Hanover (Hannover) Former kingdom and province of Germany. In 1692, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneberg, was created Elector of Hanover; his lands were known thereafter as Hanover. His son succeeded to the British throne as George I in 1714. Divided during the Napoleonic era, Hanover was reconstituted as a kingdom in 1815. Allied with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), it was annexed by Prussia after Austria's defeat. After World War II it became part of the state of Lower Saxony.

Hanover (Hannover) City on the River Leine, n Germany; capital of Lower Saxony. Chartered in 1241, it joined the Hanseatic League in 1386. In 1636 it became the residence of the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneberg (predecessors of the House of Hanover); George I was Elector of Hanover. Allied bombing badly damaged Hanover during World War II, but the city reconstructed many old buildings. Industries: machinery, steel, textiles, rubber, chemicals. Pop. (1999) 512,200.