia must step up |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-has-declared-war-on-the-world-order-so-nations-like-australia-must-step-up-20250418-p5lsql.html?dicbo=v2-t66SDOG |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}

{{Main|Head of the Commonwealth}}

File:Queen Elizabeth II official portrait for 1959 tour (retouched) (cropped) (3-to-4 aspect ratio).jpg, 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.{{cite web |last=Patterson |first=Percival |author-link=P.J. Patterson |date=24 October 2007 |title=Report of the Committee on Commonwealth Membership |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=174532 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426044116/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=174532 |archive-date=26 April 2009 |access-date=29 June 2008 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}} However, when the monarch dies, the successor to the crown does not automatically become the new head of the Commonwealth.{{cite web |title=Head of the Commonwealth |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930063803/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/ |archive-date=30 September 2006 |access-date=29 June 2008 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}} 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.{{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 }} 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).

{{Main|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 (among 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.{{cite web |date=22 August 2013 |title=How we are run |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/about-us/how-we-are-run |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114191058/https://thecommonwealth.org/about-us/how-we-are-run |archive-date=14 November 2020 |access-date=17 November 2020 |website= |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}}

{{main|Commonwealth Secretariat}}

File:Marlborough House.jpg, 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 among member governments and countries.{{Cite web |title=The Commonwealth |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116192301/https://thecommonwealth.org/ |archive-date=16 November 2020 |access-date=1 June 2023 |website= |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |language=en}} 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 among 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.Cook and Paxton, Commonwealth Political Facts (1978) part 3.

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).

File:The Gambia High Commission in New Delhi.jpg of The Gambia in New Delhi]]

{{Main|Commonwealth citizen|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.{{Cite journal |last=Belton |first=Kristy A. |date=2 January 2019 |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|url-access=subscription }} Some countries, including the United Kingdom, have preferential citizenship acquisition or residency policies for Commonwealth citizens.{{Cite web |title=Prove you have right of abode in the UK |url=https://www.gov.uk/right-of-abode/commonwealth-citizens |access-date=2 June 2024 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Immigration |url=https://dgip.gov.pk/immigration/citizenship.php |access-date=2 June 2024 |website=Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan}}{{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}} Initially, Commonwealth countries were not considered to be "foreign" to each other as their citizens were British subjects.{{cite journal |last=Dale |first=William |date=July 1982 |title=Is the Commonwealth an International Organisation? |journal=International and Comparative Law Quarterly |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=451–73 |doi=10.1093/iclqaj/31.3.451}}{{cite journal |last1=Clute |first1=Robert E. |last2=Wilson |first2=Robert R. |date=July 1958 |title=Commonwealth and Favored-Nation Usage |journal=American Journal of International Law |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=455–468 |doi=10.2307/2195461 |jstor=2195461 |s2cid=147526549}}{{cite journal |last=Hedley |first=Bull |date=July 1959 |title=What is the Commonwealth? |journal=World Politics |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=577–87 |doi=10.2307/2009593 |jstor=2009593 |s2cid=154764036}} Citizenship laws evolved as the Commonwealth developed from the Empire. 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".{{Cite AustLII |litigants=Sue v Hill |year=1999 |court=HCA |num=30 |parallelcite=(1999) 199 CLR 462.}} Similarly, in Nolan v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, the nationals of other Commonwealth realms were held to be "aliens" though they were subjects of the Queen.{{Cite AustLII|litigants=Nolan v Minister for Immigration & Ethnic Affairs|year=1988|court=HCA|num=45|parallelcite=}}

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.{{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.}} Commonwealth citizens are eligible to apply for British emergency passports.{{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=Foreign and Commonwealth Office |location=United Kingdom}} 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.{{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=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |location=Australia}}

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

Institutional connections between subsets of Commonwealth countries include those which exist through judicial and military arrangements.

