The Commonwealth Games started with a bang in the Gold Coast, Australia, on April 4. The Games will be held over 11 days. More than 6,600 athletes and team officials are taking part in the events. Eighteen sports and seven para-sports will be played, including squash, badminton, beach volleyball, and para-triathlon.
The Commonwealth is a group of countries most of which were part of the British Empire in the past. There are 53 nations in the group. The Commonwealth nations encourage economic development and trade amongst themselves, and also promote democracy, human rights, and peace. The head of the Commonwealth is Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom.
The Commonwealth group came into existence in the form that it is today in 1949. The combined population of the Commonwealth countries is 2.4 billion, which is approximately a third of our planet’s population. A Commonwealth Day is annually celebrated on the second Monday of March. The group also holds a sports event for all the member countries called the Commonwealth Games, which are held every 4 years.
You can see a list of all the Commonwealth countries here. Here is a video about the Commonwealth.
Image Credits: http://thecommonwealth.org for the image of Queen Elizabeth II, https://www.gc2018.com for the image of the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games
Sources: http://thecommonwealth.org, https://www.gc2018.com