The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states, referred to as Commonwealth countries.^[1] Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies.

No government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a political union. Rather, the Commonwealth is an international organization in which countries with diverse social, political, and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status, and cooperate within a framework of common values and goals, as outlined in the Singapore Declaration issued in 1971.^[2] Such common values and goals include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, civil liberties, equality before the law, free trade, multilateralism, and world peace, which are promoted through multilateral projects and meetings, such as the Commonwealth Games, held once every four years.^[3]

The symbol of this free association is King Charles III, who serves as the Head of the Commonwealth. This position, however, does not imbue him with any political or executive power over any Commonwealth member states; the position is purely symbolic, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the Commonwealth.^[4]

The Commonwealth was first officially formed in 1926 when the Balfour Declaration of the Imperial Conference recognised the full sovereignty of dominions. Known as the "British Commonwealth", the original and therefore earliest members were Australia, Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. It was re-stated by the 1930 conference and incorporated in the Statute of Westminster the following year (although Australia and New Zealand did not adopt the statute until 1942 and 1947, respectively).^[5] In 1949, the London Declaration marked the birth of the modern Commonwealth and the adoption of its present name.^[6] The members have a combined population of 2.6 billion, almost a third of the world's population, of whom 1.21 billion live in India, and 95% live in Africa and Asia combined.^[7] The most recent members to join were the Francophone African nations of Gabon and Togo on 29 June 2022, who along with Mozambique and Rwanda are unique in not having a historical constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth states.

Currently, fifteen of the member states are Commonwealth realms, with the Head of the Commonwealth as their heads of state, five others are monarchies with their own individual monarchs (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga), and the rest are republics. The Republic of Ireland (as of 1949 according to the Commonwealth; 1936 according to the Irish government) and Zimbabwe (2003) are former members of the Commonwealth.

All dates below are provided by the Commonwealth of Nations Secretariat members list,^[8] and population figures are as of 1 February 2020.

