Composition

There are 53 members in the Commonwealth of Nations.

Among these are two special members—the independent island nations of Nauru and Tuvalu. As special members, Nauru and Tuvalu contribute to the organization’s budget on a voluntary basis and receive aid from the Commonwealth, but do not participate in the meetings attended by heads of governments.

The members have a combined population of 1.9 billion people, almost a third of the world population and over twice as many as the whole of the Americas (North and South) put together. Of that figure, 1.4 billion people live in the Indian subcontinent, and 93% live in Asia and Africa combined. The five largest Commonwealth nations by population are India (1.1 billion), Pakistan (165 million), Bangladesh (148 m), Nigeria (137 m), and the United Kingdom (60 m). Tuvalu is the smallest member, with only 11,000 people.

The land area of the Commonwealth nations is about 31.5m km² (12.1m square miles), or about 21% of the total world land area. The three largest Commonwealth nations by area are Canada at 10.0m km² (3.9m sq. miles), Australia at 7.7m km² (3.0m sq. miles) and India at 3.3m km² (1.3m sq. miles).

Commonwealth members are also politically diverse. There are:

• 16 parliamentary monarchies headed by Queen Elizabeth II = Commonwealth realms

• 5 other national monarchies (Brunei Darussalam, Lesotho, Malaysia, Swaziland and Tonga)

• 32 republics

Current members

1. Antigua & Barbuda

2. Australia

3. Bangladesh

4. Barbados

5. Belize

6. Botswana

7. Brunei Darussalam

8. Cameroon

9. Canada

10. Cyprus

11. Dominica

12. Fiji Islands

13. Ghana

14. Grenada

15. Guyana

16. India

17. Jamaica

18. Kenya

19. Kiribati

20. Lesotho

21. Malawi

22. Malaysia

23. Maldives

24. Malta

25. Mauritius

26. Mozambique

27. Namibia

28. Nauru

29. New Zealand

30. Nigeria

31. Pakistan

32. Papua New Guinea

33. Samoa

34. Seychelles

35. Sierra Leone

36. Singapore

37. Solomon Islands

38. South Africa

39. Sri Lanka

40. St Kitts & Nevis

41. St Lucia

42. St Vincent & the Grenadines

43. Swaziland

44. Tanzania, United Republic of

45. The Bahamas

46. The Gambia

47. Tonga

48. Trinidad & Tobago

49. Tuvalu

50. Uganda

51. United Kingdom

52. Vanuatu

53. Zambia

Membership Criteria

All member states, except for Mozambique, have experienced direct or indirect British rule or been linked administratively to another Commonwealth country.

1995 - an Inter-Governmental Group was created to finalise and codify the full requirements for membership.

1997 - the Edinburgh Declaration - Heads of Government considered the criteria for Commonwealth membership and agreed that in order to become a member of the Commonwealth, an applicant country should, as a rule:

• have had a constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member state

• should comply with Commonwealth values, principles and priorities as set out in the Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991

• should accept Commonwealth norms and conventions

• be a fully sovereign state

• recognise the monarch of the Commonwealth realms as the Head of the Commonwealth.

• accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication.

• respect the wishes of the general population vis-à-vis Commonwealth membership.

Structure

• Head of the Commonwealth

• Commonwealth Secretariat

Head of the Commonwealth

Queen Elizabeth II is the current Head of the Commonwealth, recognised by each state, and as such is the symbol of the free association of the organisation's members.

This position does not imply political power over Commonwealth member states.

In practice, the Queen heads the Commonwealth in a symbolic capacity, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the organisation.

The Commonwealth is not a political union, and does not allow the United Kingdom to exercise any power over the affairs of the organisation's other members.

Elizabeth II is also the current Head of State, separately, of 16 Commonwealth realms. As each realm is an independent kingdom, Elizabeth II, as monarch, holds a distinct title for each, though, by a Prime Ministers' Conference in 1952, all include the words "Head of the Commonwealth" at the end; for example: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Jamaica and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth”.

Beyond the realms, the majority of the members of the Commonwealth have their own, separate Heads of State.

Commonwealth Secretariat

It was established in 1965. it is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and cooperation among member governments and countries. It is responsible to member governments collectively.

Based in London, the Secretariat

• organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions

• assists policy development and provides policy advice

• facilitates multilateral communication among the member governments

• provides technical assistance to help governments in the social and economic development of their countries and in support of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values

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 present Secretary-General is Kamalesh Sharma, from India, who took office on 1 April 2008, succeeding Don McKinnon of New Zealand (2000–2008).

The Secretary-General is assisted by the two Deputy Secretaries-General. Around three-quarters of the 53 member countries are currently represented among the some 252 staff of the Secretariat. The work of the Secretariat is 'programme-driven and division-led'. This means that the sixteen programmes are carried out by the divisions and units.

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth presidents or prime ministers assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Prime Ministers' Conferences and earlier Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers, etc.

Commonwealth Family

The Commonwealth Family is a network of associations, organisations, and charities affiliated to the Commonwealth of Nations.^[1] Although associated with the Commonwealth, they are not fully a part of it, and membership is on a voluntary basis from within the membership of the Commonwealth. They are designed to advance the principles and policies of the Commonwealth itself.

Member organisations of the Commonwealth Family include:

• Association o Commonwealth Universities

• Commonwealth Broadcasting Association

• Commonwealth Business Council

• Commonwealth Foundation

• Commonwealth Games Federation

• Commonwealth of Learning

• Commonwealth Local Government Forum

• Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission

• English-Speaking Union

Every four years the Commonwealth's members celebrate the Commonwealth Games, the world's second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.