Commonwealth of Nations | |||||||
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| Headquarters | Marlborough House, London, SW1Y 5HX, United Kingdom | ||||||
| Official languages | English | ||||||
| Membership |
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| Government | Voluntary association | ||||||
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• Balfour Declaration |
19 November 1926 | ||||||
• Statute of Westminster |
11 December 1931 | ||||||
• London Declaration |
28 April 1949 | ||||||
The Commonwealth of Nations, generally known simply as the Commonwealth, is a political association of various member states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. 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 amongst member states.
The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. 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 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 Head of the Commonwealth is currently King Richard V. The King is the head of state of 9 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms.
Member states have no legal obligations to one another, but are connected through their use of the English language and historical ties. 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.
Commonwealth Realm[]
Current Commonwealth realms
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state which has Richard V as its monarch and head of state. Each realm functions as an independent co-equal kingdom from the other realms. The Commonwealth realms include the United Kingdom and its former colonies that decided to remain part of the British crown. Former colonies that decided to cut ties with the monarchy are also part of the Commonwealth, but are not considered Commonwealth realms. All Commonwealth members are independent sovereign states, whether they are Commonwealth realms or not.
As of 2025, there are nine Commonwealth realms sharing a monarch with the United Kingdom:
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