Hanover

**Hanover** () is a German city. It is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony. Hanover has 535,932 inhabitants (31 December 2021).

In **Hanover** there are some big industry companies like Volkswagen (Cars and Vans), Continental (tyres), Varta (batteries) and TUI (tourism).

Hanover has a very modern zoo and an international airport.

There are some very big fairs in Hanover like the CeBIT - _Ce_ntre of _O_ffice, _I_nformation and _T_elecommunication (B is for Büro that means office) and the traditional Hanover fair that shows classical industrial products.

In the year 2000 the Expo-2000 was in Hanover.

Hanover has a large forest near the inner city, it is called the _Eilenriede_. There is also a lake (the _Maschsee_) of about three km length and 500 m width near the city centre. The famous gardens of Herrenhausen (Herrenhäuser Gärten) are also in Hanover. The gardens were heavily destroyed in WWII, but they are currently under reconstruction.

People in Hanover get around town by using the Hannover Hauptbahnhof, which has been around since 1843.

The mayor of the city is Belit Onay. He is a member of the party Alliance 90/The Greens. The city has been administered by social democratic city councils since the 1950s.

The (new) town hall is one of the famous buildings in the city, others are the Marktkirche (market church), the old (medieval) town hall, some castles like the _Leineschloss_ and the _Welfenschloss_.

Hanover is located at the river Leine.

Some internationally famous inhabitants of the town are:

The classic rock band _Scorpions_, the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the association football player Per Mertesacker.

Key employers in the region are Volkswagen, Continental, Talanx, Hannover Re, Nord LB and VHV.

## Universities

- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover (Hanover University)
- Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (Hanover Medical University)
- Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover (Hanvover Veterinary School)
- Hochschule für Musik und Theatre Hannover (Hanover Music and Theater University)
- Fachhochschule Hannover (University of Applied Sciences)
- Evangelische Fachhochschule Hannover (a Christian University of Applied Sciences - for social science. Hanover is the 11th largest city in Germany by population within city limits. According to 2005. estimate Hanover urban area had 766,000 inhabitants and today that population counts around 777,000 inhabitants (by 2008. estimate). Hanover metropolitan area has 1,129,000 inhabitants.

## Climate

Hanover has an Oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification).

## Sports

Hanover has a famous football club, Hannover 96, since 2002 (again) a member of the first German football league, the Bundesliga. Its home stadium is the AWD-Arena (capacity: 49000). Hanover is also a center for ice hockey.

## Infobox (german location)

- **name**: Hanover
- **german name**: _Hannover_ (German language, German)
- **type**: City
- **image photo**: Neues Rathaus Hannover abends.jpg
- **image caption**: New Town Hall (Hanover), New Town Hall, Hanover
- **image coa**: Coat of arms of Hannover.svg
- **image flag**: Flagge Hanover.svg
- **image plan**: Hannover in H.svg
- **state**: Lower Saxony
- **district**: Hanover Region
- **elevation**: 55
- **area**: 204.01
- **pop metro**: 1119032
- **postal code**: 30001 - 30669
- **area code**: 0511
- **licence**: H
- **gemeindeschlüssel**: 03 2 41 001
- **divisions**: 13 districts
- **mayor**: Belit Onay
- **bürgermeistertitel**: Oberbürgermeister
- **party**: Alliance 90/The Greens
- **ruling party1**: Greens
- **ruling party2**: SPD