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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.

Political congress

Legislative congress

Countries with Congresses and presidential systems:

• The United States Congress 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

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

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

• The Congress of the Council of Europe.

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.

Non-political congress

Scientific congress

Congress is an alternative name for a large national or international academic conference.

Chess congress

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.

• The California Chess Congress of 1858

See also

• Wikipedia articles "Congress"
• List of African Union member states by political system
• Congressional Country Club
• Congress Poland, Congress Bundestag