Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth comprises 53 countries, across all continents. The members have a combined population of 2.4 billion people, almost a third of the world population, of which 1.26 billion live in India, 220 million live in Pakistan and 94% live in Asia and Africa combined. After India, the next-largest Commonwealth countries by population are Pakistan (220 million ), Nigeria (170 million), Bangladesh (156 million), and the United Kingdom (65 million). Tuvalu is the smallest member, with about 10,000 people.
Commonwealth of Nations
As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. Pakistan left on 30 January 1972 in protest at the Commonwealth's recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined on 2 August 1989. Zimbabwe's membership was suspended in 2002 on the grounds of alleged human rights violations and deliberate misgovernment, and Zimbabwe's government terminated its membership in 2003. The Gambia left the Commonwealth on 3 October 2013, and rejoined on 8 February 2018. The Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016. The Maldivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that "the Commonwealth has not recognised [...] the progress and achievements that the Maldives accomplished in cultivating a culture of democracy in the country and in building and strengthening democratic institutions". The Ministry also cited the Commonwealth's "punitive actions against the Maldives since 2012" after the allegedly forced resignation of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed among the reasons for withdrawal. The Ministry characterized the decision to withdraw as "difficult, but inevitable". Following the election of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as president in November 2018, the Maldives announced its intention to reapply to join the Commonwealth.