File:London - Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 02.jpg 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).{{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=8 January 2024 |website= |publisher=The Judicial Committee of 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.[http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=65788 "High Court Act to be amended"], Fiji Times, 4 July 2007[http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_9444.shtml "High Court promulgation 2007"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725033255/http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_9444.shtml|date=25 July 2008}}, Fiji government press release, 17 July 2007

File:5th Gurkha Rifles, Japan 1946.jpg 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."{{Cite web |title=Nationality and Commonwealth |url=https://jobs.army.mod.uk/how-to-join/can-i-apply/nationality/ |access-date=9 June 2024 |publisher=British Army}} Thousands of potential Commonwealth recruits have been turned away due to a lack of eligible vacancies.{{Cite web |last=Allison |first=George |date=27 May 2024 |title=Applications to armed forces from Commonwealth citizens surge |url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/applications-to-armed-forces-from-comonwealth-citizens-surge/ |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=UK Defence Journal |language=en-GB}}

The Five Power Defence Arrangements is a defence partnership between Commonwealth countries Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Britain.{{Citation |title=On the Establishment of the Five Power Defence Arrangements |date=21 October 2015 |work=The Five Power Defence Arrangements at Forty |pages=24–35 |url=https://core-cms.cambridgecore.org/core/books/abs/five-power-defence-arrangements-at-forty/on-the-establishment-of-the-five-power-defence-arrangements/B5397D7D729242950CFA9147B7B51FDF |access-date=22 March 2025 |publisher=ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute |language=en}}

Gurkha soldiers from Nepal, a non-Commonwealth country, have long fought alongside British and Commonwealth troops.{{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= |publisher=UK Parliament}} They continue to be employed 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.{{Cite news |last=Ethirajan |first=Anbarasan |date=27 August 2023 |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=9 June 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=18 October 2022 |title=The Gurkha Regiments Explained |url=https://www.gwt.org.uk/news/the-gurkha-regiments-explained/ |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=The Gurkha Welfare Trust |language=en}}

File:Commonwealth realms republics and monarchies.svg

{{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 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".{{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}} 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,{{Cite journal|last=Williams |first=Paul D.|date=July 2005|title=Blair's Britain and the Commonwealth|journal=The Round Table|volume=94|issue=380|pages=381–391|doi=10.1080/00358530500174960|s2cid=154400556}} 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.{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat }} 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.{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat}} 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.{{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}}

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.{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat }} New members were not admitted at this meeting, though applications for admission were considered at the 2009 CHOGM.{{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=New Vision |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 }}

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.{{cite news |title=Rwanda: Joining the Commonwealth|newspaper=The New Times |publisher=AllAfrica|date=27 November 2009}}

In 2009, Rwanda, formerly under Belgian and German rule, joined.{{cite news|last=Kron|first=Josh|title=Rwanda Joins British Commonwealth|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/africa/29rwanda.html|newspaper=The New York Times|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}} Consideration for Rwanda's admission was considered an "exceptional circumstance" by the Commonwealth Secretariat.{{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=The New Times|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}} 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".{{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}} 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.{{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 }}

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

File:Parliament Square 11 3 09 (3346753423).jpg, London on Commonwealth Day]]

File:Commonwealth flag Ottawa.jpg in Ottawa]]

The Commonwealth comprises 56 countries, across all inhabited continents.Three Commonwealth countries also have long-standing claims to sovereignty in Antarctica, although these claims are not widely recognised. The claims, which each include permanent research stations and together cover most of the continent, are the Australian Antarctic Territory, the British Antarctic Territory and the Ross Dependency (New Zealand). 33 members are small states, including 25 small island developing states. In 2023, the Commonwealth had a population of 2.5 billion.{{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}} The Commonwealth is the largest association of 'Third World' or 'Global South' countries.{{Cite web |last=Brandis |first=George |date=20 October 2024 |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=20 October 2024 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}

With a population of 1.4 billion in 2023, India is the most populous Commonwealth country. Tuvalu is the smallest member, with about 12,000 people at the time.

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.{{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=Round Table|volume=97|issue=395|pages=273–85|doi=10.1080/00358530801962089|s2cid=219623317}} There are currently no members in arrears. The last member in arrears, Nauru, returned to full membership in June 2011.{{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=Radio New Zealand International|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}} Nauru previously alternated between special and full membership since joining the Commonwealth, depending on its financial situation.{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat|date=12 April 1999}}

{{Main|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).{{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=International Monetary Fund|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}}

{{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.{{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}}

South Sudanese politicians have expressed interest in joining the Commonwealth.{{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}} A senior Commonwealth source stated in 2006 that "many people have assumed an interest from Israel, but there has been no formal approach".{{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=The Daily Telegraph|date=17 December 2006|access-date=29 November 2009|location=London}}{{cbignore}} Israel and Palestine are both potential candidates for membership.

