So just what is the Commonwealth?

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal sovereign states (listed below).

The Commonwealth is home to 2.4 billion people and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. Thirty-two members are small states, many of which are island nations.

The human symbol of this free association is the Head of the Commonwealth, currently Queen Elizabeth II. At the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Charles, Prince of Wales, was appointed to be her designated successor. However, the position is not technically hereditary. The Queen is the head of state of 16 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 33 other member states are republics, and five others have different monarchs.

Member states have no legal obligations to one another. Instead, they are united by English language, history, culture, and their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. These principles are inscribed in the Commonwealth Charter.

Member countries are supported by a network of more than 80 intergovernmental, civil society, cultural and professional organisations.

As of February 1, 2020 the following countries are members of the Commonwealth:

AFRICA

Botswana	Cameroon	The Gambia	Ghana	Kenya
Kingdom of eSwatini	Lesotho	Malawi	Mauritius	Mozambique
Namibia	Nigeria	Rwanda	Seychelles	Sierra Leone
South Africa	Uganda	United Republic of Tanzania	Zambia

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      AMERICAS

Antigua and Barbuda	The Bahamas	Barbados	Belize	Canada
Dominica	Grenada	Guyana	Jamaica	Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Trinidad and Tobago

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ASIA

Bangladesh	Brunei Darussalam	India	Malaysia	Pakistan
Singapore	Sri Lanka	The Maldives

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           EUROPE

Cyprus

Malta

United Kingdom

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           PACIFIC

Australia	Fiji Islands	Kiribati	Nauru	New Zealand
Papua New Guinea	Samoa	Solomon Islands	Tonga	Tuvalu
Vanuatu