English-Speaking Countries Wiki

 This page is dedicated to the topic of the Commonwealth. You need to read the text, select one member of the Commonwealth, click on the link (highlighted in yellow) and press the "Edit" to add your report on the topic. Read the articles created by your classmates and then do the task after the text (true or false).

Britain and the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth is a free association of independent states, some of whom acknowledge the Queen as their formal head. Historically, it has developed from the former British Commonwealth and Empire.

The evolution of self-government in British colonies towards complete independence was slow and gradual. Important milestones were the Durham Report of 1839, the British North America Act of 1867 which established the “Dominion” of Canada; the Imperial Conference of 1926 during which the status of dominions was defined; and the Statute of Westminster of 1932 which gave a legal basis to the transformation of British colonies and dominions into independent states. In 1947, Clement Attlee’s Labour government granted independence to India and Pakistan.

The independence of India marked the beginning of the disintegration of the British Empire. In the nineteen fifties and sixties other former British colonies became independent. However, many of them decided to keep ties with Britain within the framework of an organisation called the Commonwealth.

Apart from Britain there are now 48 members of the Commonwealth. They are: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

There are a few dependencies of Commonwealth countries: they are usually very small islands. A dependency is a country which is controlled by, or relies, on another. Historically, British and Commonwealth dependencies are all very different from one another, and the degree of control is also variable - in most cases the relationship is very flexible in times of peace, and the dependency is effectively self- governing in matters other than defence and certain aspects of international relations. In the latter, British Law says that the foreign relations of the dependency are under the direct control of the Queen (as the British Sovereign), but this is open to interpretation as needed.

The Queen is acknowledged as Head of State in 15 countries of the Commonwealth. Of the remainder, 25 are republics, and 6 have their own monarchs. Membership of the Commonwealth involves no legal or constitutional obligations, finding its main expression in consultations between governments and in the large number of organisations concerned with co-operation in areas such as agriculture, health, law, economics, education and youth affairs. The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main co-ordinating body.

Task (true of false):

All Commonwealth members were parts of the British Empire.

The Commonwealth appeared when the British Empire started to break up.

The parts of the former British Empire needed to establish new relations.

The constitution regulates the relations between the members of the Commonwealth.

The Queen gives freedom to all member countries.

The Commonwealth concentrates on expanding its territories.

People in all countries of the Commonwealth speak English

The Commonwealth members can get some financial help. 

