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What is

The Commonwealth is a family of 54 countries from all over the world. We come from the Pacific, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Americas.

We are all very different – but we work together.

We share our skills and knowledge to help each other

– and we share the same goals.

There are LOTS of us in our family.

And more than half of us are young people just like you.

Imagine counting to over

2 Billion

The number of people in the Commonwealth!

2400000000

Together we make up about 30% of all the world’s people.

30%

That’s 1 out of every 3 people on the planet!

Some live in very small islands, like Nauru in the Pacific.

and some live in very BIG countries like India in Asia.

But no matter where you are from, everyone in the Commonwealth is thought of as equal.

What do we do together?

We all work hard together to help the countries that are part of our family.

Of course, with so many different countries and people in the Commonwealth, there are many different ways we can support each other.

We are connected by a network of more than 80 international organisations.

Every two years our governments meet and discuss the challenges they face, explore solutions to them and agree on what things are most important.

Here are some of the things we all agree are very important.

Our Environment

Rising sea levels caused by climate change are an immediate threat to our many islands. That’s why we were one of the first organisations to talk about the effects of this. We are proud that many Commonwealth countries are among those leaving the smallest ecological footprint in the world.

Our Development

We help to create opportunities for countries where poverty is a very real problem.

Our human rights

We promote democracy and human rights – we want all people to be treated fairly and to enjoy the same freedoms as others. We have helped monitor more than 130 elections in 36 countries since 1980 and, in the last 25 years, we have helped create 12 democracies.

Our young people

Young people make up more than half of our family and represent our future. We want you to have the best education possible so you can achieve your goals.

Our members

Many of the smaller or less powerful members of our family can struggle to make themselves heard on the international stage. We give them a platform to be heard from.

How do we work?

You can think of us working as a funnel – channelling the energies and ideas of every Commonwealth country into the same problems.

Or you can think of us working as a loudspeaker amplifying each of our voices.

What is

We are all very different – but we work together.

There are LOTS of us in our family.

Imagine counting to over

2 Billion

The number of people in the Commonwealth!

Together we make up about 30% of all the world’s people.

That’s 1 out of every 3 people on the planet!

Some live in very small islands, like Nauru in the Pacific.

and some live in very BIG countries like India in Asia.

But no matter where you are from, everyone in the Commonwealth is thought of as equal.

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What do we do together?

We all work hard together to help the countries that are part of our family.

We are connected by a network of more than 80 international organisations.

Here are some of the things we all agree are very important.

How do we work?