The Queen's 2011 Christmas Broadcast

Every Christmas, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II addresses the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth with a special Christmas message.

You can watch Her Majesty speaking of families, friends and communities in this year's broadcast to the Commonwealth.

What is the Commonwealth? Do you know what it is?

The Commonwealth is a name for some countries which were part of the British Empire before they became independent. This group of states works together on many important matters, like business, health and the fight against poverty.

The Commonwealth of Nations is a group of countries. Originally, it was called the British Commonwealth of Nations which was founded in 1926 when the British Empire began to break-up. Now, there are 53 member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. All except Mozambique were part of the British Empire. There are some other associations having similar sounding names. For example, the Commonwealth of Australia or the Commonwealth of Independent states. But, the Commonwealth of Nations is different and a separate organization.

in http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations