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Hanover (Formerly a kingdom in the N W)

formerly a kingdom in the N. W. of Germany, now a province of Prussia; area 14,870 square miles; pop. about 3,000,000. It is of very irregular shape, and is divided by intervening territories into three distinct portions, besides some small territories to the S., and a range of sandy islands lining the coast. It is divided into six districts--Hanover, Hildesheim, Lüneburg, Stade, Osnabrück, Aurich. The surface in the S. is covered by the Hartz Mountains, but the rest of the country is a low, monotonous flat, with a gentle slope to the North Sea. The Ems, the Weser (with its tributaries, the Leine and Aller), and the Elbe flow through fertile districts industriously cultivated for corn and flax. Near the coast the HANOVER land is marshy, but feeds large numbers of very superior cattle.

The Harz Mountains are rich in minerals, the working of which is an important industry. Hanover was long connected with the Brunswick family, and latterly more especially with the line of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Ernest Augustus, a prince of the latter line, became, in 1692, the first Elector of Hanover, married a granddaughter of James I. of England, and was succeeded in 1698 by his son, George Louis, who in 1714 became George I. of England. Henceforth it was ruled in connection with England. In 1814 the Congress of Vienna raised Hanover to the rank of a kingdom, the crown of which was worn by George IV. and William IV., but, on the accession of Queen Victoria, passed by Salic law to Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. In 1851 he was succeeded by his son, George V., but in 1866, Hanover having become involved in the Austro-Prussian contest, his kingdom was absorbed by Prussia.