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" of the Arab Congress, the respective "lower chamber" being the Council of Deputies. According to the constitution, however, both chambers are officially equal.

The elected representatives of the Council of Republics are officially known as "counsellors" (مستشارين mustashārīn; sg. مستشار mustashār), and often informally known as "senators" (شيوخ shuyūkh, lit. "elders"; sg. شيخ shaykh).

The Council of Republics consists of 40 seats: two seats are reserved for each of the 20 republics of the Arab Union (the federated states which make up the union). The fact that the 20 republics each receive the same number of seats regardless of population is what makes the Council of Republics resemble a traditional "upper chamber", unlike its counterpart the Council of Deputies, which resembles a traditional "lower chamber" in that each seat represents roughly an equal number of constituents.

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