The lesson
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent countries, many of which have historical links to the . The United Nations works on international cooperation and security; the UK is one of the permanent members of the Security Council.
Locate the Commonwealth member countries
Commonwealth of Nations — 56 independent member countries, membership checked 23 October 2026, including Gabon and Togo (joined 25 June 2022). This is not a map of Commonwealth realms (countries sharing the King), Commonwealth Games teams or British overseas territories.
Made with Natural Earth · public domain · labels added by Study Up (CC0)Read all 56 member names and the membership sources
Checked 23 October 2026 against the official member list. The announcement dated 25 June 2022 records Gabon and Togo joining as the 55th and 56th members.
Africa
Botswana; Cameroon; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana; Kenya; Eswatini; Lesotho; Malawi; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; Rwanda; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Togo; Uganda; Tanzania; Zambia.
Asia
Bangladesh; Brunei; India; Malaysia; Maldives; Pakistan; Singapore; Sri Lanka.
Caribbean and Americas
Antigua and Barbuda; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Canada; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; Saint Lucia; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago.
Europe
Cyprus; Malta; United Kingdom.
Pacific
Australia; Fiji; Kiribati; Nauru; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu.
The UK is also a member of NATO, a collective-defence alliance, and the Council of Europe, which promotes human rights. The European Union is a separate organisation and the UK is no longer a member.
King Charles III is Head of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of independent countries. This does not make him head of state of every member country: many Commonwealth countries are republics.
The Council of Europe has 46 member states, including the UK. It promotes human rights and is separate from the European Union. The UK left the EU but remains a Council of Europe member.
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent countries. The United Nations works on international cooperation, peace, and security. The UK is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. NATO is a collective-defence alliance; these organisations have different purposes.
The Council of Europe is separate from the European Union. The European Convention on Human Rights is associated with the Council of Europe. The UK left the European Union in 2020 but did not thereby leave every other European or international organisation.
Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands founded the EEC through the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The UK joined in 1973 and left the EU on 31 January 2020. The UN was founded in 1945 and has over 190 members. Its Security Council has 15 members, including five permanent members: the UK, France, the United States, Russia and China. NATO links European and North American countries in collective defence. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association with 56 member countries.