Congress

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 Continental Congress to emphasize the status of each colony 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.

Political congress

Congresses of nations

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

Congresses within nations

Countries with Congresses and presidential systems:

Gujarat

Gujarat (/ˌɡʊdʒəˈrɑːt/ Gujǎrāt  [ˈɡudʒ(ə)ɾaːt]) is a state in the western part of India known locally as Jewel of the Western part of India. It has an area of 196,204 km² (75,755 sq mi) with a coastline of 1,600 km (990 mi), most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea, as well as the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India.

The state encompasses major sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the world's first seaports. Gujarat's coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch and Khambhat, served as ports and trading centres in the Maurya and Gupta empires, and during the succession of royal Saka dynasties from the Western Satraps era, whose geographic territories included Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, South Sindh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states.

Extra Ordinary

"Extra Ordinary" is a song by American alternative rock group Better Than Ezra. It was released in July 2001 as their first single from their album Closer. It was also featured in a McDonald's television commercial that aired during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Content

Lead singer Kevin Griffin told the LAUNCHcast website that the song is about the simple things in life: "I wanted to write lyrics that kind of encapsulated a picture of the current events of my life or anybody's life and just use very common visual images like 'soap on a rope' and 'smart as Bobby Fischer.' You know, it's about just spending the day with somebody you love and hanging out with really no agenda at all. And just being happy."

In a 2002 article from the Baton Rouge Advocate, drummer Travis McNabb said of the band's decision to use the song in a commercial: "They called us and said they wanted to use it in an ad....We were like, 'Is it gonna be Ronald McDonald running around chasing the Hamburglar or something?' But when we found out the concept of the ad, it sounded like a good fit. Ultimately, it's just more exposure for the music and for the band. We've gotten a great response from it. It's funny, though, how in the past five to seven years everyone's view of that sort of thing has changed. It used to be that any kind of sponsorship would be harshly judged by music fans and critics."

ZANU–PF

The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) has been the ruling party in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party has been led by Robert Mugabe, first as Prime Minister with the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and then as President from 1988 after merger with the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and retaining the name ZANU–PF. In the 2008 parliamentary election, the ZANU–PF lost sole control of parliament for the first time in party history and brokered a difficult power-sharing deal with the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC), but subsequently won the 2013 election and gained a two-thirds majority.

Zimbabwe African National Union

ZANU was founded by Ndabaningi Sithole, Henry Hamadziripi, Mukudzei Midzi, Herbert Chitepo, Edgar Tekere, and Leopold Takawira at the house of former Defence Minister Enos Nkala in Highfield in August 1963.

Patriotic Front

The Patriotic Front (PF) was formed in 1976 as a political and military alliance between ZAPU and ZANU during the war against white minority rule in Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe). The PF included the Soviet Union-backed ZAPU, which was led by Joshua Nkomo and operating mainly from Zambia, and the Chinese-backed ZANU led by Robert Mugabe, which operated mainly from neighbouring Mozambique. Both movements contributed their respective military forces. ZAPU's military wing was known as the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) and ZANU's guerrillas were known as the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army. The objective of the PF was to overthrow the predominantly white minority government, headed by the Prime Minister Ian Smith, through political pressure and military force.

Attorney general

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions they may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement, prosecutions or even responsibility for legal affairs generally. In practice, the extent to which the attorney-general personally provides legal advice to the government varies between jurisdictions, and even between individual office-holders within the same jurisdiction, often depending on the level and nature of the office-holder's prior legal experience.

The term was originally used to refer to any person who holds a general power of attorney to represent a principal in all matters. In the common law tradition, anyone who represents the state, especially in criminal prosecutions, is such an attorney. Although a government may designate some official as the permanent attorney general, anyone who comes to represent the state in the same way may, in the past, be referred to as such, even if only for a particular case. Today, however, in most jurisdictions the term is largely reserved as a title of the permanently appointed attorney general of the state, sovereign or other member of the royal family. The term is pluralized attorneys general or attorneys-general.