The Commonwealth of Nations (generally referred to as simply "the Commonwealth", because nobody's likely to think you're talking about some ''other'' commonwealth these days) is simply put, (mostly) former members of The British Empire who still maintain some sort of symbolic connection with the United Kingdom, and, just as importantly, each other.
In its modern form, the Commonwealth is more of a beneficial trade, defence and immigration pact than an empire, but about one-third of the nations also have the British monarch as their head of state (these nations are the Commonwealth realms), giving him the same theoretical veto powers outlined in the British Political System, while the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London is a final court of appeal for some member states. Confusingly, not all Commonwealth Realms have appeal to the Judicial Committee (e.g. Canada and Australianote ), while not every country that retains appeal to the Judicial Committee is a Commonwealth Realm (e.g. Mauritius, which is a Commonwealth Republic, and Brunei, which is a monarchy within the Commonwealth that has its own Sultan). After all, if the institutions made perfect sense, they wouldn't really be British, would they?
Member states sometimes enjoy beneficial trade agreements and the ability to emigrate to other member states more easily than a non-member. Commonwealth nations tend to share such characteristics as drinking tea, playing cricket, driving on the left-hand side of the road and using British English spellings—but not all of them (witness coffee-drinking, right-side-driving, and even occasionally baseball-playing Canada, often otherwise regarded as the quintessential Commonwealth Realm). Most of them also use The Common Law as the basis of their legal system.
Mozambique was actually never part of the British Empire, being a former Portuguese territory, but all its neighbour countries were in the Commonwealth and wished to support their poor neighbour, so an exception to the general policy was made. Recently the same thing happened to Rwanda, which has started to adopt more Anglophone trappings and apparently even cricket picked up from Kenya and Uganda.
The terms "Old Commonwealth" (the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa) and "New Commonwealth" (everywhere else) are sometimes used, although the terms appear to be declining in usage. Such terms were always controversial given that when coined they were so clearly divided along racial lines (the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand being majority-white and South Africa at the time having a white-only government ruling over a disenfranchised black majority, while most of the "New Commonwealth" were black- or Asian-majority former colonies).
They have their own version of the Olympic Games, called the Commonwealth Games, held every FIFA World Cup year. Apart from the usual Olympic sports, there are also some more "British" sports such as lawn bowls and netball (cricket has only been played twice, in 1998 (men only) and 2022 (women only)), and Paralympic events are integrated into the Games rather than being a separate event. Their version of the Olympic Torch (and its accompanying relay) is the King's Baton, which contains a message from the King, whose contents are only disclosed during the opening ceremony. The latest edition was held in Birmingham, England in 2022; Glasgow, Scotland hosted the 2014 Games, while the Australian state of Victoria was going to host the 2026 Games, before cancelling due to the cost.
It must be noted that one criterion for joining the Commonwealth is the acceptance of the current British monarch (the King) as Head of the Commonwealth (an entirely symbolic title). Although it seems unlikely, non-member countries wishing to join the Commonwealth have not really ever fussed about this provision; rather, it tends to be used as an excuse for states to leave (e.g. the Gambia's 2013 departure on the grounds that the Commonwealth is "imperialistic" at least in part of the whole Queen business, widely considered a ploy to distract the people from local problems.).
The list of member states are: Commonwealth realms
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- The Bahamas
- Belize
- Canada
- Grenada
- Jamaica
- New Zealand
- Papua New Guinea
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Solomon Islands
- Tuvalu
- United Kingdom
The Rest
- Bangladesh
- Barbados (a Commonwealth Realm until it became a republic in 2021)
- Botswana
- Brunei
- Cameroon
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- eSwatini
- Fiji (withdrew in 1987 when it became a republic, but rejoined in 1997. Then it got suspended twice; from 2000 to 2001, and from 2006 to 2014, both times because of coups)
- Gabon
- The Gambia (withdrew in 2013 in a surprise move by the increasingly autocratic Yahya Jammeh, who accused the Commonwealth of being a tool of Western imperialism. Rejoined in 2018 through his successor Adama Barrow after Jammeh was deposed)
- Ghana
- Guyana
- India (the first ever country that officially severed itself completely from British rule to be admitted)
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives (withdrew in 2016, rejoined in 2020)
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mozambique (actually a former Portuguese colony; the first nation to be admitted without any national ties to the UK)
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nigeria (suspended from 1995 to 1999)
- Pakistan (withdrew in 1972, rejoined in 1989, then got suspended twice; from 1999 to 2004, and from 2007 to 2008)
- Rwanda (former German/Belgian colony; the second nation to be admitted without any national ties to the UK)
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- South Africa (not a member from 1961 to 1994, because of apartheid)
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
Former members:
- Ireland (left upon becoming a republic in 1949. Ironically, the fix that allowed India to remain in the Commonwealth as a republic was developed a few months later, but it was too late by then)
- Zimbabwe (suspended indefinitely 2002, withdrew 2003)
Potential members:
A few former British colonies in The Middle East have expressed at least mild interest in joining. Palestine has indicated that it will apply once/if it gets its independence; Israel has indicated that it might join at the same time (any attempt to join right now by either of them would be such an invitation for needless rancor that they haven't bothered). Sudan's application was held up by its civil wars; with those now settled, both Sudan and South Sudan have applied, although the former's dictatorial regime prevent it from meeting the criteria (generally speaking, new members are expected to be at least vaguely democratic), and now the latter's instability/civil strife have put those plans on back burner. Yemen has also applied, although its current instability (by which we mean an all-out civil war) has put plans on hold for the moment. Afghanistan, where cricket is rising and which has strengthening ties with India, has expressed an interest in having an interest.
Highlighting the fact that membership is possible for nations that are not former British colonies, in 1956 British Prime Minister Anthony Eden extended an informal invitation for France to join the Commonwealth (with the potential for a complete merger of France and the UK), which French PM Guy Mollet briefly but seriously considered. Though the Normandy region of France was once under English rule - as were considerable chunks of the rest of France, under the Angevins and the Plantagenets. Nor was this even the first time the UK and France considered merging into a single nation (which, considering that the two nations are Like an Old Married Couple, is not entirely surprising).
There is one major country that satisfies all the criteria for Commonwealth membership, but hasn’t expressed any interest in joining - the United States. It is eligible due to its initially constituent Thirteen Colonies being British possessions, but having fought The American Revolution to break away. Not to mention that the Commonwealth had evolved out of the British Empire of the 19th Century and its gradual decolonization in the 20th, the US having left long before the beginning of each. The US lack of interest in joining the Commonwealth may be largely due to acknowledgement of King Charles III as the Head of the Commonwealth, being a compulsory condition for membership. Strong anti-royal political sentiment in the US precludes this.
