WORLD : Hanover Named Expo 2000 Host

PARIS — Hanover, a West German industrial city seeking a higher international profile, was chosen by a one-vote margin today to be host of Expo 2000, an ecologically oriented turn-of-the-century world’s fair.

Hanover was selected by the Paris-based International Bureau of Expositions in a 21-20 vote over Toronto, the only other candidate after the Italian government decided to drop a campaign on behalf of Venice.

Hanover, a northern city of 500,000 known for an annual trade fair, was considered a strong contender because many of the exposition bureau’s member countries have close economic ties to West Germany.

The bureau’s 43 members, who vote by secret ballot, include 25 from Europe, 11 from the Western Hemisphere, four from Africa, two from Asia and one from Australia. It was not known which two members did not vote today.