Commonwealth
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Hannibal ad portas (talk | contribs) at 13:36, May 9, 2007. It may differ significantly from current revision.
Commonwealth is a term mainly meaning 'republic', 'dominion, 'state' or even 'free state'. It was the term used to describe the British state by the Cromwellians from 1649 until the restoration of the British monarchy in 1660.
It occurs in the formal names of several US states, as with Pennsylvania, and is similarly used by the US territory of Puerto Rico. The most common modern reference to commonwealth is the the Commonwealth of Nations. This includes many countries formerly in the British Empire such as Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan to mention a few.
Australia is refered to as the Commonwealth of Australia.