Legislative bodies Upper chambers

An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor a lower house) is described as unicameral. In countries where English is widely used, the most common name for the upper house of a national legislature is the Senate, including in the United States, Nigeria, the Philippines, Kenya, Canada, and Australia, among others.