Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations
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Current member states   Partially suspended member state   Former member states   British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies
Headquarters	Marlborough House, London, United Kingdom
Working language	English
Type	Voluntary association[1]
Member states	56 states  Antigua and Barbuda  Australia  Bangladesh  Barbados  Belize  Botswana  Brunei  Cameroon  Canada  Cyprus  Dominica  Eswatini  Fiji  Gabon  Gambia  Ghana  Grenada  Guyana  India  Jamaica  Kenya  Kiribati  Lesotho  Malawi  Malaysia  Maldives  Malta  Mauritius  Mozambique  Namibia  Nauru  New Zealand  Nigeria  Pakistan  Papua New Guinea  Rwanda  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Samoa  Seychelles  Sierra Leone  Singapore  Solomon Islands  South Africa  Sri Lanka  Tanzania  The Bahamas  Togo  Tonga  Trinidad and Tobago  Tuvalu  Uganda  United Kingdom  Vanuatu  Zambia
Leaders
• Head	Charles III[2]
• Secretary-General	Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey
• Chair-in-Office	Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
Establishment
• Balfour Declaration	19 November 1926
• Statute of Westminster	11 December 1931[3]
• London Declaration	28 April 1949
Area
• Total	29,958,050 km2 (11,566,870 sq mi)
Population
• 2016 estimate	2,418,964,000
• Density	75/km2 (194.2/sq mi)
Website thecommonwealth.org
Preceded by British Empire

The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth,^[4][5] is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which it developed.^[2] They are connected through their use of the English language and cultural and historical ties. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental relations, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member nations.^[6] Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.^[7]

The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference,^[8] and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster in 1931. In 1949, the London Declaration allowed India to remain in the Commonwealth as a republic, marking a significant evolution of the association.^[9][10]

The Head of the Commonwealth is Charles III. He is king of 15 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 36 other members are republics, and five others have different monarchs. Although he became head upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, the position is not technically hereditary.^[11]

Commonwealth citizens enjoy benefits in some member countries, particularly in the United Kingdom, and Commonwealth countries are represented to one another by high commissions rather than embassies. Member states have no legal obligations to one another, though some have institutional links. The Commonwealth Charter defines their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law,^[12] as promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.

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