The National Council of Provinces (NCoP) is the upper house of the legislature of the Republic of South Africa under the new (post-apartheid) constitution of that country which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to many other upper houses of legislatures throughout the world, in that its purpose is to represent the specific viewpoints of individual provinces and urban areas. It has a total membership of ninety - ten members for each of South Africa's nine provinces.
