Commonwealth member countries
The 56 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary club of countries on every inhabited continent, most of them once part of the British Empire, and a few that never were.
56 countriesAs of September 2026Short notes, not sourcedSuggest a correction
The Commonwealth grew out of the British Empire as its colonies became independent. The London Declaration of 1949 let India stay in as a republic, and made membership a free choice of equals rather than a tie to the Crown. Its members are home to about 2.7 billion people, roughly a third of the world, more than half of them in India, and most of its members are small states.
It has no binding treaty and no army, and its members don’t trade on special terms. It works through its secretariat in London, a meeting of heads of government every two years, and the Commonwealth Games. King Charles III is its head, a role the leaders chose to pass to him in 2018, and he is also king of 15 of the members, the Commonwealth realms.
Africa21
Twenty-one members, the most of any continent.
CameroonJoined in 1995. Most of it was French, but the south-west was British.
GabonJoined in 2022, a former French colony with no British past.
GambiaLeft in 2013, calling the Commonwealth neo-colonial, and returned in 2018.
GhanaIn 1957 the first colony in sub-Saharan Africa to become independent.
MozambiqueJoined in 1995, the first member that had never been ruled by Britain. It was Portuguese.
NigeriaThe most populous member in Africa.
RwandaJoined in 2009. It had been German and then Belgian, and it hosted the heads of government in Kigali in 2022.
South AfricaLeft in 1961 when the apartheid government made it a republic, and came back in 1994 after its first free election.
TogoJoined in 2022 on the same day as Gabon, another former French colony.
Asia8
The Americas13
Canada and a dozen countries around the Caribbean, many of them realms.
Antigua and BarbudaA Commonwealth realm.
BahamasA Commonwealth realm.
BarbadosBecame a republic in 2021, replacing the Queen as head of state, and stayed in the Commonwealth.
BelizeA Commonwealth realm, and the only member in Central America.
CanadaA Commonwealth realm. In 1867 it became the first self-governing dominion of the empire.
GrenadaA Commonwealth realm.
GuyanaThe only member in South America.
JamaicaA Commonwealth realm, though its government has said it wants to become a republic.
Saint Kitts and NevisA Commonwealth realm.
Saint LuciaA Commonwealth realm.
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesA Commonwealth realm. Voters turned down a new republican constitution in 2009.
Europe3
CyprusAlso in the EU.
MaltaAlso in the EU.
United KingdomThe former imperial power. The secretariat is at Marlborough House in London.
The Pacific11
AustraliaA Commonwealth realm. Voters rejected becoming a republic in a referendum in 1999.
FijiSuspended after coups in 2000 and 2006, and fully reinstated in 2014.
New ZealandA Commonwealth realm.
Papua New GuineaA Commonwealth realm, and the most populous member in the Pacific after Australia.
Solomon IslandsA Commonwealth realm.
TuvaluA Commonwealth realm, and the smallest member by population, with around 11,000 people.
Close calls
Ireland
Ireland left in 1949, when it declared itself a republic, since republics couldn’t then be members. The London Declaration changed that rule for India only days later.
Zimbabwe
Suspended in 2002 after a disputed election, Zimbabwe left in 2003. It has since applied to come back, but hasn’t been readmitted.
Never in the empire, never in the club
The United States, the first British colonies to break away, has never been a member. Nor have Myanmar, Sudan or the countries of the Gulf, which were all once under British rule or protection.
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