CONTRARY to the textbook meaning of defending a territory against interlopers, two territories — continents apart — are welcoming immigrants to defend the territory from stagnation or being left behind by bigger cities and major metropolitan areas.

While the politicians from the far right espouse extreme nationalist views seeking to keep different-looking people from blending in, the need for skilled workers (taking on the hard-to-fill, difficult, monotonous jobs that natural-born or naturalized citizens shy away from) dictates that less-known regions in countries like Australia, Canada, the US, New Zealand and the UK put out a welcome mat as a way to assist in the development of the areas less preferred: the roads least traveled.