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.
Head of the Commonwealth
In 1949, King George VI was king of each of the countries that then comprised the British Commonwealth (later the Commonwealth of Nations): the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, and Ceylon. However, the Indian Cabinet desired the country become a republic, but not depart the Commonwealth as a consequence of no longer having George VI as king, as happened to Ireland. To accommodate this, the London Declaration, devised by Canadian prime minister Louis St. Laurent, stated that the King, as the symbol of the free association of the countries of the Commonwealth, was the Head of the Commonwealth. When India adopted a republican constitution on 26 January 1950, George VI ceased to be its monarch (the President of India, Rajendra Prasad, becoming head of state), but it did regard him as Head of the Commonwealth.