President Yahya Jammeh unilaterally withdrew the Gambia from the Commonwealth in October 2013.{{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}} 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.{{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}} Many such jurisdictions are already directly represented within the Commonwealth, particularly through the Commonwealth Family.{{cite journal|last=Baldacchino|first=Godfrey|author2=Milne, David|date=September 2006|title=Exploring sub-national island jurisdictions: An editorial introduction|journal=The Round Table|volume=95|issue=386|pages=487–502|doi=10.1080/00358530600929735|s2cid=154689097}} 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. In 2012, the States of Jersey 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 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".{{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}} The States of Guernsey and the Government of the Isle of Man made calls of a similar nature in the same year for a more integrated relationship with the Commonwealth,{{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}} including more direct representation and enhanced participation in Commonwealth organisations and meetings, including Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings.{{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}} The Chief Minister of the Isle of Man said that a "closer connection with the Commonwealth itself would be a welcome further development of the Island's international relationships".{{cite news |date=23 November 2012 |title=Isle of Man welcomes report on Commonwealth future |url=http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/isleofmanwelcome5.xml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302143313/http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/isleofmanwelcome5.xml |archive-date=2 March 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |newspaper= |publisher=Isle of Man Government}}

{{Main|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.{{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=The Round Table |volume=93 |issue=375 |pages=343–53 |doi=10.1080/0035853042000249942|s2cid=153984328 |doi-access=free }} 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.

File:Robert Mugabe cropped.jpg 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,{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=October 1999|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=The Round Table |volume=88 |issue=352|pages=547–567|doi=10.1080/003585399107758}} following its execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa on the eve of the 1995 CHOGM.{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=October 2007|title=Twenty Commonwealth steps from Singapore to Kampala|journal=The Round Table|volume=96|issue=392|pages=555–563|doi=10.1080/00358530701625877|s2cid=154737836}} Pakistan was the second country to be suspended, on 18 October 1999, following the military coup by Pervez Musharraf.{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist) |date=January 2000|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=The Round Table|volume=89|issue=353|pages=45–57|doi=10.1080/750459452|s2cid=219628879}} 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.{{cite journal|last=Ingram |first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=July 2004|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=The Round Table|volume=93|issue=375|pages=311–42|doi=10.1080/0035853042000249933|s2cid=219627311}} Pakistan was suspended for a second time, far more briefly, for six months from 22 November 2007, when Musharraf called a state of emergency.{{cite journal|last=Gruenbaum|first=Oren|date=February 2008|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=The Round Table|volume=97|issue=394|pages=3–17|doi=10.1080/00358530701864963|s2cid=219625114}} Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns regarding the electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government,{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=April 2002|title=Commonwealth Update |journal=The Round Table|volume=91|issue=364|pages=131–59|doi=10.1080/00358530220144148|s2cid=219627051}} before it withdrew from the organisation in 2003.{{cite journal| date=January 2004 |title=Editorial: CHOGM 2003, Abuja, Nigeria |journal=The Round Table|volume=93|issue=373|pages=3–6|doi=10.1080/0035853042000188139|s2cid=219624427 }} On 15 May 2018, Zimbabwe applied to rejoin the Commonwealth.{{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}}

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.{{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 }} Fiji has since been suspended twice, with the first imposed from 6 June 2000{{cite journal|last=Ingram|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Ingram (journalist)|date=July 2000|title=Commonwealth Update|journal=The Round Table|volume=89|issue=355|pages=311–55|doi=10.1080/00358530050083406|s2cid=219626283}} 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.{{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 }}{{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}} 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.{{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}} Fiji's suspension was lifted in September 2014.{{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}} The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group fully reinstated Fiji as a member following elections in September 2014.{{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}}

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.{{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}}{{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}} These concerns were rendered moot by the election of opposition leader Maithripala Sirisena as president in 2015.{{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}}

{{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. 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.{{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}} The Gambia left the Commonwealth on 3 October 2013, and rejoined on 8 February 2018.{{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}}

The Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016,{{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}}{{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 }} citing Commonwealth's "punitive actions against the Maldives since 2012" after the allegedly forced resignation of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed among 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.{{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}} It rejoined on 1 February 2020.{{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}}File:Mandela voting in 1994.jpg policies, South Africa was readmitted in 1994 following non-racial elections.]]

