In addition to the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II (now 82) is also Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, in each of which she is represented by a Governor-General.
The 16 countries of which she is Queen are known as Commonwealth realms, and their combined population, including dependencies, is over 129 million.
The Queen is also the Head of the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, most of which are former British colonies, or dependencies of these colonies, in a symbolic capacity.
Sri Lanka continues to be a member of the Commonwealth, which is not a political union, and does not allow the United Kingdom to exercise any power over the affairs of the members.
The Commonwealth has a combined population of 1.9 billion people, almost a third of the world population and over twice as many as the whole of the Americas (North and South) put together. Of that figure, 1.4 billion people live in the Indian subcontinent, and 93% live in Asia and Africa combined.
The five largest Commonwealth nations by population are India (1.1 billion), Pakistan (165 million), Bangladesh (148 m), Nigeria (137 m), and the United Kingdom (60 m). Tuvalu is the smallest member, with only 11,000 people.The three largest Commonwealth nations by area are Canada at 3.8 million square miles, Australia at 3.0 million square miles, and India at 1.2 million square miles.
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