Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations

Rather, the Commonwealth is an international organization in which countries with diverse social, political, and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status, and cooperate within a framework of common values and goals, as outlined in the Singapore Declaration issued in 1971.

[2] Such common values and goals include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, civil liberties, equality before the law, free trade, multilateralism, and world peace, which are promoted through multilateral projects and meetings, such as the Commonwealth Games, held once every four years.

[4] The Commonwealth was first officially formed in 1926 when the Balfour Declaration of the Imperial Conference recognised the full sovereignty of Dominions.

Known as the "British Commonwealth", the original and therefore earliest members were Australia, Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

[7] The most recent members to join were the Francophone African nations of Gabon and Togo on 29 June 2022, who along with Mozambique and Rwanda are unique in not having a historical constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth states.

All dates below are provided by the Commonwealth of Nations Secretariat members list,[8] and population figures are as of 1 February 2020.

An applicant country should have historic constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member, aside from exceptional circumstances which are only considered on a case-by-case basis.