Lesson 1/35 min
Legislatures of different countries
A legislature can have one chamber or two. Every country uses its own names for the legislature and its chambers, and exams repeatedly ask you to name the country from the name.
Single-chamber legislatures
| Country | Legislature |
|---|---|
| Mongolia | State Great Assembly (Khural / Thural) |
| Israel | Knesset |
| Iran | Majlis |
| Sweden | Riksdag |
| Norway | Storting |
| Denmark | Folketing |
| Syria | People's Assembly (Majlis al-Sha'b) |
| North Korea | Supreme People's Assembly |
| South Korea | National Assembly |
| Türkiye | Grand National Assembly |
| China | National People's Congress |
Watch out: The book lists Spain among the single-chamber legislatures as ‘General Courts’. In fact Spain's Cortes Generales has two chambers: the Congress of Deputies (lower) and the Senate (upper).
Two-chamber legislatures
| Country (legislature) | Upper house | Lower house |
|---|---|---|
| United States (Congress) | Senate: 100 members | House of Representatives: 435 members |
| United Kingdom (Parliament) | House of Lords | House of Commons: 650 members |
| Russia (Federal Assembly) | Federation Council | State Duma: 450 members |
| Germany | Bundesrat (Federal Council) | Bundestag (Federal Diet) |
| India (Parliament) | Rajya Sabha | Lok Sabha: 543 elected members |
| Afghanistan (National Assembly) | Book: Loya Jirga, 102 members | Wolesi Jirga: 250 members |
| Japan (Diet) | House of Councillors | House of Representatives: 465 members |
| Poland (National Assembly) | Senate | Sejm |
Watch out: India's Rajya Sabha has a maximum of 250 members (238 elected + 12 nominated); it currently has 245 (233 + 12). The book gives the Lok Sabha as 545 (543 + 2 nominated), but nomination of Anglo-Indians has ended (104th Amendment, effective 25 January 2020), so it is now 543. Exams asked for the elected members: 543.
Watch out: In Afghanistan the Loya Jirga is really a special grand council. Under the constitution the upper house of the National Assembly was the Meshrano Jirga (102 members). Even so, ‘Loya Jirga’ has been asked in exams as an Afghan name. The National Assembly was disbanded on 15 August 2021.
Did you know?: The Reichstag is the name of Germany's parliament building, where the Bundestag sits. The book's picture labels Germany's legislature ‘Reichstag’.
More that exams have asked
- Nepal: under the new constitution in force from 20 September 2015, the legislature is the Federal Parliament (House of Representatives and National Assembly)
- France: the legislature is called Parliament (the exam answer)
- Bhutan: the legislature is called Parliament (the exam answer)
- In the US Congress the upper house is the Senate and the lower house is the House of Representatives
- Britain's upper house is the House of Lords, the lower house the House of Commons
- Exam answer to ‘which Middle East country has no constitution or parliament’: Saudi Arabia
Memory trick: Name to country: Knesset = Israel, Storting = Norway, Thural = Mongolia, Duma = Russia, Sejm = Poland, Diet = Japan, Congress = US, Lok Sabha = India.
Check yourself
Which country's legislature is the ‘Knesset’?
At a glance
- 1
The Knesset is Israel's legislature, the Storting Norway's, the Thural Mongolia's, the Riksdag Sweden's and the Folketing Denmark's; all are single-chamber.
- 2
In the US Congress the Senate has 100 members and the House of Representatives 435; Britain's House of Commons has 650.
- 3
Russia's legislature is the Federal Assembly, with the State Duma (450 members) as lower house. Japan's is the Diet; Poland's lower house is the Sejm.
- 4
India's Lok Sabha has 543 elected members; the upper house is the Rajya Sabha.
- 5
Nepal's legislature has been the Federal Parliament since the constitution of 20 September 2015.