No country has been formally expelled from the Commonwealth.{{Cite web |title=Withdrawals and Suspension |url=https://www.commonwealthofnations.org/commonwealth/commonwealth-membership/withdrawals-and-suspension/ |access-date=29 October 2024 |website=Commonwealth Network |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web |title=South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/south-africa-withdraws-commonwealth |access-date=21 May 2024 |website=South African History Online}} 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.{{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}}

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,{{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 }}{{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 }} as well as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

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.{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat|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}} To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender by the Lusaka Declaration of 1979,{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat }} and environmental sustainability by the Langkawi Declaration of 1989.{{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}} These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.Patel, Hasu (2000), "Southern Africa and democracy, in the light of the Harare declaration." The Round Table 89.357: 585–592.

The Commonwealth's highest-priority aims concern the promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003 Aso Rock Declaration,{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat }} 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."{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat }}

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.{{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}}

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.{{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}}{{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}} 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.{{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}}

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".{{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}}{{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=The Times of India|access-date=18 April 2013}}

{{also|List of Commonwealth of Nations countries by GDP}}

|}

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, while 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.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.

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.Alan S. Milward, The rise and fall of a national strategy, 1945–1963 (2002). 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."{{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}}

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. While 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.{{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}} 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".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. 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.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.{{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 }} 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."Russell Ward, A Nation for a Continent: the history of Australia, 1901–1975 (1977) p 343

{{further|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.{{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=usurped}} At the 2005 Summit in Malta, the heads of government endorsed pursuing free trade among Commonwealth members on a bilateral basis.{{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 }}

Following its vote in June 2016 to leave the European Union,{{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=British Parliament |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 }} some in the United Kingdom suggested the Commonwealth as an alternative to its membership in the EU;{{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}} however, it was 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.{{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}} In 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.{{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 }}{{Cite news |date=23 July 2022 |title=Australia signs UK free trade deal, scrapping import tariffs and opening British jobs market |work=ABC News Australia |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 }}

Canada exempts most goods from the Commonwealth Caribbean, consisting of Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories in the region, from import duties.{{cite web |date=12 July 2024 |title=Canada's unilateral tariff preference programs for imports from developing countries |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/international-trade-finance-policy/canadas-unilateral-tariff-preference-programs-for-imports-from-developing-countries.html |access-date=19 March 2025 |website= |publisher=Government of Canada}}

File:UCT Upper Campus landscape view.jpg, a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities]]

{{main|Commonwealth Family}}

Commonwealth countries share many links outside government, with various non-governmental organisations, notably for sport, culture, education, law, and charity claiming to operate on a Commonwealth-wide basis. Some, such as Sight Savers International and the English-Speaking Union, also operate outside the Commonwealth, though their operations began and largely remain within the association.{{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=Commonwealth Secretariat}}

The Commonwealth Secretariat regulates formal accreditation with the Commonwealth through its Accreditation Committee. The admittance criteria includes upholding a commitment to the Commonwealth Charter. Formally accredited organisations 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.{{cite web |title=Directory of accredited organisations |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/organisations-directory |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325041630/https://thecommonwealth.org/organisations-directory |archive-date=25 March 2023 |access-date=25 March 2023 |website= |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}}

{{main|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.{{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 }}

{{main|Commonwealth Games}}

File:Rugby melbourne commonwealth games.jpg 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.|220x220px]]

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",{{cite journal|last=McKinnon|first=Don|author-link=Don McKinnon|date=February 2008|title=A Commonwealth of Values: a Commonwealth of incomparable value|journal=The Round Table|volume=97|issue=394|pages=19–28|doi=10.1080/00358530801890561|s2cid=153395786}} with the goal of promoting relations between Commonwealth countries and celebrating their shared sporting and cultural heritage.{{cite journal| date=July 2002 |title=Commonwealth Games and Art Festival|journal=The Round Table|volume=91|issue=365|pages=293–296|doi=10.1080/0035853022000010308|s2cid=219624041}}

