Surprised to see no note of Zimbabwe, and technically, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Island are all separate nations of the Commonwealth - as seen by their separate entrants in the Commonwealth Games (next held later this year in Glasgow, Scotland).
I was going to say the same thing. The United Kingdom is the all those nations under the leadership of the the English government, but they are still sovereign nations.
No they are not. It is all 1 sovereign state, The U.K. There is no such thing as the English government; it is the British government. It is true that they enter separately in the commonwealth games though.
I recon that Dax is either Scottish, welsh or Irish as they call them selves British where people from England call ourselves English and hardly British.
It's not under the "English Government" There are English,Welsh,Scottish, and Northern Irish representatives but the government of The United Kingdom isn't under the supervision of England.
Scottish people are far more likely to call themselves Scottish before British and im pretty sure that's the same for Wales. As far as I know, the only area that, by majority, would say they're British is London. Im not too sure about Northern Ireland though.
I do agree that Scotland, Wales and NI are not under the "English Government". There simply isn't a devolved administration in England and so are ruled directly by the British Government
Like Ireland, Zimbabwe voluntarily withdrew from the commonwealth (admittedly after they had been suspended). I was surprised to not see Fiji on this list, even though they're suspended.
In the Commonwealth Games, territories that are not countries compete individually. So places like Gibralta and the Isle of Man are in the competition. It's the same deal with England, Wales, etc. They're not sovereign states.
The Commonwealth of Nations is (somewhat) former British Colonies trying to tighten relations with one another and with the United Kingdom.So thank you DapperAlpaca.That is NOT how the commonwealth works.
I'm more surprised to see Rwanda, Mozambique and Vanuatu on the list - as far as I know, those countries were never part of the British Empire. Glad to be corrected though!
Vanuatu was jointly controlled by Britain and France before independence. Rwanda and Mozambique were never part of the British Empire, but the Commonwealth made exceptions for them to join.
Cameroon is a similar case. Only two provinces of Cameroon were ever English - and those two provinces are treated as inferior by the rest of the country. Anglophone people are discriminated by the Francophone minority. Really, the only reason they joined the Commonwealth must be economic benefit.
"In the wake of the genocide there, Francophonie member Rwanda has made recent moves away from France's sphere of influence, has replaced French with English as an official language, and joined the Commonwealth at the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting."
It might not be intuitive, but their rationale for joining makes a lot of sense.
I think the fact that so many people get Mozambique (apart from those guessing regionally) is that it stands out in the mind precisely BECAUSE it’s an exception to the norm.
The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member states.
Member states have no legal obligations to one another, but are connected through their use of the English language and historical ties. Their stated shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.
The UK countries; Scotland, England, Nth Ireland & Wales also Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey are all separate and not under UK. I though Senegal was part of the Commonwealth too
These are the independent sovereign nations, so maybe the title should have been "Commonwealth Nations" rather than Countries, which is the ambiguous term.
You mean Antigua and Barbuda ? I always think of Tortuga :D (and luckily barbuda isnt required to type, I am sure I would sometimes slip up and type antigua and barbados,
How do you like my new place Tortuga and Barbados haha.
didnt this time, missed only 4 (malta cyprus, singapore, sri lanka). Don't think the time has changed, I just thought less hard and typed more. (small places and african places that don't have a strong influence of another country or big presence in their own right)
As I was going through the countries of Africa I momentarily contemplated Mozambique, then though, nah, that's Portuguese. But then, running out of obvious choices I put Rwanda and that worked, so then I had to revisit a whole lot I'd previously dismissed. Didn't get back to Mozambique before the clock ran out.
Same as Mozambique with Rwanda.When was Rwanda under direct British rule (Aside the invasion of Ruanda-Urundi during World War One.) That was Germany and Belgium's job.
Dang it, I thought I had typed in all of Oceania but missed Tuvalu and Nauru. Cameroon I knew and missed, the other 2 (Sierra Leone and Mozambique) I did not.
I've always wondered 1 thing...Why Mozambique joined the British Commonwealth.They have literally NO history of being under direct British rule.That was Portugal's job.
Not sure a map would be very helpful, as a lot of the Commonwealth members are small island nations and they don't show up too well on a map of the world (which would be rather small on this site in the first place).
@fiteach that doesnt matter, it could help visualize and do it by region instead of "all over the non-excisting map". Sure you could do that without a map, but for some it can help remember.
I can visualize a map well enough, cause I think in pictures, but still think this quiz would benefit by a map. Simply because it looks cool to zee the places filled in. (Even if it was an empty map)
I figured maybe the parts of the UK are in there separately so I tried England, didn't work, so I moved on. Needless to say the Uk was one of twelve I missed
It hasn't been officially called the British Commonwealth for many years (though I'm struggling to find the exact date). It's the Commonwealth of Nations.
