– independence granted to Mauritius on 12 March; to Swaziland on 6 September. (1970) – independence granted on 10 October. (1973) – independence granted on 10 July. , , , and (1978) – independence granted to Seychelles on 29 June; to Solomon Islands on 7 July; to Tuvalu on 1 October; to Dominica as a republic on 3 November. , , and (1979) – independence granted to Saint Lucia on 22 February; to Kiribati on 12 July; to Saint VIncent and the Grenadines on 27 October. (as ) and (as ) (1980) – independence to Zimbabwe as a republic granted on 17 April; to Vanuatu on 1 July. and (1981) – independence granted to Belize on 21 September; to Antigua and Barbuda on 1 November. (1983) – independence granted on 19 September. Anguilla remains a British overseas territory. (1997) – returned to the People's Republic of China as a Special Administrative Region on 1 July as per the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Termination of personal union or other connection with the United Kingdom's monarchy (1949) – dominion status ended by unilateral legislative act on 18 April and left the Commonwealth. (1950) – dominion status ended by constitutional amendment on 26 January. (1956) – dominion status ended with new constitution on 23 March. (1960) – Commonwealth realm status ended by referendum on 1 July. (1961) – dominion status ended by referendum on 31 May and left the Commonwealth. (1962) – Commonwealth realm status ended on 9 December. (1963) – Commonwealth realm status ended by Constitution of Uganda constitutional amendment on 9 October. (1964) – Commonwealth realm status ended with new constitution on 12 December. and the (1966) – Commonwealth realm status ended by Nigeria via constitutional amendment on 24 May; Malawi via new constitution on 6 July. and (1970) – Commonwealth realm statuses ended by Guyana via constitutional amendment effective 17 March; The Gambia via referendum on 14 April. (1971) – Commonwealth realm status ended on 19 April. (1972) – dominion status ended on 22 May; renamed Sri Lanka. (1974) – Commonwealth realm status ended on 13 December. (1976) – Commonwealth realm status ended on 1 March. (1992) – Commonwealth realm status ended on 12 March. (2021) – Commonwealth realm status ended by constitutional amendment on 30 November. Other changes (1982) – severed legal ties with Britain, but retained Elizabeth II as head of state. and (1986) – severed legal ties (see: