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.

Contents 1 Political congress 1.1 Legislative congress 1.2 Political party and organizations 1.3 Political gatherings 1.4 Party congress 2 Non-political congress 2.1 Scientific congress 2.2 Chess congress 3 See also

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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