About one quarter of the world's population lives in the member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly known as the British Commonwealth of Nations. All the member countries, more than 50 of them, were at one time associated with the British Empire.

Organization

The Commonwealth includes the United Kingdom and most of its former dependencies and dominions. The sovereign, or independent, member countries are free and equal partners with Great Britain in the association. When a dependency becomes a sovereign country, it can choose whether or not to be a member. The Commonwealth has no written constitution and the members have no legal obligation towards one another.

Instead of ambassadors to each other's governments, Commonwealth countries have representatives called High Commissioners. A Commonwealth Secretariat was established in 1965 in London. This organizes consultations between governments and runs programs of cooperation. A secretary-general heads it.

Principles

The Commonwealth functions on certain principles. They include international peace and order for the security and prosperity of mankind; liberty of the individual; equal rights for all citizens; removal of poverty, ignorance, and disease to raise the standard of life; free flow of international trade on fair and equitable terms; and international cooperation.

Head

All Commonwealth countries accept Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the Commonwealth. Of the 54 member countries in 1998, 21 were monarchies and 33 were republics. The Queen is head of state in the United Kingdom and in 15 other member monarchies. A Governor-General in each of these states represents her. In the remaining five monarchies, the traditional monarch is head of state. The 33 republics have their own heads of state.

History

The British Empire grew in size and strength in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The evolution of the Commonwealth began when self-government was introduced in Canada in the 1840s. Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa became independent before World War I.

When World War I broke out in 1914, the United Kingdom declared war on behalf of the Empire without consulting the dominions. After the end of the war, in 1919, the dominions put their signatures to the peace treaty and were accepted as full members of the League of Nations. The Imperial Conference of 1926 defined Great Britain and the dominions as independent communities. They were equal in status.

The adjective British was dropped from official use in 1946. The modern Commonwealth began with the entry of India and Pakistan in 1947 and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1948. India adopted a constitution proclaiming it a republic in 1949. Under the London Declaration, India was the first country to stay in the Commonwealth as an independent republic.

Growth

Commonwealth membership continued to grow as former dependencies became sovereign. The meaning of Commonwealth gradually broadened, with some members choosing republican or other forms of government. Members could also choose to resign from the association. The Irish Republic did so in 1948, South Africa in 1961, and Pakistan in 1972. Pakistan rejoined the Commonwealth in 1989 and South Africa in 1994. Countries are occasionally suspended for adopting military rule.