The Commonwealth of Nations Martina Kučerová

Contents General facts History The Commonwealth of Nations Member states Interests

General facts Official language English Head of the Commonwealth Queen Elizabeth II. Number of member states 53 Date of establishment 1949

History 1867 – Canada was transformed into selfgoverning Dominion => Lord Rosebury „The Commonwealth of Nations“ After that other parts of the empire became Dominions too 1926 – the Imperial Conference => the British Commonwealth of Nations

History 1931 – Statute of Westminster After the Second World War empire began changing India gained independence -Pakistan was created -many colonies became sovereign states 1949 – the conference of Commonwealth Prime ministers

History 1965 – the Commonwealth Secretariat was established in London 1971 – the Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles 1971 – the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation 1991 – Harare Declination

The Commonwealth of Nations A voluntary association Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth Some members of the Commonwealth recognise the Queen as their head of state => Commonwealth Realms (16) The majority of the Commonwealth are the republics (32) The remaining members are realms with their own monarchs (5)

The Commonwealth of Nations Organisation in which countries with diverse economic backgrounds have an opportunity for close and equal interaction The primary activities: -create an econommic co-operation between member nations -promote democracy, human rights and good governance in those nations -training experts in developing countries and assisting with elections

The Commonwealth of Nations Membership is open to countries that: - accept the association‘s basic aims - have a present or past link to a Commonwealth member Some countries have never shown an interest in joining the Commonwealth => Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Oman

Member States

Commonwealth Realms: United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu

Member States

Realms with their own monarchs: Brunei, Lesotho, Malaysia, Swaziland and Tonga

Member States Republics: Bangladesh, Botswana, Cameroon, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji Islands, The Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Kenya, Kiribati, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mosambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Pakistan, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu, Zambia

Interests Many CN share certain identifiable traditions and customs The Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Day Commonwealth comprises almost a third of the world‘s countries and has about the quarter of the world population The four largest CN by population: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria

Interests The smallest member is Tuvalu The three largest CN by area: Canada, Australia and India The four largest economies: India, UK, Canada and Australia

That‘s the end! Thank you for your attention…