Council of Republics

The Council of Republics (Arabic: مجلس الجمهوريات majlis al-jumhūriyāt) is one of two nominally equal chambers of the Arab Congress, the federal legislative assembly of the Arab Union. It functions as the de facto "upper chamber", the respective "lower chamber" being the Council of Deputies.

The elected representatives of the Council of Republics are officially known in English as "senators" (شيوخ shuyūkh, lit. "elders"; sg. شيخ shaykh), with the Council of Republics itself often referred to in English as the "Senate" (مجلس الشيوخ majlis ash-shuyūkh, lit. "council of elders"); in Arabic, the words for "senator" and "elder" are one and the same, hence the ambiguity between the Arabic titles and official English translation.

The Council of Republics consists of 63 seats: three seats are reserved for each of the 20 republics of the Arab Union (the federated states which make up the union), as well as three seats for the federal capital of Nasser City (which is not part of any republic). The fact that the 20 republics and the federal capital each receive the same number of seats regardless of population is what makes the Council of Republics a traditional "upper chamber", unlike its counterpart the Council of Deputies, which is a traditional "lower chamber" in that each seat represents roughly and equal population of constituents.

The Council of Republics meets in the North Parliament Building in Nasser City.