Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, generally known simply as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 53 member states, nearly all of them former territories of the British Empire.

The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 53 sovereign states.

The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member states.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Commonwealth of Nations, generally known simply as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 53 member states, nearly all of them former territories of the British Empire.

Many of the former territories of the British Empire are members of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The human symbol of this free association is the Head of the Commonwealth, currently Queen Elizabeth II, and the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting appointed Charles, Prince of Wales to be her designated successor, although the position is not technically hereditary.

The Head of the Commonwealth is the "symbol of the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth of Nations (commonly known as the Commonwealth), an intergovernmental organisation that currently comprises 53 sovereign states.

The Queen is the head of state of 16 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 32 other members are republics and five others have different monarchs. The position is symbolic, representing the free association of independent members, the majority of which (32) are republics, and five have monarchs of different royal houses (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga).

The republics in the Commonwealth of Nations are the sovereign states in the organization with a republican form of government.

It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster in 1931.

The term "Commonwealth" was officially adopted to describe the community.

The human symbol of this free association is the Head of the Commonwealth, currently Queen Elizabeth II, and the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting appointed Charles, Prince of Wales to be her designated successor, although the position is not technically hereditary.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018, also known as CHOGM 2018, was the 25th meeting of the heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Their stated shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Games are an international multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Commonwealth of Nations, generally known simply as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 53 member states, nearly all of them former territories of the British Empire.

After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, a free association of independent states.

The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member states.

Membership of the Commonwealth Foundation is voluntary and is separate from membership of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Queen Elizabeth II, in her address to Canada on Dominion Day in 1959, pointed out that the confederation of Canada on 1 July 1867 had been the birth of the "first independent country within the British Empire". These aspects to the relationship were formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which applied to Canada without the need for ratification, but Australia, New Zealand, and Newfoundland had to ratify the statute for it to take effect.

The country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and officially bilingual at the federal level.

The current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernised the community and established the member states as "free and equal".

The London Declaration was a declaration issued by the 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference on the issue of India's continued membership in the Commonwealth of Nations after its transition to a republican constitution.

Their stated shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.

The Charter of the Commonwealth is a charter setting out the values of the Commonwealth of Nations as well as the commitment of its 53 member states to equal rights, democracy, and so on.

These aspects to the relationship were formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which applied to Canada without the need for ratification, but Australia, New Zealand, and Newfoundland had to ratify the statute for it to take effect.

Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Pacific Islands Forum, and the ASEAN Plus Six mechanism.

Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively.

By passing the Act on 25 November 1947, New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931, an Act of the British Parliament which granted full sovereign status and Commonwealth membership to the Dominions ratifying the statute.

Burma (also known as Myanmar) and Aden (now part of the Republic of Yemen) are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence.

Myanmar is a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN and BIMSTEC, but not a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The term "Commonwealth" was officially adopted to describe the community.

Since the early 20th century, the term has been used to name some fraternal associations of nations, most notably the Commonwealth of Nations, an organization primarily of former territories of the British Empire, which is often referred to as simply "the Commonwealth".

Upon hearing this, King George VI told the Indian politician Krishna Menon: "So, I've become 'as such'".

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was king of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death.

The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth heads of government, including (amongst others) prime ministers and presidents, assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; or) is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations.

There remain the 14 mainly self-governing British overseas territories which retain some political association with the United Kingdom.

The British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are themselves distinct from the Commonwealth realms, a group of 16 independent countries (including the United Kingdom) each having Elizabeth II as their reigning monarch, and from the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of 53 countries mostly with historic links to the British Empire (which also includes all Commonwealth realms).

The position is symbolic, representing the free association of independent members, the majority of which (32) are republics, and five have monarchs of different royal houses (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga).

It is now a fully sovereign state that is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The Queen is the head of state of 16 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 32 other members are republics and five others have different monarchs.

All 16 Commonwealth realms are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states.

The head of government hosting the CHOGM is called the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office and retains the position until the following CHOGM.

The Commonwealth Chair-in-Office (CIO) is the Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth of Nations, and is one of the main leadership positions in the Commonwealth.

The secretariat is headed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is elected by Commonwealth heads of government for no more than two four-year terms.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body which has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965, and responsible for representing the Commonwealth publicly.

For example, when engaging bilaterally with one another, Commonwealth governments exchange high commissioners instead of ambassadors.

In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat (generally ranking as an ambassador) in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.