Commonwealth of Nations
The land area of the Commonwealth nations is about , or about 21% of the total world land area. The three largest Commonwealth nations by area are Canada at , Australia at , and India at . In 2016, the Commonwealth members had a combined gross domestic product of over $9 trillion, 78% of which is accounted for by the four largest economies: United Kingdom ($2.629 trillion), India ($2.256 trillion), Canada ($1.529 trillion), and Australia ($1.258 trillion).
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.