Country	First joined	UN continental region	UN geographical subregion	Population[9]	System of government	Notes
Antigua and Barbuda	1 November 1981	Americas	Caribbean	94,298	Unitary Commonwealth realm
Australia	19 November 1926	Oceania	Australia and New Zealand	26,256,970	Federal Commonwealth realm	Australia was one of the original Dominions at the time of the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster 1931, although the statute was not adopted in Australia until 1942 (with retroactive effect from 1939).[10] The Australia Act 1986 eliminated the remaining possibilities for the UK to legislate with effect in Australia, for the UK to be involved in Australian government, and for an appeal from any Australian court to a British court (Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.[11]
Bahamas	10 July 1973	Americas	Caribbean	412,623	Unitary Commonwealth realm
Bangladesh	18 April 1972[12]	Asia	Southern Asia	172,954,319	Unitary Westminster republic	Formerly East Pakistan. Declared independence from Pakistan in 1971.[13]
Barbados	30 November 1966	Americas	Caribbean	281,995	Unitary Westminster republic	Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and became a republic on 30 November 2021, albeit, without a referendum.[14][15]
Belize	21 September 1981	Americas	Central America	410,825	Unitary Commonwealth realm	Formerly British Honduras. Name changed on 1 June 1973 to Colony of Belize.
Botswana	30 September 1966	Africa	Southern Africa	2,675,352	Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency	Formerly the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
Brunei	7 May 1984	Asia	South-eastern Asia	452,524	Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy	Formerly a British protected monarchy. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is also Prime Minister of Brunei as well as Brunei's Sultan.
Cameroon	1 November 1995[16]	Africa	Middle Africa	28,647,293	Unitary semi-presidential republic	Most of the country was the formerly French mandate territory (later UN trust territory) of Cameroun, which gained independence from France on 1 January 1960. It united with the much smaller former British mandate/trust territory of Southern Cameroons, which gained independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1961.
Canada	19 November 1926	Americas	North America	39,244,168	Federal Commonwealth realm	Canada was the first among the several original Dominions at the time of the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster 1931.[17] Incorporated another original Dominion, Newfoundland, on 31 March 1949.[18] The Canada Act 1982 formally ended the "request and consent" provisions of the Statute of Westminster 1931 in relation to Canada, whereby the British parliament had a general power to pass laws extending to Canada at its own request.
Cyprus	13 March 1961[19]	Europe	Southeast Europe	1,260,138	Unitary presidential republic	Gained independence from the United Kingdom on 16 August 1960. Britain retains military bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Northern Cyprus is not recognised by the Commonwealth as an independent state, but as a legitimate part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Dominica	3 November 1978	Americas	Caribbean	73,040	Unitary Westminster republic	Dominica has always been a republic since independence.
Eswatini	6 September 1968	Africa	Southern Africa	1,210,822	Unitary absolute monarchy	Joined as the Kingdom of Swaziland, subsequently changing its name to Kingdom of Eswatini on 19 April 2018.
Fiji	10 October 1970	Oceania	Melanesia	936,375	Unitary Westminster republic	Was the Dominion of Fiji from 1970 until it was overthrown. Declared to have been expelled in 1987; rejoined in 1997; suspended on 6 June 2000;[20] suspension lifted on 20 December 2001;[21] again suspended on 8 December 2006 because of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état.[22][23] Suspension lifted on 26 September 2014.
Gabon	25 June 2022	Africa	Middle Africa	2,436,566	Unitary presidential republic	Gained independence from France on 17 August 1960. The third (after Mozambique and Rwanda) to be admitted to the Commonwealth without any former colonial or constitutional links with the United Kingdom.[24] Partially suspended on 18 September 2023 following the military coup that ousted President Ali Bongo the previous month, with two years given by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group for the country to hold new elections before a full suspension of membership would be considered.[25][26]
Gambia	18 February 1965	Africa	Western Africa	2,773,168	Unitary presidential republic	Withdrew on 3 October 2013 citing "neocolonialism".[27][28] Following the election of Adama Barrow as President of The Gambia in 2016, it submitted an application to rejoin the Commonwealth on 22 January 2018,[29] and rejoined on 8 February 2018.[30]
Ghana	6 March 1957	Africa	Western Africa	34,121,985	Unitary presidential republic	Became independent as the Dominion of Ghana.
Grenada	7 February 1974	Americas	Caribbean	126,183	Unitary Commonwealth realm
Guyana	26 May 1966	Americas	South America	813,834	Unitary presidential republic	Gained independence as the Dominion of Guyana. Became a republic on 23 February 1970.
India	15 August 1947	Asia	Southern Asia	1,428,627,663	Federal Westminster republic	Gained independence as the Dominion of India. India became the first Commonwealth republic on 26 January 1950. Incorporated former French India (Chandannagar from 2 May 1950 and Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanam and Mahé from 1 November 1954), former Portuguese India (Goa, Daman and Diu from 19 December 1961 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli formally from 1961) and Sikkim (from 16 May 1975).
Jamaica	6 August 1962	Americas	Caribbean	2,825,544	Unitary Commonwealth realm
Kenya	12 December 1963	Africa	Eastern Africa	55,100,586	Unitary presidential republic	Gained independence as the Dominion of Kenya. Became the Republic of Kenya exactly 1 year later.
Kiribati	12 July 1979	Oceania	Micronesia	133,515	Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency	Fomerly part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, then the Colony of the Gilbert Islands.
Lesotho	4 October 1966	Africa	Southern Africa	2,330,318	Unitary Westminster monarchy	Formerly the British protectorate of Basutoland.
Malawi	6 July 1964	Africa	Eastern Africa	20,931,751	Unitary presidential republic	Formerly Nyasaland. Gained independence as the Dominion of Malawi. The Republic of Malawi was declared exactly 2 years later.
Malaysia	31 August 1957[31][32]	Asia	South-eastern Asia	34,308,525	Federal Westminster monarchy	Joined as the Federation of Malaya in 1957; reformed as Malaysia on 16 September 1963 with its federation with Singapore (which became a separate country on 9 August 1965), North Borneo, and Sarawak.[33]
