The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states, referred to as Commonwealth countries. 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. 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. 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 other than the Commonwealth realms and their dependencies; the position is purely symbolic and titular, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the Commonwealth. 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). In 1949, the London Declaration marked the birth of the modern Commonwealth and the adoption of its present name. 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. 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. Zimbabwe is in the process of trying to return to its membership of the Commonwealth since Emmerson Mnangagwa became President of Zimbabwe in 2017 when Robert Mugabe was overthrown in the Zimbabwean 2017 coup d'etat.

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Current member states

All dates below are provided by the Commonwealth of Nations Secretariat members list, and population figures are as of 1 February 2020. A. Unless otherwise noted, independence was gained from the United Kingdom on the date (shown in column 2) of joining the Commonwealth. B. Not a member of the Commonwealth Foundation. C. Though Pakistan celebrates 14 August 1947 as its independence day, independence was officially granted at midnight, 15 August 1947. Therefore, its date of joining the Commonwealth would be 15 August 1947. D. Geographically a part of Asia, considered a European country in political geography. E. Constitutional monarchy that operates under a Westminster system. The monarch is not the same individual as the British monarch, hence making it not a Commonwealth realm. F. In geology, the Maltese Islands are located on the African Plate. The island group lies approx. 200 km south of the boundary between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. In political geography, Malta is considered a European country.

Former member states

Dissolved member states

Prospective member states

G. The population figure is based on 2014 estimates.

Other candidates

Other states which have expressed an interest in joining the Commonwealth over the years include: Howard Henry, former Director of External Relations of the Cook Islands, stated that the Cook Islands could apply for Commonwealth membership as soon as the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, following the United States recognition of the Cook Islands and Niue as sovereign states. The 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting agreed on the core criteria for membership. An applicant country should have historic constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member, aside from exceptional circumstances which are only considered on a case-by-case basis. Most Commonwealth member have constitutional links with the United Kingdom and the former British Empire. Former British dependencies are eligible to join the Commonwealth providing they agree and commit to the Commonwealth principles, these were laid out in the Singapore Declaration and reaffirmed in the Lusaka Declaration, the Langkawi Declaration and the Harare Declaration.

[The Commonwealth of Nations currently has 56 members. Current Commonwealth members (dark blue)

Overseas territories, associated states and crown dependencies (orange) Suspended members (yellow) Former members (pink) Former members applying to rejoin (light blue) Applicants without historical links to the UK (turquoise) Other states with historical links to the UK (light green) Applicants with historical links to the UK (dark green) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Commonwealth///of///Nations///prospective///members///%28simple%29.png]