Commonwealth of Nations

File:Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations.svg

The Commonwealth flag

The Commonwealth of Nations, formerly the British Commonwealth, is an organisation of independent countries, most of which were at one time part of the British Empire.

Member nations

Country	Category	Region	Gay sex legal?	Same-sex marriage?	Notes
Antigua and Barbuda	Caribbean	no	no
Australia	Commonwealth member	Australasia	yes	varies	Same-sex marriage introduced in the Australian Capital Territory 2013, but ruled unconstitutional. Some recognition of same-sex relationships in different states
Bahamas	Commonwealth member	Caribbean	yes	no
Bangladesh	Commonwealth member	South Asia	no	no
Barbados	Commonwealth member	Caribbean	no	no
Belize	Commonwealth member	Central America	no	no
Botswana	Commonwealth member	Africa	no	no	Anti-gay law not enforced
Brunei	Commonwealth member	South East Asia	no	no
Cameroon	Commonwealth member	Africa	no	no
Canada	Commonwealth member	North America	yes	yes	Same-sex marriage in most of Canada from 2003; nationwide from 2005.
Cyprus	Commonwealth member	Europe	yes	no
Dominica	Commonwealth member	Caribbean	no	no
Ghana	Commonwealth member	Africa	no	no
Grenada	Caribbean	no	no
Guyana	South America	no	no
India	South Asia	no	no	Section 377 of the 1860 Indian Penal Code outlawing gay sex was ruled unconstitutional by the Delhi High Court in 2009, but this was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2013.
Jamaica	Caribbean	no	no
Kenya	Africa	no	no
Kiribati	Oceania	no	no
Lesotho	Africa	no	no
Malawi	Africa	no	no
Malaysia	South East Asia	no	no
Maldives	Indian Ocean	no	no
Malta	Europe	yes	no
Mauritius	Indian Ocean	no	no
Mozambique	Africa	yes	no
Namibia	Africa	no	no
Nauru	Oceania	no	no
New Zealand	Australasia	yes	yes	Same-sex marriage from 2013.
Nigeria	Africa	no	no
Pakistan	South Asia	no	no
Papua New Guinea	Australasia	no	no
Rwanda	Africa	yes	no
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Caribbean	no	no
Saint Lucia	Caribbean	no	no
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Caribbean	no	no
Samoa	Oceania	no	no
Seychelles	Indian Ocean	no	no
Sierra Leone	Africa	no	no
Singapore	South East Asia	no	no
Solomon Islands	Oceania	no	no
South Africa	Africa	yes	yes	Same-sex marriage since 2006.
Sri Lanka	South Asia	no	no
Swaziland	Africa	no	no
Tanzania	Africa	no	no
Tonga	Oceania	no	no
Trinidad and Tobago	Caribbean	no	no
Tuvalu	Oceania	no	no
Uganda	Africa	no	no
United Kingdom	Europe	yes	varies	Civil partnerships throughout the UK. Same-sex marriage in England and Wales from 2014; legislation in progress in Scotland; no further legislation planned for Northern Ireland
Vanuatu	Oceania	yes	no
Zambia	Africa	no	no

Suspended members

Country	Region	Gay sex legal?	Same-sex marriage?	Notes
Fiji	Oceania	yes	no

Former members

Country	Region	Gay sex legal?	Same-sex marriage?	Notes
The Gambia	Africa	no	no
Republic of Ireland	Europe	yes	no	Civil partnerships since 2011.
Zimbabwe	Africa	no	no

Applicants for membership

Country	Region	Gay sex legal?	Same-sex marriage?	Notes
Algeria	Africa	no	no
Madagascar	Africa	yes	no
Somaliland	Africa	no	no	Not a recognised country.
South Sudan	Africa	no	no
Sudan	Africa	no	no
Suriname	South America	yes	no
Yemen	Arabia	no	no

Crown Dependencies

The following are not members of the Commonwealth in their own right, as this is limited to independent countries; however they have all competed in the Commonwealth Games, as have the individual countries within the United Kingdom.

Country	Region	Gay sex legal?	Same-sex marriage?	Notes
Bailiwick of Guernsey	Europe	yes	no
Bailiwick of Jersey	Europe	yes	no
Isle of Man	Europe	yes	no

British Overseas Territories

The following are not members of the Commonwealth in their own right, as this is limited to independent countries; however several of them have competed in the Commonwealth Games.

Country	Region	Gay sex legal?	Same-sex marriage?	Notes
Akrotiri and Dhekelia (Cyprus)	Europe	-	-	Military bases only
Anguilla	Caribbean	yes	no
Bermuda	Caribbean	yes	no
British Antarctic Territory	Antarctica	-	-	No native inhabitants
British Indian Ocean Territory	Indian Ocean	-	-	No native inhabitants
British Virgin Islands	Caribbean	yes	no
Cayman Islands	Caribbean	yes	no
Falkland Islands	South Atlantic	yes	no
Gibraltar	Europe	yes	no
Montserrat	Caribbean	yes	no
Pitcairn Islands	Oceania	yes	no
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	South Atlantic	yes	no
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	South Atlantic	yes	no
Turks and Caicos Islands	Caribbean	yes	no