The Commonwealth of Nations is sort of the successor to the British Empire, but what is it? An overview of history, Commonwealth membership and organization.
The Commonwealth of Nations is built on the legacy of Britain built as a great maritime nation. It is a loose confederation of states, which mainly includes former colonies of Great Britain. The United Kingdom itself is also represented in the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth was founded in 1931. The name was still British Commonwealth of Nations until 1947 when the “British” suffix was dropped. With or without the term: The Commonwealth of Nations can be seen as a sort of successor to the British Empire. Its origin dates back to the beginning of the 20th century and to the autonomy efforts of the dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
On November 18, 1926, the Balfour Report established that all Dominions of the British Empire would assume the role of self-governing corporations. However, member states of the Commonwealth are still bound by their loyalty to the Crown. On December 11, 1931, this arrangement was enshrined in the Statute of Westminster. Since then, loyalty and attachment to the crown have been the only bonds between members, with no fixed constitution or statutes.
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The Commonwealth developed with the adhesions of India (1947), Sri Lanka (1948, then under the name of Ceylon) and Pakistan (1949). As a result, more and more former colonies were added, which gained independence from Britain. More than two billion people now live in Commonwealth countries, which make up around 30% of the world’s population.
In 2023, 56 countries will be members of the Commonwealth of Nations. A distinction is made between the realms of the Commonwealth, which recognize the British monarch as head of state, and the other members. All members of the Commonwealth are listed below with the year they joined the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth kingdoms:
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Other members of the Commonwealth:
The head of the Commonwealth is the British monarch. Since Queen’s death Elizabeth II East king CharlesIII the head of the syndicate. He is the fifth leader.
However, the monarch’s role in the Commonwealth is purely symbolic. The state connection is characterized by a general exchange of information. Each member state sends a representative to the Commonwealth Office, which is located in London. Every four years, the Commonwealth Games are also a sporting event where Member States compete against each other. The last Commonwealth Games were held in England from July to August 2022.
The day-to-day management of the Commonwealth is carried out by a Secretary General elected by the members of the Commonwealth. The Secretaries General of the Commonwealth:
Surname
Country
taking office
end of term
ArnoldSmith
Canada
July 1, 1965
June 30, 1975
Shridath Ramphal
Guyana
July 1, 1975
June 30, 1990
Emeka Anyaoku
Nigeria
July 1, 1990
March 31, 2000
Don McKinnon
New Zealand
April 1, 2000
March 31, 2008
Kamalesh Sharma
India
April 1, 2008
March 31, 2016
Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal
Dominica /
United Kingdom
April 1, 2016
arbitrate
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In addition to the Secretary General, the Commonwealth also has the position of President. This is always occupied by the head of state of a country in which the next summit meeting of the confederation of states is taking place. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, takes place every two years. The President of the Commonwealth:
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All states of the Commonwealth 2023: list, history, leader
Commonwealth of Nations: History and Foundation
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All Commonwealth 2023 states in one list
Commonwealth of Nations: Head, Organization and Commonwealth Games
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- United Kingdom (1931)
- Canada (1931)
- Australia (1931)
- New Zealand (1931)
- Jamaica (1962)
- Bahamian (1973)
- Grenade (1974)
- Papua New Guinea (1975)
- The Solomon Islands (1978)
- tuvalu (1978)
- Saint Lucia (1979)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1979)
- Antigua and Barbuda (nineteen eighty one)
- Belize (nineteen eighty one)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis (1983)
- South Africa (1931) – left in 1961, back to school 1994
- India (1947)
- Pakistan (1947) – left in 1972, back to school 1989, suspension from 1999 to 2004 and 2007 to 2008
- Sri Lanka (1948) – until 1972 as a member ceylon
- Ghana (1957)
- Malaysia (1957)
- Nigeria (1960)
- Sierra Leone (1961)
- Tanzania (1961)
- Cyprus (1961)
- Trinidad and Tobago (1962)
- Uganda (1962)
- Kenya (1963)
- Malawi (1964)
- Malta (1964)
- Zambia (1964)
- Gambia (1965) – resigned in 2013, back to school 2018
- Singapore (1965)
- Barbados (1966)
- Botswana (1966)
- Guyana (1966)
- Lesotho (1966)
- Eswatini (1968) – until 2018 member as Swaziland
- Mauritius (1968)
- Fiji (1970) – left in 1986, back to school in 1997, suspension from 2000 to 2001 and from 2009 to 2014
- Tonga (1970)
- Samoa (1970)
- Bangladesh (1972)
- Seychelles (1976)
- Dominica (1978)
- Kiribati (1979)
- Vanuatu (1980)
- Maldives (1982) – resigned in 2016, back to school 2020
- brunei (1984)
- Namibia (1990)
- Cameroon (1995)
- mozambique (1995) – never part of the British Empire
- Nauru (1999)
- Rwanda (2009) – never part of the British Empire
- Gabon (2022) – never part of the British Empire
- Go (2022) – never part of the British Empire
- king Charles III. (since 2022)
- queen Elizabeth II (1952 – 2022)
- king George VI (1936 – 1952)
- king Edward VIII (1936)
- king George V (1931 – 1936)
| Surname | original state | taking office | end of term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thabo Mbeki | South Africa | November 12, 1999 | March 2, 2002 |
| John Howard | Australia | March 2, 2002 | March 5, 2003 |
| Olusegun Obasanjo | Nigeria | December 5, 2003 | November 25, 2005 |
| Laurent Gonzi | Malta | November 25, 2005 | November 23, 2007 |
| Yoweri Museveni | Uganda | November 23, 2007 | November 27, 2009 |
| Patrick Manning | Trinidad and Tobago | November 27, 2009 | May 25, 2010 |
| Kamla Persad Bitesar | Trinidad and Tobago | May 26, 2010 | October 28, 2011 |
| Julia Gilard | Australia | October 28, 2011 | June 27, 2013 |
| Kevin Rudd | Australia | June 27, 2013 | September 18, 2013 |
| Tony Abbott | Australia | September 18, 2013 | November 15, 2013 |
| Mahinda Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka | November 15, 2013 | January 9, 2015 |
| Maithripala Sirisena | Sri Lanka | January 9, 2015 | November 27, 2015 |
| Joseph Muscat | Malta | November 27, 2015 | April 19, 2018 |
| Therese May | United Kingdom | April 19, 2018 | July 24, 2019 |
| Boris Johnson | United Kingdom | July 24, 2019 | June 24, 2022 |
| Paul Kagame | Rwanda | June 24, 2022 | arbitrate |