The name for the subject of the quiz may be (now) 71 years out of date - but the title of the quiz has only been in place since the quiz was first introduced, which would appear to be 2011, or 9 years ago.
lol I did so bad, the English had their fingers in WAY too many pies during the empirical days.. guess I shouldnt talk too much as America has the same issue today, didnt we learn anything?
Although you meant imperial (and people make mistakes), I do love the thought of an Empirical Days celebration. Possibly with bunting and cotton candy.
Currently equal at 80%. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, South Africa, Kenya, St. Kitts and Nevis and Fiji do score higher though (from high to low)
btw after my first few answers, Canada was in the 2nd spot, I continued giving answers, not paying attention to what was filled in lower/ out of view. But still saw the top, with a missing answer in first place. Thought am I missing someting obvious? But continued giving answers, then I got Antigua and thought huh, more people guessed Antigua than Canada? I was do confused haha, not much later I scrolled down and saw "ah thats why" felt silly haha.
@Sifhraven I was confused by Andrew's comment as I thought it had something to do with a map of JetPunk. Books are the opposite of 'horribly outdated', and I am an ardent bibliophile.
Ah, this one again. Good quiz. But please change the title - it has not been called the British Commonwealth since 1949. The title is more than 70 years out of date.
It may not be a Commonwealth Realm and doesn't recognize Queen Elizabeth as monarch now. But they still have good blood with the UK and are part of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Why wouldn't it be? It's a member state, just like all the others. All member states have equal status these days, regardless of how the organization came about.
Most surprising for me is Myanmar not being here. I realize that not all former British colonies are part of the Commonwealth (like the US), but Myanmar is especially weird because it's the only British Raj country that didn't join the Commonwealth. Perhaps it has something to do with their constant coups and dictatorships?
That's not correct. All member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations are independent of the UK (with the exception of the UK itself). Some of them (such as Canada) have a head of state who is the same person as the head of state of the UK, but they are nonetheless fully independent.
Gambia and Maldives left the commonwealth at some point and then joined again, like you did with Ireland and Zimbabwe maybe you could put the dates on Maldives and Gambia
I knew Rwanda and Mozambique were let in under special circumstances. Even Togo I understand, because it was once part of German Gold Coast, which was divided between itself and Ghana, but Gabon? It has no history with the British Empire, nor does it speak English or border any member states
Bordering Cameroon has nothing to do with it. The parts of Cameroon it borders aren't the parts that speak English, nor were they ever part of the British Empire.
Could you add more specific dates for Gambia and Maldives (Gambia left the Commonwealth in 2013 and re-joined in 2018, Maldives left in 2016 and returned in 2020)
Great Quiz! Really weird countries though. Cameroon is a little suspicious, but, I guess it does have some english on the border with Nigeria, but Gabon!? Mozambique!!? Togo?!?! Rwanda?!!?!!?
I do agree that Scotland, Wales and NI are not under the "English Government". There simply isn't a devolved administration in England and so are ruled directly by the British Government
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_and_the_Commonwealth_of_Nations
"In the wake of the genocide there, Francophonie member Rwanda has made recent moves away from France's sphere of influence, has replaced French with English as an official language, and joined the Commonwealth at the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting."
It might not be intuitive, but their rationale for joining makes a lot of sense.
The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member states.
Member states have no legal obligations to one another, but are connected through their use of the English language and historical ties. Their stated shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.
How do you like my new place Tortuga and Barbados haha.
and Malta too ...
I can visualize a map well enough, cause I think in pictures, but still think this quiz would benefit by a map. Simply because it looks cool to zee the places filled in. (Even if it was an empty map)
So the name of this quiz is 68 years out of date!
btw after my first few answers, Canada was in the 2nd spot, I continued giving answers, not paying attention to what was filled in lower/ out of view. But still saw the top, with a missing answer in first place. Thought am I missing someting obvious? But continued giving answers, then I got Antigua and thought huh, more people guessed Antigua than Canada? I was do confused haha, not much later I scrolled down and saw "ah thats why" felt silly haha.
What sense does that make??!?!?!!
I knew Rwanda and Mozambique were let in under special circumstances. Even Togo I understand, because it was once part of German Gold Coast, which was divided between itself and Ghana, but Gabon? It has no history with the British Empire, nor does it speak English or border any member states
FROM: Yours truly, Neodymium.
QUIZZES:
https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1744710/first-countries-in-the-commonwealth
https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1744710/last-countries-in-the-commonwealth