Hanover is the smallest parish with an area of 173.9 square miles (excluding Kingston and Port Royal). When it was formed, the Assembly wished to call it St. Sophia in honour of the mother of George I but this was over-ridden by the Council, and the name was chosen with reference to the reigning family in England. The capital Lucea, is one of the most picturesque of the towns of Jamaica.

Lucea stretches along the western side of a horseshoe-shaped bay, which is considered as one of the island's safest ports. The center of the town has its back to hills which limit immediate expansion, although a road leads west to a large area, flat, gently sloping towards the sea (once a sugar cane plantation) where most of Lucea's growth is now taking place. Fort Charlotte, which lies one mile north-east of the capital, was built in 1761 on the western neck and guards the entrance to a once active port, now closed since 1983.