Territories forming part of the Commonwealth

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British Nationality Act (1981 c 61) Annex B
Territories forming part of the Commonwealth (2011)
the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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1194595British Nationality Act (1981 c 61) Annex B
Territories forming part of the Commonwealth2011the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

ANNEX B
TERRITORIES FORMING PART OF THE COMMONWEALTH
Members of the Commonwealth	Date of Membership
United Kingdom	1931 (Statute of Westminster)
United Kingdom Dependent Territories Crown Dependencies: Channel Islands Isle of Manⁱ
United Kingdom Dependent Territories Colonies: Anguilla Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands and Dependencies Gibraltar Montserrat Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands St Helena and Dependencies (principally Ascension and Tristan da Cunha) Turks and Caicos Islands The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekeliaⁱⁱ
Antigua and Barbuda	1981
Australia	1931 (Statute of Westminster)
Australian External Territories: Australian Antarctic Territory (including MacDonald, Heard and Macquarie Islands) Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Norfold Island
The Bahamas	1973
Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan)	1972
Barbados	1966
Belize (formerly British Honduras)	1981
Botswana (formerly Bechuanaland Protectorate)	1966
Brunei Darussalam	1984
Cameroon	1995
Canada	1931 (Statute of Westminster)
Cyprus	1961
Dominica	1978
Fiji Islandsⁱⁱⁱ	1997
The Gambia	1965
Ghana (comprising the former colony of the Gold Coast (including Ashanti), the former Northern Territories of the Gold Coast (a Protectorate), the former Togoland (a UK Trust Territory).	1957
Grenada	1974
Guyana (formerly British Guiana)	1966
India	1947
Jamaica	1962
Kenya	1963
Kiribati (formerly Gilbert Islands)	1979
Lesotho (formerly Basutoland)	1966
Malawi (formerly Nyasaland)	1964
Malaysia (including the Federation of Malaya, comprising the former Crown Colonies of Malacca and Penhang and the former Protected States of Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Trengganu; Sabah (formerly British North Borneo); and Sarawak)	1957
The Maldives	1982 (joined as Special Member, Full Member since 1985)
Malta	1964
Mauritius	1968
Mozambique	1995
Namibia	1990
Nauru	1968
New Zealand	1931 (Statute of Westminster)
New Zealand Territories Colonies and Dependencies: Niue Ross Dependency Tokelau Islands Group (formerly Union Islands)
New Zealand Territories Associated State: Cook Islands^iv
Nigeria (including Northern Cameroons)^v	1960
Pakistan^vi	1947 (left 1972, rejoined 1989)
Papua New Guinea	1975
St Kitts and Nevis	1983
St Lucia St Vincent and the Grenadines	1979 (joined as Special Member, Full Member since 1985)
Samoa	1970
Seychelles	1976
Sierra Leone	1961
Singapore	1966 (on separation from Malaysia)
Solomon Islands	1978
South Africa	1931 (Statute of Westminster) (left 1961, rejoined 1994)
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon)	1948
Swaziland	1968
United Republic of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika)	1961 (became Tanzania in 1964 upon union with Zanzibar)
Tonga (or Friendly Islands)	1970
Trinidad and Tobago	1962
Tuvalu^* (formerly Ellice Islands)	1978
Uganda	1962
Vanuatu	1980
Zambia	1964
Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia and Rhodesia)^vii	1980

Definitions

Dependent Territory:	A territory belonging by settlement, conquest or annexation to the British Crown or to an independent Commonwealth country.
Associated State:	A state which is fully self-governing and has its own Parliament, but as a full member of the Commonwealth is responsible for its external affairs and defence. The association can be terminated at any time should an associated state opt for full independence.
Protected State:	A territory which, while retaining its own sovereignty, has entered into a treaty giving the British Government certain rights and responsibilities. Its people are British protected persons.
Trust Territory:	A territory (formerly a colony of a nation defeated in war) whose administration was entrusted to Britain by the United Nations Trusteeship Council.

* Denotes Special Members who have the right to participate in all functional meetings and activities of the Commonwealth. Special Members do not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGMs).

i	For the purposes of the British Nationality Act 1981 and related legislation, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man are regarded as integral parts of the United Kingdom.
ii	Areas in Section 2(1) of the Cyprus Act 1960.
iii	Suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth. Although a member, excluded from all intergovernmental meetings, including CHOGMs.
iv	The Cook Islands have complete internal self-government, but Cook Islanders are New Zealand citizens.
v	Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth in November 1995, but its nationals continued to be Commonwealth citizens pending constitutional reform and acceptance. The suspension was lifted on 29 May 1999.
vi	Pakistan was suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth in 1999. Full membership restored on 23 May 2004.
vii	Suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth. Although a member, excluded from all intergovernmental meetings, including CHOGMs.

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Territories forming part of the Commonwealth

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