The Commonwealth Games (formerly the British Empire Games (1930-1954), British Empire and Commonwealth
Games (1954-1970), and British Commonwealth Games (1970-1978) is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was
first held in 1930 and has taken place every four years ever since (except 1942
and 1946 which were cancelled). The games are described as the third largest
multi-sport event in the world.
The games are
overseen by the Commonwealth
Games Federation (CGF), which
also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. A host city
is selected for each edition and 18 cities in seven countries have hosted the
event.
Apart from many Olympic sports, the games also include
some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, and netball.
Although there are 53
members of the Commonwealth of Nations, 71 teams participate in the
Commonwealth Games as a number of British
overseas territories, Crown dependencies,
and island states compete under their own flag. The four Home Nations of the United Kingdom—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—also send separate
teams.
A sporting competition taking place every four
years and bringing together the members of the British Empire was
first proposed by the Reverend Astley Cooper in 1891 as a means of increasing
goodwill and good understanding of the British Empire.
Host cities
In 1928, Melville
Marks Robinson of Canada was asked to organise the first British Empire
Games; these were held in 1930, in Hamilton, Ontario.
Edition
|
Year
|
Host City
|
Host Nation
|
Start Date
|
End Date
|
Sports
|
Nations
|
British Empire Games
|
|||||||
I
|
1930
|
Hamilton
|
Canada
|
16 August
|
23 August
|
6
|
11
|
II
|
1934
|
London
|
England
|
4 August
|
11 August
|
6
|
16
|
III
|
1938
|
Sydney
|
Australia
|
5 February
|
12 February
|
7
|
15
|
IV
|
1950
|
Auckland
|
New Zealand
|
4 February
|
11 February
|
9
|
12
|
British
Empire and Commonwealth Games
|
|||||||
V
|
1954
|
Vancouver
|
Canada
|
30 July
|
7 August
|
9
|
24
|
VI
|
1958
|
Cardiff
|
Wales
|
18 July
|
26 July
|
9
|
36
|
VII
|
1962
|
Perth
|
Australia
|
22 Nov
|
1 December
|
9
|
35
|
VIII
|
1966
|
Kingston
|
Jamaica
|
4 August
|
13 August
|
9
|
34
|
British Commonwealth Games
|
|||||||
IX
|
1970
|
Edinburgh
|
Scotland
|
16 July
|
25 July
|
9
|
42
|
X
|
1974
|
Christchurch
|
New Zealand
|
24 January
|
2 February
|
9
|
38
|
Commonwealth Games
|
|||||||
XI
|
1978
|
Edmonton
|
Canada
|
3 August
|
12 August
|
10
|
46
|
XII
|
1982
|
Brisbane
|
Australia
|
30 Sept
|
9 October
|
10
|
46
|
XIII
|
1986
|
Edinburgh
|
Scotland
|
24 July
|
2 August
|
10
|
26
|
XIV
|
1990
|
Auckland
|
New Zealand
|
24 January
|
3 February
|
10
|
55
|
XV
|
1994
|
Victoria
|
Canada
|
18 August
|
28 August
|
10
|
63
|
XVI
|
1998
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
Malaysia
|
11 Sept
|
21 Sept
|
15
|
70
|
XVII
|
2002
|
Manchester
|
England
|
25 July
|
4 August
|
17
|
72
|
XVIII
|
2006
|
Melbourne
|
Australia
|
15 March
|
26 March
|
16
|
71
|
XIX
|
2010
|
Delhi
|
India
|
3 October
|
14 October
|
17
|
71
|
XX
|
2014
|
Glasgow
|
Scotland
|
23 July
|
3 August
|
17
|
70
|
