• Glasgow in Scotland will host the Commonwealth Games in 2026. 

• The 2026 Commonwealth Games were to be held in multiple cities across Victoria state in Australia. However, the state announced in July 2023 that it had pulled out of the multi-sport event citing a steep rise in projected expenditure.

• Glasgow has hosted the 2014 edition of the Commonwealth Games on a shoe-string budget — around $760 million. With 70 per cent of the event venues already existing in the city, it offered to host the 2026 edition.

• Birmingham hosted the CWG in 2022.

Commonwealth Games

• The Commonwealth is a voluntary group of 56 sovereign nations, most of which were former colonies of the erstwhile British Empire or its dependents.

• The first edition of the Commonwealth Games was held in the Canadian city of Hamilton in 1930 as the former British Empire Games.

• Today, the Commonwealth Games is one the world’s largest multi-sports events.

• Held every four years, with a hiatus during World War II, the Games have grown from featuring 11 countries and 400 athletes, to a global spectacle of 4,600 sportspersons from across 72 nations and territories.

• Besides the nations themselves, a number of dependent territories of these countries compete under their own flag, bringing up the total number of teams.

• The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is an Associated Organisation of the Commonwealth. 

• The CGF is the organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games is a unique, world class, multi-sports event which is held once every four years. It is often referred to as the ‘Friendly Games’.

What is the Commonwealth?

• The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal countries.

• It is home to 2.5 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. As many as 33 of its members are small States, including many island nations.

• India is the largest member state of the Commonwealth.

• The member States have agreed to shared goals like development, democracy and peace.

• The Commonwealth’s roots go back to the British Empire. But today any country can join the modern Commonwealth. The last two countries to join the Commonwealth were Gabon and Togo in 2022.

• King Charles III is Head of the Commonwealth.

• The combined GDP of Commonwealth countries in 2021 was US$13.1 trillion and is estimated to reach $19.5 trillion in 2027, almost doubling in ten years from $10.4 trillion in 2017.

• The Commonwealth is often described as a ‘family’ of nations.

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