The Gambia has announced it has decided to withdraw from the Commonwealth in a statement on state television.
It said it had "decided that The Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism".
The British Foreign Office has said it “very much regrets” the African state’s decision to withdraw.
The FCO had criticised The Gambia earlier this year for human rights abuses, restrictions on the press and discrimination against minorities.