List of legislatures by country
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This is a list of legislatures by country, whether parliamentary or congressional, that act as a plenary general assembly of representatives with the power to legislate. In the lists below all entities included in the list of countries are included.
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Names of legislatures
The legislatures are listed with their names in English and the name in the (most-used) native language of the country.
The names of the legislatures differ per country. The most used name seems to be National Assembly, but Parliament and Congress are often used too. The name Parliament is in some cases even used when in political science the legislature would be considered a congress. The upper house of the legislature is often named Senate. In some cases, countries use very traditional names. In Germanic countries variations Thing (e.g. Folketing) are used. A thing or ting was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free men of the community and presided by lawspeakers. A variant is the use of the word Tag or Dag (e.g. Bundestag), used because things were held at daylight and often lasted all day. Other traditional names are the Estates General and variations of Sejm. In Islamic countries Majlis is often included in the name. This can be translated as "Council" or "Assembly".