Diaspora and tourism

From the Greek dia (through) and speirein (to scatter), we have the word diaspora. Most often applied to Jews living outside Israel, it has come to have an equally important application for Scotland. Since the eighteenth century, millions of Scots have left their native land for England, North America, Australasia and just about every other spot on the globe. In the US there are up to 25 million people who can claim Scots ancestry, five times as many as in the auld country itself. Consequently, there are many ties between native and emigrant Scots, plus many foreign-born Scots keen to rediscover their Scottish roots.