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What’s the difference between kidnapping and abduction?

OK, so that sounds a bit like the opening or feed line to a joke, but really - what is the difference, or are they both the same thing? And if they are, what are the criteria for which one is used and when?

According to http://www.dictionary.com/, kidnap is defined as:
"To steal, carry off, or abduct by force or fraud, esp. for use as a hostage or to extract ransom"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kidnap

And their definition of abduct is:
1. To carry off or lead away (a person) illegally and in secret or by force, esp. to kidnap. 2. Physiology. To move or draw away from the axis of the body or limb (opposed to adduct).
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abduct

So it looks like they both essentially mean the same, given that they are each given as a definition of the other.

Anecdotally, I can’t remember the last time I heard about a ‘kidnapping’ – think about it, it always seems to be described as ‘abduction’.

Is it because ‘kidnap’ contains the word ‘kid’ therefore implies the involvement of wee little children, so abduction is preferred because it has no implied or inferred age limit?

Is abduction used because kidnapping [by the definition given above] ‘especially’ involves a hostage or ransom situation?

Does kidnap suggest an element of pre-planning to the act?
Does abduction suggest a more opportunistic or spontaneous event?

Or is it just that ‘kidnap’ sounds a bit old-fashioned and Robert Louis Stevenson-ish, and/or abduction is deemed to be a more emotive [and therefore sensationalist and headline/attention-grabbing] word?

Cynic, me…?

}:->