Although it rarely hits the headlines when not holding its regular summits — they take place every two years in a different member state — it has in recent decades become a barometer for democratic behaviour, often under the stern eye of former colonial ruler Britain.

One recent "bad boy" was Zimbabwe, which withdrew from the organisation in December 2003 after being suspended over issues of human rights and democracy. Earlier rows have concerned South Africa, Pakistan and Nigeria, among other countries.

The Commonwealth's 53 current members range from the heavyweights of the former "White Commonwealth", such as Australia, Canada and Britain, which founded the organisation in 1931, through developing giants like India, Nigeria and Pakistan down to former "confetti of empire": the likes of Antigua and Barbuda, Kiribati and Vanuatu.

Most, but not all, the grouping's members are former British colonies — the southern African nation of Mozambique being a notable exception — and most therefore have English either as an official or a vehicular language.

The great majority of members are also poor countries, some fast-growing but others, such as Sierra Leone or The Gambia, still far down on the scale of human poverty.

Commonwealth member states are home to an estimated 1.8 billion people, or around 30 percent of the total world population.

As they are spread over all the inhabited continents, it would be possible to say, as was once the boast of the British Empire, that the sun never sets on the Commonwealth.

Such jingoism is, however, distinctly out of fashion in today's world, with the accent being firmly on human rights, democracy and development.

The Commonwealth's website — www.thecommonwealth.org — says the grouping aims to be a "force for peace, democracy, equality, and good governance; a catalyst for global consensus building; and a source of assistance for sustainable development and poverty eradication".

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, who arrived in Malta on Wednesday ahead of this year's summit, is both head of the Commonwealth and recognised by 16 of its member states as their sovereign.

The Commonwealth member states are: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belize; Botswana; Britain; Brunei; Cameroon; Canada; Cyprus; Dominica; Fiji; The Gambia; Ghana; Grenada; Guyana; India; Jamaica; Kenya; Kiribati; Lesotho; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Malta; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Nauru; New Zealand; Nigeria; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and Grenadines; Samoa; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Swaziland; Tanzania; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tuvalu; Uganda; Vanuatu and Zambia.

The Commonwealth's Secretariat is in London, and its current secretary general is Don McKinnon (66), a former foreign minister of New Zealand.

The body's official logo is a globe with outward pointing rays that form a letter "C" around it.

The biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings (often referred to by the ungainly acronym CHOGM) actually predate the founding of the body itself, as they descend from gatherings known as "Colonial Conferences" which started in 1887.

The host for this year's summit, Malta, was a British colony from 1814 to 1964. Covering just 316 square kilometres (122 square miles), it has a population of around 380 000. Malta became a member of the European Union in May 2004.

AFP