Hanover

(2,278), a Pru ian province since 1866, formerly an independent kingdom; stretches N. from Westphalia to the German Ocean, between Holland on the W. and Saxony on the E.; the district is well watered by the Elbe, Weser, and Ems; in the S. are the Harz Mountains; for the rest the land is flat, and much of it is occupied by uncultivated moors; agriculture and cattle-rearing are, however, the chief industries, while the minerals of the Harz are extensively wrought; in 1714 George Ludwig, second Elector of Hanover, succeeded Anne on the English throne as her nearest Protestant kinsman, and till 1837 the dual rule was maintained, Hanover meanwhile in 1814 having been made a kingdom; in 1837 the Han over i an crown pa ed to the Duke of Cumber land, Queen Victoria, as a woman, being ineligible; in 1866 the kingdom was conquered and annexed by Pru ia.