Kent shares its place names with many villages, towns and cities across the world. Here are just some of the county's lesser-known namesakes.

You may know Staplehurst as a small village near Maidstone. Residents of Nebraska might recognise it as a one-horse town in Seward County, with a population of just 242 in 2010.

Warden, a little village on the Isle of Sheppey, is also a little village in rural South Africa, between Johannesburg and Durban.

Herne Bay shares its name with a posh area of Auckland in New Zealand. It’s one of the wealthiest parts of the city, on the south western shore of Waitemata Harbour, with a distinctive circular block of luxury apartments a well-known landmark.

Adisham is a little village near Canterbury right? Somewhat surprisingly it’s also the name of a country house in rural Sri Lanka, built in 1931 by the English aristocrat Sir Thomas Villiers. It’s currently being used as a monastery.

Welcome to Thong… Ang Thong that is. The name means golden bowl, a reference to the area’s abundant rice fields. It’s also home to more than 200 temples.

Like its Kentish namesake, Bishopsbourne in Tasmania is a small village in the countryside. A very small village in a very large countryside, with a population of fewer than 200 people who live in farms clustered around a single track - Bishopbourne Road.

Otford used to be a village. Well, Otford in Kent is still a village, but its antipodean relative has been absorbed into the vast commuter suburbs around Sydney. It still has a striking coastline though.

Dover is famous for its iconic white cliffs and castle and, if you are from Delaware in the US, for being the base of Kent County and the second biggest city in the state.

Margate has a wide sandy beach and attracts thousands of tourists every year… in South Africa. It’s a resort town that sits on the Nkhongweni river, which means place of entreaty. It was thus calledbecause the original inhabitants were meant to be so mean visitors had to beg for hospitality. Charming.

And while we’re in Thanet… or rather South Africa… Ramsgate is a village on the Kwazulu Coast on the mouth of the river Bilanhlolo, which means ‘the marvellous boiler’.