Which country was the last to join the Commonwealth, doing so in 2009?
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2009 the first opportunity for countries to accede to the Commonwealth after the 2007 CHOGM accepted the report by the Committee on Commonwealth Membership, which established the current membership criteria. After the 2007 CHOGM, the Commonwealth sent a team to Rwanda to examine its eligibility, and recommended it be discussed at the 2009 meeting. In Port of Spain, the Heads of Government agreed to accept Rwanda as a member, making it the 54th member, and the second without a direct constitutional tie to an existing member. Several other countries were expected to submit official applications to join, including Algeria, Madagascar, Sudan,
Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations the last Prime Minister, with each respective country being a Presidential republic. In the latter cases, not only was the monarchy abolished, but so was the entire Westminster system of parliamentary government as well. In each case the republic was created through a new constitution. Currently, the only former Commonwealth republics are: The 2007 Kampala review of the Edinburgh Declaration delimits the nations eligible for admission to the Commonwealth to those with "a historic constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member, save in exceptional circumstances". Various republics have a constitutional association with the United Kingdom as being former British-administrated territories.