Commonwealth of Nations - Wikipedia
By the terms of the London Declaration, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Commonwealth. This title is legally part of the throne of Elizabeth in each of the 15 member territories of the Commonwealth that recognize her as monarch. The death of a monarch does not automatically make the heir to the throne the new head of the Commonwealth. However, at their April 2018 meeting, Commonwealth leaders agreed that Prince Charles should succeed his mother as head of state. This status represents a free association of independent member states, the majority of which (36) are republics, with five having different royal monarchs (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga).
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
The main decision-making forum of the Commonwealth is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Heads of Government of the Commonwealth, including the Prime Minister and President, meet for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest The CHOGM is the successor to the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Meeting held in 1887 and the earlier Imperial and Colonial Conferences There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, and health ministers. Delinquent countries are not invited to send representatives to either the Council of Ministers or to the CHOGM, as were the Special Member States before them.
The head of government who hosts the CHOGM is called the Chairmanship (CIO) and holds that position until the next CHOGM. Since the most recent CHOGM, held in the UK in 2018, the chairmanship has been held by the UK Prime Minister.
The 26th CHOGM was originally scheduled to take place in Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2020; due to the COVID-19 epidemic, it was scheduled to take place there the week of June 21, 2021, but was later postponed again to June 25-26, 2022. This was accompanied by meetings of the Commonwealth Youth Forum, the Commonwealth Women's Forum, and the Commonwealth People's Forum.
Members Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth consists of 56 countries spanning all inhabited continents. The member countries have a combined population of 2.4 billion, almost one-third of the world's population, of which 1.4 billion live in India and 94% in Asia or Africa. After India, the next most populous Commonwealth member countries are Pakistan (227 million), Nigeria (213 million), Bangladesh (167 million), and the United Kingdom (68 million). Tuvalu is the smallest member, with a population of about 12,000.
The Commonwealth has a land area of about 31.5 million km2 (12.2 million square miles), which is about 21% of the world's total land area. The two largest Commonwealth countries by area are Canada with 9,984,670 km2 (3,855,100 square miles) and Australia with 7,617,930 km2 (2,941,300 square miles).
There is a "Member in Arrear" status, which represents members who are in arrears with their dues. This status was originally known as "Member-at-Large," but was renamed upon the recommendation of the Committee on Commonwealth Membership. Currently, there are no members in arrear. The most recent delinquent member, Nauru, was reinstated as a full member in June 2011. Since joining the Commonwealth, Nauru has alternated between Special and Full Membership, depending on its financial situation.
The Commonwealth Family
Commonwealth countries share many non-governmental links with over 100 non-governmental organizations throughout the Commonwealth, particularly in sports, culture, education, law, and philanthropy. The Association of Commonwealth Universities is an important vehicle for academic links, particularly through its scholarship programs (primarily Commonwealth Scholarships) for students studying at universities in other Commonwealth countries. There are also a number of informal associations that bring together individuals working in the areas of law and government, such as the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
