What is commonwealth? Commonwealth is an independent country or community or an international association consisting of the U.K. together with states that were previously part of the British Empire. The British monarch is the symbolic head of the commonwealth.

The Commonwealth, or The Commonwealth of Nations, is a group of 53 states, all of which (except for two) were formerly part of the British Empire. As nations began the process of succeeding from the British Empire in the early part of the 1900s, it was created, largely, to ease the process of British decolonization. It was seen as a way of maintaining global unity through shared language, history, and culture despite growing independence and self-governance of former British colonies.

Overall, 2.328 billion people belong to the Commonwealth, representing one-third of the world population and one-quarter of its total landmass, at approximately 30 million sq.km. Despite massive geographic and demographic differences, these countries are said to be united through their common values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

The nations entered into the Commonwealth do so voluntarily, and the government of any member nation can withdraw at any time, without consequence or obligation.

For a nation to join the Commonwealth, it must first recognize Elizabeth II as the head of the Commonwealth. Other criteria are equally important - racial equality, and the embrace of world peace, liberty, human rights, equality, and free trade.
A member-state must also be sovereign, accept English as the primary means of communication within the Commonwealth, and have a desire among it's citizens to be a part of the organization.
As of 1997, a nation must have a ''direct constitutional link'' with any current member-state. Usually, countries within the Commonwealth are former British colonies, but some countries, such as Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Namibia, are more closely linked to current member-states such as Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa, rather than to any historical allegiance or constitutional tie to England.

The only member-states to have been neither a British colony nor have any link with a current member-state are Mozambique and Rwanda, two controversial cases that the Commonwealth Secretariat called ''exceptional.'' Currently, South Sudan is the only country vying for membership.

Furthermore, in the past some states have been suspended due to their inability to abide by the democratic principles outlined in the Harare Declaration, such as Nigeria, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

What does commonwealth do? Well, they aim to create a strong link between rich and poor countries. Although the group has been criticized for being more symbolic than useful, it has helped to create strong diplomatic ties between its oldest members.

The organization has also been criticized for not acting in line with its guiding principles, letting human rights abuses and anti-democratic activities run rampant within its member-states without taking action. It is also said to be more beneficial to Commonwealth countries which are ''in good standing,'' such as Canada and Australia, for instance. It is felt that there are more opportunities and advantages to the citizens of these nations as opposed to those of other Commonwealth nations, although whether these advantages are due to simply being nations that are ''in good standing'' or being strong Commonwealth nations is unclear.

In spite of the organization having very little political or economic clout, it does offer the opportunity for smaller nations to sit down with larger nations at the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which allows them to make their projects and concerns known, something that has shown to bear fruit.

So,why join The Commonwealth? There are certain advantages to being a member-state - for instance, consular services exist for countries in good standing. Commonwealth citizens who are stuck in a country that is not represented at a consulate by their government can get representation and a temporary ''commonwealth citizen'' passport issued at a British Embassy.

In the case of certain nations, like Canada and Australia, bi-lateral agreements exists where citizens of either country in a third nation can get representation by the other country in cases where it is impossible to be served by your own ambassador.

As conclusion, this association brings many benefits to the world.