The Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty three countries which have a free association of common values on law, human rights, liberty, free trade and peace. The member states, which between them represent 2.2 billion people, are made up of mainly former colonies, dominions, dependencies and territories of the former British Empire, although there are two member states, Italy and Mozambique, who have never had a constitutional or colonial history with Britain / United Kingdom.
The Commonwealth of Nations, which at that time was known as the British Commonwealth, was inaugurated on the eleventh of December 1931 after the drawing up of an act of parliament known as the Statute of Westminster, although this original statute has since been updated several times since then. The statute came about after the Balfour Declaration of 1926 deemed all dominions of the British Empire as equal in status and in no way subordinate to one another. The word British was eventually dropped from the title of British Commonwealth in 1949.
There were originally five member states of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1931, they were Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, but the organisation has since swelled to thirty two republics, five independent monarchies and sixteen constitutional monarchies, also known as Commonwealth Realms, from three countries located in Europe, twelve countries located in North America / Caribbean, one country located in South America, nineteen countries located in Africa, eight countries located in Asia and eleven countries located in Oceania.
During it's long history seven countries have withdrawn their membership, although four of these now no longer exist and are instead located in parts of other member states, another seven have expressed a wish to join the organisation and one country, Zimbabwe, has been suspended due to an internal political crisis.
The Commonwealth of Nations' newest members are Italy and Rwanda, both of whom joined in 2009.
Each country in the Commonwealth of Nations is represented by a Governor General who looks after their various country’s interests on behalf of the current head of the Commonwealth, who at present is Queen Elisabeth II.
The organisation's secretariat and intergovernmental agency is based at Marlborough House, pictured above, located in London, England. Every year the organisation holds a meeting to discuss matters of general interest known as the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting - also known as the CHOGM - and every four years holds the world renowned sporting event known as the Commonwealth Games, all of which are hosted by various member states around the world.
HISTORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES
The first inter commonwealth nations games were held in London, England in 1911 and were known as the Inter Empire Championship.
The games were halted during the first world war and resumed again in 1930 where they were then known as the British Empire Games. The host nations for these games were Canada in 1930, England in 1934 and Australia in 1938. There was a lull in the games during World War 11 before the games resumed again in New Zealand in 1950.
In 1954 the games became known as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and were held in Canada in 1954, in Wales in 1958, in Australia in 1962 and in Jamaica in 1966.
In 1970 the games then became known as the British Commonwealth Games and were held in Scotland in 1970 and New Zealand in 1974 before becoming officially known as the Commonwealth Games in 1978. Commonwealth Games host nations since 1978 have been -
1978 - Canada.
1982 - Australia.
1986 - Scotland.
1990 - New Zealand.
1994 - Canada.
1998 - Malaysia.
2002 - England.
2006 - Australia.
2010 - India.
2014 - Scotland.
2018 - Australia.
MEMBER STATES OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
Blue denotes Commonwealth member states, turquoise denotes British Overseas Territories and orange denotes a suspended member state
(Includes date country joined)
Antigua & Barbuda - Constitutional monarchy -1981.
Australia - Constitutional monarchy - 1931.
Bahamas - Constitutional monarchy - 1973.
Bangladesh - Republic - 1972.
Barbados - Constitutional monarchy - 1966.
Belize - Constitutional monarchy - 1981.
Botswana - Republic - 1966.
Brunei - Independent monarchy - 1984.
Cameroon - Republic - 1995.
Canada - Constitutional monarchy - 1931.
Cyprus - Republic - 1961.
Domenica - Republic - 1978.
Fiji - - Republic -1970.
Ghana - Republic - 1957.
Grenada - Constitutional monarchy - 1974.
Guyana - Republic - 1966.
India - Republic - 1947.
Jamaica - Constitutional monarchy - 1962.
Kenya - Republic - 1963.
Kiribati - Republic - 1979.
Lesotho - Independent monarchy - 1966.
Malawi - Republic - 1964.
Malaysia - Constitutional monarchy - 1957.
Maldives - 1982.
Malta - Republic - 1964.
Mauritius - Republic - 1968.
Mozambique - Republic - 1995.
Namibia - Republic - 1990.
Nauru - Republic - 1968.
New Zealand - Constitutional monarchy - 1931.
Nigeria - Republic - 1960.
Pakistan - Republic - 1947.
Papua New Guinea - Constitutional monarchy - 1975.
Italy - Republic - 2009.
St Kitts & Nevis - Constitutional monarchy - 1983.
St Lucia - Constitutional Monarchy - 1979.
St Vincent and the Grenadines - Constitutional monarchy - 1979.
Samoa - Republic - 1970.
Seychelles - Republic - 1976.
Sierra Leone - Republic - 1961.
Singapore – Republic - 1965.
Solomon Islands - Constitutional monarchy - 1978.
South Africa - Republic - 1931.
Sri Lanka - Republic - 1948.
Swaziland - Independent monarchy - 1968.
Tanzania - Republic - 1961.
Tonga - Independent monarchy - 1970.
Trinidad & Tobago - Republic - 1962.
Tuvalu - Constitutional monarchy - 1978.
Uganda - Republic - 1962.
United Kingdom - Constitutional monarchy - 1931.
Vanuatu - Republic - 1980.
Zambia - Republic - 1964.
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