Congress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In politics, a congress ("a gathering of people") is the name of the main legislative body in a state that operates under a congressional system of government. In non-political usage congress is a term applied to a large national or international grouping of people meeting together with common interests or concerns, e.g. an academic conference.
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[edit] Political congress
[edit] Legislative congress
Countries with Congresses and presidential systems:
- The Congress of the United States is the bicameral legislative branch of the United States federal government.
- The Congress of Mexico (Spanish: Congreso de la Unión) is the legislative branch of Mexican government.
- The Congress of the Republic of Peru (Spanish: Congreso de la República) is the unicameral legislature of Peru.
- The Congress of the Argentine Nation (Spanish: Congreso de la Nación Argentina) is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina.
- The Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Kongreso ng Pilipinas) is the legislative branch of the Philippine government.
- The National Congress of Brazil (Portuguese: Congresso Nacional) is Brazil's legislature.
- The National Congress of Chile (Spanish: Congreso Nacional) is the legislative branch of the government of Chile.
- The National Congress of Ecuador is the unicameral legislature of Ecuador.
- The Congress of Guatemala (Spanish: Congreso de la República) is the unicameral legislature of Guatemala.
- The Congress of Honduras (Spanish: Congreso Macional) is the legislative branch of the government of Honduras.
- The Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia is the unicameral legislature of the Federated States of Micronesia.
- The Congress of the Dominican Republic is the bicameral legislature of the Dominican Republic.
- The Congress of Paraguay is the bicameral legislature of Paraguay.
- The National Congress of Bolivia is the national legislature of Bolivia.
Other countries with Congresses:
- The legislature of the People's Republic of China is known in English as the National People's Congress. The PRC is nevertheless not a congressional system.
- In France, the congrès is a formal and exceptional joint meeting of both houses of Parliament in order to ratify an amendment to the Constitution.
- Spanish Congress of Deputies (Spanish: Congreso de los Diputados), the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch
[edit] Political party and organizations
Congress is included in the name of several political parties, especially those in former British colonies:
- The National Congress of American Indians
- The National Congress of the Canaries
- The National Congress of Fiji
- The People's National Congress of Guyana
- The Indian National Congress of India
- The Nationalist Congress Party of India
- The Nationalist Trinamool Congress of India
- The Tamil Maanila Congress of India
- The Basotho Congress Party of Lesotho
- The Lesotho Congress for Democracy of Lesotho
- The Lesotho Peoples' Congress of Lesotho
- The Malawi Congress Party of Malawi
- The Malaysian Indian Congress of Malaysia
- The Congress of Democrats of Namibia
- The Nepali Congress of Nepal
- The All People's Congress of Sierra Leone
- The African National Congress of South Africa
- The Pan-Africanist Congress of South Africa
- The All Ceylon Tamil Congress of Sri Lanka
- The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress of Sri Lanka
- The National Congress (Sudan)
- The Ngwane National Liberatory Congress of Swaziland
- The United National Congress of Trinidad and Tobago
- The Ugandan People's Congress of Uganda
[edit] Political gatherings
Congress has also been used to describe certain historical gatherings, such as
- the Congress of Gniezno (1000)
- the Congress of Vienna (1815), reorganizing Europe after the Napoleon wars,
- the Congress of Berlin (1877-78), reorganizing conditions in the Balkans,
- the Congress of Tucumán (1816)
- The Congress of Panama was an 1826 meeting of representatives from several Latin American republics organized by Simon Bolivar in an attempt to promote Pan-American unity.
- The National Congress of Belgium was a temporarly legislative assembly in 1830, formed to create a constitution for the new state.
It has been used for meetings of independence-minded nationalists or revolutionaries:
- The United States Continental Congress
- The Indian National Congress
- The Iraqi National Congress
- The African National Congress
(Note, the political parties mentioned above also began as groups of this type).
Congress is also part of the name of certain international bodies, such as
[edit] Party congress
Many political parties also have a Party Congress which is held every few years to make decisions for the party and elected governing bodies. These are sometimes called political conventions.
[edit] Non-political congress
[edit] Scientific congress
Congress is an alternative name for a large national or international academic conference. See the International Congress of Media by the Research Institute of Applied Communication (organizer: Synedros www.synedros.com)Small Text
[edit] Chess congress
A Chess congress is a chess tournament, in one city, where a large number of contestants gather to play competitive chess over a limited period of time; typically one day to one week.
- Transportation
- Congress, a ship caught in a storm at St Ives, Cornwall in 1909.