Hong Kong, a city-state situated on China's south coast, is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km2 and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade.
As much of Hong Kong's terrain is hilly to mountainous with steep slopes, less than 25% of the territory's landmass is developed and about 40% of the remaining land area is reserved as country parks and nature reserves. Most of the territory's urban development exists on Kowloon peninsula, along the northern edge of Hong Kong Island, and in scattered settlements throughout the New Territories. Hong Kong comprises the Kowloon peninsula and 263 islands over 500 m2, the largest being Lantau Island and the second largest being Hong Kong Island.
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is a federal parliamentary republic in west-central Europe. The country consists of 16 states, and its capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state in the European Union. Germany is one of the major political and economic powers of the European continent and a historic leader in many theoretical and technical fields.
Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,962 metres) in the south to the shores of the North Sea (Nordsee) in the northwest and the Baltic Sea (Ostsee) in the northeast. The forested uplands of central Germany and the lowlands of northern Germany (lowest point: Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres below sea level) are traversed by such major rivers as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Glaciers are found in the Alpine region, but are experiencing deglaciation. Significant natural resources are iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land and water.
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย), is a country at the centre of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2 (198,000 sq mi), Thailand is the world's 51st-largest country. It is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, which is Thailand's political, commercial, industrial, and cultural hub. The city occupies 1,568.7 km2 (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance.
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Highly urbanized at 92%, South Koreans lead a distinctive urban lifestyle; half of them live in high-rises concentrated in the Seoul Capital Area with 25 million residents and the world's sixth leading global city with the fourth largest economy and seventh most sustainable city in the world.
South Korea occupies the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula, which extends some 1,100 km (680 mi) from the Asian mainland. This mountainous peninsula is flanked by the Yellow Sea to the west, and the Sea of Japan (East Sea) to the east. Its southern tip lies on the Korea Strait and the East China Sea. The country, including all its islands, lies between latitudes 33° and 39°N, and longitudes 124° and 130°E. Its total area is 100,032 square kilometres (38,622.57 sq mi).
The name 'Biddulph' is of English locational origin from a place in Staffordshire called Biddulph. The name derives from the Olde English pre 7th century 'bi' meaning 'by' plus 'dulf' or 'dylf' a derivative of 'delfan' to dig i.e. a mine or quarry. Biddulph therefore is taken to mean 'the place by the mine'. It is first recorded as Bidolf in 'The Domesday Book' of 1086 and as Bydulf in the 1291 'Taxatio Ecclesiastica' documents of Staffordshire. The surname from this source is first recorded at the end of the 12th century. Other spellings of the name have included 'de Bydoulf' (1285) and 'de Bydulfe' (1332). In 1598 one Michael Biddulph of Staffordshire is recorded in The Oxford University Register. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas de Bidulf which was dated 1199 The Assize Court Rolls of Staffordshire during the reign of Richard I Richard the Lionheart 1189-1199 Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
