Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations
Member state Year of independence Type of president First president
1 Cyprus 1960 Executive New appointment
2 Cameroon 1961 Executive New appointment
3 Rwanda 1962 Executive New appointment
4 Zambia 1964 Executive Incumbent Prime Minister
5 Singapore 1965 Ceremonial Incumbent Governor ( as a state of Malaysia )
6 Botswana 1966 Executive Incumbent Prime Minister
7 Nauru 1968 Executive New appointment
8 Bangladesh 1971 Ceremonial New appointment
9 Mozambique 1975 Executive New appointment
10 Seychelles 1976 Executive New appointment
11 Dominica 1978 Ceremonial Incumbent Governor ( interim )
12 Kiribati 1979 Executive Incumbent Chief Minister
13 Vanuatu 1980 Ceremonial New appointment
14 Namibia 1990 Executive New appointment
List of Commonwealth republics -- Republics on independence
In each case the republic was created through a new constitution .
The republics in the Commonwealth of Nations are the sovereign states in the organization with a republican form of government. As of 3 February 2020, 31 out of the 54 member states were republics. Elizabeth II, who is the monarch in the Commonwealth realms, is also still the titular Head of the Commonwealth organization (but not the head of the members of the Commonwealth) in a personal capacity, but this role does not carry with it any power; instead, it is a symbol of the free association of Commonwealth members. Except for the former Portuguese possession of Mozambique and the former Belgian trust territory of Rwanda, they are all former British (or partly British) colonies or self-governing colonies that have evolved into republics. Most of the Commonwealth's members achieved independence while keeping the British monarch as their own individual head of state (in a form of personal union) and later became republics within the Commonwealth by abolishing the monarchy. In some other instances, the countries became republics after achieving independence from other former British colonies (as Bangladesh did from Pakistan in 1971).