The Commonwealth of Nations, which used to be called the British Commonwealth or just Commonwealth, is an organisation of 53 member states, nearly all former territories of the British Empire.
The Commonwealth began the mid-20th century at the time when most of the British colonies were gaining independence. The idea of staying in touch, and co-operation was made official in the London Declaration in 1949, which said that the member states of the Commonwealth were "free and equal".
Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, but she does not have any actual power, although she is a powerful symbol of unity. There are over 31 republics and five monarchies who have a different monarch than Queen Elizabeth. The Queen is the head of state and reigning constitutional monarch of just 16 members of the Commonwealth.
Member states have no legal responsibility to one another, but have stated they have shared values of democracy, free speech, human rights, and the rule of law.
One of the most obvious features of this is that they all take part in the Commonwealth Games, held every four years.
The Commonwealth covers 30 million km2 (12 million sq mi), about a fifth of the world's land area, and is home to 2.5 billion people,which is nearly a third of the world's population. The Commonwealth produces about a sixth of everything in the world by value.
Here are the Commonwealth countries:
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Botswana
Brunei
Cameroon
Canada
Cyprus
Dominica
Fiji
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
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
Swaziland
Tanzania
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Kingdom
Vanuatu
Zambia