Maldives	9 July 1982	Asia	Southern Asia	521,021	Unitary presidential republic	Formerly a British protected monarchy. Gained independence from the United Kingdom on 26 July 1965 as an independent kingdom outside the Commonwealth. Became a republic on 11 November 1968[34] A special member from 9 July 1982 until 20 July 1985.[35] Withdrew on 13 October 2016.[36][37] Rejoined on 1 February 2020.[38]
Malta	21 September 1964	Europe	Southern Europe	532,616	Unitary Westminster republic	Gained independence from the United Kingdom on 21 September 1964 as the State of Malta. Became a republic on 13 December 1974.
Mauritius	12 March 1968	Africa	Eastern Africa	1,263,939	Unitary Westminster republic	Gained independence as the Dominion of Mauritius. Became a republic on 12 March 1992.
Mozambique	13 November 1995[39]	Africa	Eastern Africa	33,897,354	Unitary semi-presidential republic	Former dependency of Portuguese India until 1752. Gained independence from Portugal on 25 June 1975. The first country to be admitted to the Commonwealth without any former colonial or constitutional links with the United Kingdom.[40]
Namibia	21 March 1990	Africa	Southern Africa	2,604,172	Unitary semi-presidential republic	Formerly South West Africa. Gained independence from South Africa.[41] Includes Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands transferred by South Africa at midnight 28 February 1994.
Nauru	29 November 1968	Oceania	Micronesia	12,780	Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency	Gained independence on 31 January 1968 from joint trusteeship of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. A special member from 29 November 1968 until 1 May 1999, when it became a full member,[42] before reverting to special status in January 2006.[43] A full member again since June 2011.[44]
New Zealand	19 November 1926	Oceania	Australia and New Zealand	5,163,908	Unitary Commonwealth realm	Granted nominal independence (Dominion status) on 26 September 1907. One of the original Dominions at the time of the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster 1931, although the Statute was not adopted in New Zealand until 1947.[45] Removed final links with the British Parliament in 1986. Removed the final link with the British legal system (Judicial Committee of the Privy Council) in 2003.
Nigeria	1 October 1960	Africa	Western Africa	223,804,632	Federal presidential republic	Gained independence as a Dominion titled the Federation of Nigeria. Incorporated the former British mandate/trust territory of Northern Cameroons on 31 May 1961. Federal republic declared on 1 October 1963. Suspended in 1995, suspension lifted in 1999.[46]
Pakistan	14 August 1947	Asia	Southern Asia	240,485,658	Federal Westminster republic	Gained independence as the Dominion of Pakistan. Includes the city of Gwadar, transferred from Muscat and Oman on 8 September 1958. Included Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan) until 1971.[13] Left Commonwealth in January 1972, rejoined 1990, effective retroactively from October 1989; suspended in 1999, suspension lifted in 2004; again suspended in 2007,[47] suspension lifted in 2008.[48]
Papua New Guinea	16 September 1975	Oceania	Melanesia	10,329,931	Unitary Commonwealth realm	Gained independence from Australia.
Rwanda	29 November 2009[49]	Africa	Eastern Africa	14,094,683	Unitary presidential republic	Gained independence from Belgium on 1 July 1962. The second country (after Mozambique) to be admitted to the Commonwealth without any former colonial or constitutional links with the United Kingdom.[40] Admitted 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".[50]
Saint Kitts and Nevis	19 September 1983	Americas	Caribbean	47,755	Federal Commonwealth realm
Saint Lucia	22 February 1979	Americas	Caribbean	180,251	Unitary Commonwealth realm
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	27 October 1979	Americas	Caribbean	103,698	Unitary Commonwealth realm	A special member from 27 October 1979 until 1 June 1985.
Samoa	28 August 1970	Oceania	Polynesia	225,681	Unitary Westminster republic	From 1914 to 1961, Western Samoa was the Territory of Western Samoa. Gained independence from New Zealand on 1 January 1962. Entered into an unusual relationship with the Commonwealth. Joined as Western Samoa, subsequently changing its name to Samoa on 4 July 1997.[51]
Seychelles	28 June 1976	Africa	Eastern Africa	120,622	Unitary presidential republic
Sierra Leone	27 April 1961	Africa	Western Africa	8,791,092	Unitary presidential republic	Gained independence as the Dominion of Sierra Leone.
Singapore	15 October 1965	Asia	South-eastern Asia	5,673,743	Unitary Westminster republic	Gained independence from the United Kingdom and joined Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963. Became independent on 9 August 1965.[52] While joining in 1966, the effective date is from its date of independence.[53]
Solomon Islands	7 July 1978	Oceania	Melanesia	740,424	Unitary Commonwealth realm
South Africa	19 November 1926	Africa	Southern Africa	60,414,495	Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency	Granted nominal independence (Dominion status) on 31 May 1910 as the Union of South Africa. One of the original Dominions at the time of the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and Statute of Westminster 1931. Left on 31 May 1961; rejoined 1 June 1994.[54]
Sri Lanka	4 February 1948	Asia	Southern Asia	22,037,000	Unitary semi-presidential republic	Joined as the Dominion of Ceylon, subsequently changing its name in 1972. Became a republic in 1972
Tanzania	9 December 1961	Africa	Eastern Africa	67,438,106	Unitary presidential republic	Tanganyika joined the Commonwealth on 9 December 1961 as an independent Dominion, became a republic exactly 1 year later, with the islands of Zanzibar following suit later. The two subsequently merged to form Tanzania on 26 April 1964.[55]
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of Nations mandate United Nations trust territories Cameroon France Southern Cameroons United Kingdom Canada Americas North America Balfour Declaration of 1926 Statute of Westminster 1931 Dominion of Newfoundland Canada Act 1982 Cyprus Europe Southeast Europe Presidential system United Kingdom Akrotiri and Dhekelia Northern Cyprus Dominica Americas Caribbean Eswatini Africa Southern Africa Fiji Oceania Melanesia Dominion of Fiji 2006 Fijian coup d'état Gabon Africa Central Africa France Mozambique Rwanda The Gambia Africa West Africa Neocolonialism Gambian presidential election, 2016 Adama Barrow President of The Gambia Ghana Africa West Africa Dominion of Ghana Grenada Americas Caribbean Guyana Americas South America Dominion of Guyana India Asia South Asia Dominion of India Political integration of India French India Chandannagar Pondicherry Karaikal Yanam Mahé, India Portuguese India Goa Daman, India Diu, India Dadra and Nagar Haveli Sikkim Jamaica Americas Caribbean Kenya Africa 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