The games are the Commonwealth's most visible activity and interest in the operation of the Commonwealth increases greatly when the Games are held.{{cite journal|last=McDougall|first=Derek|date=July 2005|title=Australia and the Commonwealth|journal=The Round Table|volume=94|issue=380|pages=339–349|doi=10.1080/00358530500175033|s2cid=154343051}} 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), while the 1986 games were boycotted by most African, Asian, and Caribbean countries for the failure of other countries to enforce the Gleneagles Agreement.{{cite journal|last=Muda|first=Muhammad|date=April 1998|title=The significance of the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia's foreign policy|journal=The Round Table|volume=87|issue=346|pages=211–226|doi=10.1080/00358539808454416|doi-access=free}}

{{main|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.

{{main|Commonwealth War Graves Commission}}

File:Azmak Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula.JPG commemorates 1.7 million Commonwealth war dead and maintains 2,500 war cemeteries around the world, including this one in Gallipoli.|220x220px]]

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.{{cite news|title=Ten Key Things About War Graves|first=Annie|last=Dare|newspaper=The Observer|date=15 October 2000|page=29}} 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.{{cite news|title=Millions trace war dead on Internet|first=Michael|last=Binyon|newspaper=The Times|date=22 January 1999|page=3}}

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.{{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.{{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}}}} 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.

{{Main|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.{{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}}

{{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 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.{{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}}

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.{{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}}

{{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.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The Commonwealth |url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/peace-rights-and-security/the-commonwealth/ |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |language=en-NZ}}{{Cite web |title=UK Representation in the Commonwealth |url=https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/uk-representation-in-the-commonwealth |access-date=23 May 2024 |website=Government of the United Kingdom |language=en}} Symbols of the Commonwealth include the Commonwealth Flag and Commonwealth Day. Remembrance Day is commemorated across the Commonwealth.{{Cite web |last= |title=Remembrance |url=https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/outreach/remembrance/ |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=Commonwealth War Graces Commission |language=en}}{{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=20 July 2024 |website=RSL Australia |language=en}} Celebrations for Guy Fawkes Night take place in some Commonwealth countries.{{Cite web |last=Slater |first=Jack |date=29 October 2022 |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=7 November 2024 |website=Metro |language=en}}

File:Gahanga cricket stadium.jpg, 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.{{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}}

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.{{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}} 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.{{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=The Times|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}}{{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=The Daily Telegraph|date=24 July 2007|access-date=27 March 2009|location=London}}{{cbignore}} 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.{{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}}

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.

{{See also|Commonwealth English|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.{{cite news|title=A report on stories from the outposts of Commonwealth literature|first=Douglas|last=Hill|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=1 October 1988|page=21}}{{cite news|title=English Is a World Language – and That's to Be Prized|first=Robert|last=McCrum|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=13 October 2003|page=B15}} The Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) has 11 branches worldwide and holds an international conference every three years.{{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 }}

File:Jennifer-Nasubuga-Makumbi.jpg 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,{{cite news|title=The Empire Writes Back|first=Pico|last=Iyer|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=12 February 1993|page=1}} 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.{{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 }} Today, the Commonwealth Foundation awards the annual Commonwealth Short Story Prize.{{Cite web |title=Commonwealth Short Story Prize |url=https://commonwealthfoundation.com/short-story-prize/ |access-date=5 January 2024 |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 }}File:Olive Schreiner00.jpg]]

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.{{cite book| editor-last=Drabble|editor-first=Margaret|title=The Oxford Companion to English Literature|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1996}} 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.{{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}}

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, among other things, A Bend in the River (1979). Naipaul won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001.{{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 }}

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, author of 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.Man Booker official site: [http://themanbookerprize.com/search/node/j%20g%20farrell J. G. Farrell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129070148/http://themanbookerprize.com/search/node/j%20g%20farrell |date=29 January 2017 }}; [https://web.archive.org/web/20120921205624/http://themanbookerprize.com/people/hilary-mantel Hilary Mantel]: [http://themanbookerprize.com/people/j-m-coetzee J. M. Coetzee] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317185406/http://themanbookerprize.com/people/j-m-coetzee |date=17 March 2016 }}.

