The Commonwealth





Secretaries-general

Jun 1965 - 30 Jun 1975 Arnold Smith (Canada) (b. 1915 - d. 1994)
1 Jul 1975 - 30 Jun 1990 Sir Shridath Ramphal (Guyana) (b. 1928)
1 Jul 1990 - 3 Apr 2000 Emeka Anyaoku (Nigeria) (b. 1933)
3 Apr 2000 - 1 Apr 2008 Don McKinnon (New Zealand) (b. 1939)
1 Apr 2008 - Kamalesh Sharma (India) (b. 1941)

Commonwealth membership

11 Dec 1931 Australia, Canada, Ireland1, New Zealand, Newfoundland2, South Africa3, United Kingdom

15 Oct 1947 India, Pakistan4
4 Feb 1948 Ceylon5
6 Mar 1957 Ghana
31 Aug 1957 Malaya6
1 Oct 1960 Nigeria7
13 Mar 1961 Cyprus
27 Apr 1961 Sierra Leone
9 Dec 1961 Tanganyika8
6 Aug 1962 Jamaica
31 Aug 1962 Trinidad and Tobago
9 Oct 1962 Uganda
12 Dec 1963 Kenya
6 Jul 1964 Malawi
21 Sep 1964 Malta
24 Oct 1964 Zambia
18 Feb 1965 The Gambia
15 Oct 1965 Singapore
26 May 1966 Guyana
30 Sep 1966 Botswana
4 Oct 1966 Lesotho
30 Nov 1966 Barbados
12 Mar 1968 Mauritius
6 Sep 1968 Swaziland
29 Nov 1968 Nauru9
4 Jun 1970 Tonga
28 Aug 1970 Western Samoa10
10 Oct 1970 Fiji11
18 Apr 1972 Bangladesh
10 Jul 1973 The Bahamas
7 Feb 1974 Grenada
16 Sep 1975 Papua New Guinea
28 Jun 1976 Seychelles
7 Jul 1978 Solomon Islands
1 Oct 1978 Tuvalu12
3 Nov 1978 Dominica
22 Feb 1979 Saint Lucia
12 Jul 1979 Kiribati
27 Oct 1979 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines13
18 Apr 1980 Zimbabwe14
30 Jul 1980 Vanuatu
21 Sep 1981 Belize
1 Nov 1981 Antigua and Barbuda
9 Jul 1982 Maldives13
19 Sep 1983 Saint Kitts and Nevis
1 Jan 1984 Brunei
21 Mar 1990 Namibia
1 Nov 1995 Cameroon
12 Nov 1995 Mozambique


1Withdrew 18 Apr 1949. 2Became a colony in 1934. 3Withdrew 31 May 1961, rejoined 1 Jun 1994. 4Withdrew 30 Jan 1972, rejoined 1 Oct 1989; suspended from councils 18 Oct 1999 - 22 May 2004 and 22 Nov 2007 - 12 May 2008. 5From 1972 Sri Lanka. 6From 1963 Malaysia. 7Suspended 11 Nov 1995 - 29 May 1999. 8From 1964 Tanzania. 9Special member to 1 May 1999 and from 9 Jan 2006. 10From 1997 Samoa. 11Withdrew 15 Oct 1987, rejoined 30 Sep 1997; suspended from councils 6 Jun 2000 - 20 Dec 2001 and from 8 Dec 2006. 12Special member to 1 Sep 2000. 13Special member to Jun 1985. 14Suspended from councils 19 Mar 2002; withdrew 7 Dec 2003.

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