Congress of Colombia - Definition and Overview

Congress (Spanish: Congreso) is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature.

Congress consists of the 102-seat Senate (Senado), and the 166-seat House of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes). Members of both houses are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms.

The Congress meets twice a year in two ordinary sessions: The first from July 20 to December 16, and the second from March 16 to June 20. The Executive branch can call for extraordinary sessions at any time, but never after June 20th in an election year.

Both houses of Congress meet at the neoclassical Capitolio Nacional ("National Capitol") building in central Bogotá, the construction of which began in 1847 and was not concluded until 1926

Every house has its own election procedure and individual powers that make them different from each other, which are further discussed in the article for each individual chamber.