Historically, the Commonwealth is one of the world’s oldest political associations of states, whose roots can be traced back to the British Empire.
As a consequence, all members of the early Commonwealth were ruled over at one point by Great Britain.
Over time many of these countries gained different levels of freedom from Britain. Those who were semi-independent became known as ‘Dominions’.
The early Commonwealth was formed in 1926 when leaders from Great Britain and the existing Dominions chose to form an ‘equal community’ within the British Empire.
