page_title: Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
section_title: Other candidates
hierarchical_section_title: Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations / Other candidates
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the members states of the Commonwealth of Nations and the possible future members. &#160;&#160; member states &#160;&#160; Crown dependencies, overseas territories and associated states of member states &#160;&#160; suspended member states &#160;&#160; former member states &#160;&#160; former member states that have applied to rejoin &#160;&#160; sovereign states without historical links to the United Kingdom that have applied for membership &#160;&#160; sovereign states and their territories with historical links to the United Kingdom who have not applied for membership &#160;&#160; sovereign states and unrecognized states with historical links to the United Kingdom that have applied for membership
context_page_description: The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 54 sovereign states. Nearly all of them are former British colonies or dependencies of those colonies.
  No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a political union. 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. Such common values and goals include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, 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.
  The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II, who serves as the Head of the Commonwealth.
context_section_description: Other states which have expressed an interest in joining the Commonwealth over the years or states which may be eligible to join the Commonwealth include: Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Israel, Libya, Nepal, Palestine, United States and Yemen.
  Some countries and regions could also join the Commonwealth on the basis of having been part of the British Empire including: Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Myanmar, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, or former British protectorates, such as Afghanistan and Bhutan.
caption: The Commonwealth of Nations currently has 54 members. Current Commonwealth members (dark blue), overseas territories, associated states and crown dependencies (light blue), suspended members (orange), former members (red), former members applying to rejoin (violet), applicants without historical links to the UK (pink), other states with historical links to the UK (green), and applicants with historical links to the UK (chartreuse)
exif: {}