A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different nations, constituent states, independent organizations (such as trade unions), or groups.

The term was chosen for the United States Congress to emphasize the status of each state represented there as a self-governing unit. Subsequent to the use of congress by the U.S. legislature, the term has been adopted by many states within unions, and by unitary nation-states in the Americas, to refer to their legislatures.

The following congresses were formal meetings of representatives of different nations:

Countries with Congresses and presidential systems:

Congress is included in the name of several political parties, especially those in former British colonies:

Many political parties also have a party congress every few years to make decisions for the party and elect governing bodies. This is sometimes called a political convention.

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

For instance, the World Congress on Men's Health WCMH is an annual meeting on men's medical issues.

Prannoy L Roy, Ph.D (Bengali: প্রনয রায) (born October 15, 1949) is an Indian journalist and media personality. He is the founder and Executive Chairperson of New Delhi Television (NDTV).

Prannoy Roy was born in Calcutta to a Bengali father ("Hurricane" Roy) who was the chief executive of the Indian unit of a British company and an Irish/English mother who was a teacher. He spent the first few years of his life at Kolkata & studied in La Martiniere, Calcutta. He then attended The Doon School, Dehradun where he was School Captain, later winning a scholarship to Haileybury in the UK for his A-levels and qualified as a Chartered Accountant, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (England and Wales) and has a Ph.D in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics. His working career involved: Associate Professor at The Delhi School of Economics, Psephologist, Consultant at Price Waterhouse, created a macro-econometric model of the Indian economy, Economic Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Govt of India, co-Founder of NDTV.

Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી; born 17 September 1950) is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. Born in a middle class family in Vadnagar, he was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben. He has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood also having interest in politics since adolescence. He holds a master's degree in political science. In 1998, he was chosen by L. K. Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to direct the election campaign in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.

He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. His tenure as chief minister of Gujarat began on 7 October 2001, and he is the longest serving Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat. In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously. He was elected again for a third term on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule".

Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( /koʊlˈbɛər/ or /ˈkoʊlbərt/; born May 13, 1964) is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.

Colbert originally studied to be an actor, but became interested in improvisational theatre when he met famed Second City director Del Close while attending Northwestern University. He first performed professionally as an understudy for Steve Carell at Second City Chicago; among his troupe mates were comedians Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris, with whom he developed the critically acclaimed sketch comedy series Exit 57.

Colbert also wrote and performed on the short-lived Dana Carvey Show before collaborating with Sedaris and Dinello again on the cult television series Strangers with Candy. He gained considerable attention for his role on the latter as closeted gay history teacher Chuck Noblet. It was his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's news-parody series The Daily Show, however, that first introduced him to a wide audience.

Arvinder Singh Lovely (born 1968) is the Minister for Education, Tourism, Languages, Gurudwara election & Gurudwara Administration in the current cabinet of the elected Indian National Congress (INC) Government being headed by Mrs. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, Delhi.

Arvinder Singh Lovely was born on 11 Dec 1968 at 09:15hrs at City Ludhiana, [State: Punjab, Country: India] to Balvinder Singh. He pursued his graduation from SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi in Political Science. He was elected to the Students' Union of the college.

He was also elected as General Secretary, Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress in the year 1990, followed by the General Secretary of the National Student Union of India during 1992-1996. He was elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1998, where he was the youngest MLA. Subsequently in 2000, he was appointed General Secretary, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) and President, East District Congress Committee (I). He was made a Minister in the cabinet in 2003.