Commonwealth of Nations
International organisationinternational
| Commonwealth of Nations link () | |
|---|---|
 | |
| File:Commonwealth Flag - 2013.svg | |
| Formation | 1949 |
| Headquarters | Marlborough House, London |
| Leaders | Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chairperson of the Commonwealth of Nations |
| Type | international |
| Membership | Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Eswatini, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Zambia |
| Organisation, mostly consisting of former British Empire nations. | |
The Commonwealth of Nations, generally known simply as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, nearly all former territories of the British Empire.[1]
History
The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonization of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference. King Charles III is the head of the Commonwealth. Member states are said to have no open legal obligations to one another, just being connected through their use of the English language and historical ties. Although the two exceptions are Mozambique and Rwanda which had colonial ties to Portugal and Germany/Belgium respectively.
The countries of the Commonwealth cover more than 29,958,050 km2 (11,566,870 sq mi), equivalent to 20 per cent of the world's land area. The total population is estimated to be 2,418,964,000 as of 2016, equivalent to nearly a third of the global population, making it the second largest intergovernmental organisation by population behind the United Nations.
Oath of Allegiance
In Australia, New Zealand and Canada government officials (including police and military at times) have to swear an Oath of Allegiance to the monarch of the country, currently King Charles III.[2][3][4][5] King Charles III is king of 15 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 36 other members are republics, and five others have different monarchs.
References
- ↑ "High Commission of the Maldives in the UK"
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Allegiance_(New_Zealand)
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Allegiance_(Canada)
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Allegiance_(Australia)
- ↑ http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/pr2015166/s141.html