File:Glimpses of the new Parliament Building, in New Delhi (2).jpg, India. The Commonwealth Charter states the Commonwealth's commitment to democracy, and many Commonwealth countries use the Westminster system.]]

File:The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacon Event, Wellington.jpg for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in 2022 in Wellington, New Zealand]]

Commonwealth countries have similar legal and government systems, whilst the Commonwealth Charter includes commitments to democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Most Commonwealth countries have a Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, with elected legislatures, multi-party elections, responsible government and often two chambers.{{Cite web |title=Commonwealth of Nations |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliament-and-empire/contemporary-context/ |access-date=21 March 2025 |website= |publisher=UK Parliament |language=en}} The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association facilitates co-operation between legislatures across the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum promotes good governance among local government officials.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PBs9DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |title=The Statesman's Yearbook 2017: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-349-68398-7 |page=46 |access-date=27 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330165149/https://books.google.com/books?id=PBs9DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |url-status=live}}

Nonetheless, Commonwealth leadership was criticised 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.{{Cite web |last=Gruenbaum |first=Oren |date=8 September 2023 |title=Why was a country as corrupt as Ali Bongo's Gabon ever admitted to the Commonwealth? |url=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/# |access-date=21 March 2025 |website=The Round Table |language=en-GB}}

Most Commonwealth countries use common law, modelled on English law.{{Cite web |title=Legal |url=https://www.commonwealthofnations.org/?sectors=business/legal |access-date=3 March 2025 |website=Commonwealth of Nations |language=en-UK}} The Latimer House Principles adopted in 2003 reflect the separation of powers.{{Cite web |date=September 2023 |title=Commonwealth Latimer House Principles on the Three Branches of Government |url=https://www.cpahq.org/media/kafl4zuf/commonwealth_principles_cpa_sept_2023-v2_single.pdf |access-date=4 March 2025 |publisher=Commonwealth Parliamentary Association}} Judges are appointed by independent commissions in most Commonwealth countries, a change which took place across the Commonwealth in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and is reflected in the Cape Town Principles.{{Cite web |last=Corder |first=Hugh |date=11 March 2016 |title=How Commonwealth countries have forged a new way to appoint judges |url=https://theconversation.com/how-commonwealth-countries-have-forged-a-new-way-to-appoint-judges-56090 |access-date=21 March 2025 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}

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.Flags of All Nations: Flags of the British Commonwealth of Nations (Brown, Son & Ferguson, 1952)

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.{{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}} The Commonwealth Youth Orchestra published renditions of the Anthem with and without an introductory narrative.{{cite web |date=13 September 2017 |title=Commonwealth Anthem (with introductory narrative) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp4PCicIJl4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/Bp4PCicIJl4 |archive-date=15 December 2021 |website=YouTube |publisher=Commonwealth Youth Orchestra}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |date=20 March 2018 |title=Windsor Suite Commonwealth Anthem |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rns3N4nfo7I |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/rns3N4nfo7I |archive-date=15 December 2021 |website=YouTube |publisher=Commonwealth Youth Orchestra}}{{cbignore}}

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.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140808043749/https://thercs.org/assets/Research-/Commonwealth-Conversation-Final-Report.pdf Royal Commonwealth Society, An Uncommon Association, a Wealth of Potential: Final Report of the Commonwealth Conversation (London, Royal Commonwealth Society, 2010)]}}.{{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 }}{{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 }}{{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 }}

{{portal|Countries|United Kingdom}}

• Anglosphere
• English-speaking world
• Commonwealth Caribbean
• List of Commonwealth of Nations countries by GDP
• Community of Portuguese Language Countries, an equivalent grouping of Portuguese-speaking countries and territories
• La Francophonie (OIF), an association of countries where the French language and French culture are prominent
• Organization of Ibero-American States, consisting of Iberophone nations

{{NoteFoot}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

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• 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) [https://www.questia.com/library/95979771/the-historiography-of-the-british-empire-commonwealth online] {{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 }}

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• 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) [https://www.questia.com/library/120072134/the-end-of-empire-dependencies-since-1948-select online] {{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 [https://www.questia.com/read/91753692/the-dependent-empire-1900-1948-colonies-protectorates online] {{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 [https://www.questia.com/library/1817157/documents-and-speeches-on-commonwealth-affairs-1952-1962 online] {{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 }}

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{{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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