Dover is famous for its white cliffs, which are made of chalk. The cliffs gave Britain its nickname of Albion, meaning "white". The town's name derives from the Brythonic Dubrās ("the waters").
Its closeness to continental Europe – it is only 34 kilometres from the French port of Calais – makes Dover one of the United Kingdom's busiest cross Channel ports, with 18 million passengers passing through each year.
Regular ferry services operate from Dover to Calais and Dunkerque.
A regular catamaran service to Boulogne recommenced in May 2004.
Catamaran services provided by Hoverspeed to Ostend were withdrawn in 2003, and to Calais on 7 November 2005.
Hoverspeed had previously operated hovercraft services to and from Calais and Boulogne for many years.
Since 1836 the town of Dover (originally being the two parishes of Dover St. Mary's and Dover St. James) has incorporated the ancient villages and parishes of Buckland and Charlton. These are now suburbs of the town.
Most of the western half of the town is in Hougham parish and a small part of the eastern section and Dover Castle are in Guston parish
Maxton was once a hamlet of Hougham parish to the west of Dover, and the terminus of the tramway system serving the town until its closure in 1936. It is now a suburb of the town.