the Commonwealth of

Nations

The commonwealth flag

INTRODUCTION
The Commonwealth of Nations, commonly
known as theCommonwealth (formerly the
British Commonwealth), is
anintergovernmental organisation of 53
member states that were mostlyterritories
of the former British Empire. The
Commonwealth operates
byintergovernmental consensus of the
member states, organised through
theCommonwealth Secretariat and Nongovernmental organisations, organised
through the Commonwealth Foundation.

 The Commonwealth dates back to the mid 20th

century with the decolonisation of the British
Empire through increased self-governance of its
territories. It was formally constituted by the
London Declaration in 1949, which established
the member states as "free and equal". The
symbol of this free association is Queen
Elizabeth II who is the Head of the
Commonwealth. The Queen is also the monarch
of 16 members of the Commonwealth, known as
Commonwealth realms. The other members of
the Commonwealth have different persons as
head of state: 32 members arerepublics and five
members are monarchies with a different
monarch.

ORIGIN OF THE
COMMONWEALTH
In her address to Canada on Dominion Day, 1959,
Queen Elizabeth II set the confederation of Canada
on 1 July 1867 as the birth of the "first independent
country within the British Empire. So, it also marks
the beginning of that free association of
independent states which is now known as the
Commonwealth of Nations. In was not, though,
until 1884 that Lord Rosebery, while visiting
Australia, described the changing British Empireas
some of its colonies became more independentas
a "Commonwealth of Nations".[11] Conferences of
British and colonial prime ministers occurred
periodically from the first one in 1887, leading to
the creation of the Imperial Conferences in 1911.

Members of The
Commonwealth

The Commonwealth comprises 53 countries,

across all six inhabited continents. The
members have a combined population of
2.1 billion people, almost a third of the
world population, of which 1.26 billion live in
India and 94% live in Asia and Africa
combined.[46] After India, the next-largest
Commonwealth countries by population are
Pakistan (180 million), Nigeria (170 million),
Bangladesh(156 million), the United
Kingdom (63 million) and South Africa (52
million). Tuvaluis the smallest member, with
about 10,000 people.

Members of The
Commonwealth
The land area of the Commonwealth nations is
about 31,500,000 km2(12,200,000 sq mi), or
about 21% of the total world land area. The
three largest Commonwealth nations by area
are Canada at 9,984,670 km2 (3,855,100 sq
mi),Australia at 7,617,930 km2 (2,941,300 sq
mi), and India at 3,287,263 km2(1,269,219 sq
mi).The Commonwealth members have a
combined gross domestic product of over $9
trillion, 78% of which is accounted for by the
four largest economies: United Kingdom ($2.95
trillion), India ($2.05 trillion), Canada($1.79
trillion), and Australia ($1.44 trillion).

THE NEW
COMMONWEALTH
As the Commonwealth grew, Britain and the pre1945 dominions became informally known as the
Old Commonwealth and planners in the interwar
period, like Lord Davies, who had also taken "a
prominent part in building up the League of
Nations Union" in the United Kingdom, in 1932
founded the New Commonwealth Society, of
which British section Winston Churchill became
the president. This new society was aimed at the
creation of an international air force to be the
arm of the League of Nations, to allow nations to
disarm and safeguard the peace.

HEAD OF THE
COMMONWEALTH

Head of the
Commonwealth

Under the formula of the London Declaration,

Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the
Commonwealth, a title that is by law a part of
Elizabeth's royal titles in each of theCommonwealth
realms, the 16 members of the Commonwealth that
recognise the Queen as their monarch. However,
when the monarch dies, the successor to the crown
does not automatically become Head of the
Commonwealth. 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, Lesotho, Malaysia,Swaziland, and Tonga).

Commonwealth
Secretariat
Marlborough House, London, the headquarters of the

Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth's principal

intergovernmental institutionThe Commonwealth
Secretariat, established in 1965, is the main
intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth,
facilitating consultation and co-operation among member
governments and countries. It is responsible to member
governments collectively. The Commonwealth of Nations is
represented in the United Nations General Assembly by the
secretariat as an observer. The secretariat organises
Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers,
consultative meetings and technical discussions; it assists
policy development and provides policy advice, and
facilitates multilateral communication among the member
governments. It also 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.

Commonwealth secretariat
headquarters

Objectives and Activities

The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971
Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the
institution of world peace; promotion of representative democracy
and individual liberty; the pursuit of equality and opposition to
racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free
trade. To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis
of gender by the Lusaka Declaration of 1979, and environmental
sustainability by the Langkawi Declaration of 1989. These objectives
were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.
The Commonwealth's current highest-priority aims are on the
promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003
Aso Rock Declaration,[86] which built on those in Singapore and
Harare and clarified their terms of reference, stating, "We are
committed to democracy, good governance, human rights, gender
equality, and a more equitable sharing of the benefits of
globalisation. The Commonwealth website lists its areas of work as:
Democracy, Economics, Education, Gender, Governance, Human
Rights, Law, Small States, Sport, Sustainability, and Youth.
Through a separate voluntary fund, Commonwealth governments
support the Commonwealth Youth Programme, a division of the
Secretariat with offices in Gulu (Uganda), Lusaka (Zambia),
Chandigarh (India), Georgetown (Guyana) and Honiara(Solomon
Islands).

Political System
Due to their shared constitutional histories, several
countries in the Commonwealth have similar legal and
political systems. The Commonwealth requires its
members to be functioning democracies that respect
human rights and the rule of law. Most Commonwealth
countries have the Westminster system of
parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association facilitates co-operation
between legislatures across the Commonwealth, and
the Commonwealth Local Government Forum
promotes good governance amongst local government
officials. Most Commonwealth members use common
law, modelled on English law. The Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council is the supreme court of 14
Commonwealth members.

Proposed multilateral trade

agreement
Further information: Commonwealth free tradeAlthough the
Commonwealth does not have a multilateral trade agreement,
research by the Royal Commonwealth Societyhas shown that
trade with another Commonwealth member is up to 50% more
than with a non-member on average, with smaller and less
wealthy states having a higher propensity to trade within the
Commonwealth. There have been various proposals for a
Commonwealth free trade zone. However many Commonwealth
countries already participate in existing, regional integration
projects, including the European Union (3 commonwealth
states) and Caribbean Community (12 commonwealth states).
Some politicians in the United Kingdom have proposed that
there should be a Commonwealth free trade zone, with some
suggesting it as an alternative to its membership in the
European Union. This faith in the unlimited trade potential of
the Commonwealth has been labeled by The Economist as "the
ultimate Eurosceptic fantasy". In addition, the EU is already in
the process of negotiating free trade agreements with many
Commonwealth countries including India and Canada, and
currently has free trade agreements with others, such as South
Africa.