Scottish independence: Voting under way in referendum

People in Scotland have begun voting on whether the country should stay in the UK or become an independent nation.

Voters will answer "Yes" or "No" to the referendum question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

What is the referendum about?

A “yes” vote would end Scotland’s 300-year-old union with England and Wales, redrawing the map of the United Kingdom and raising difficult questions about the future of Scotland’s economy and its relationship with international partners such as the European Union and NATO.

But even if the “noes” have it, Scotland appears poised to extract more powers from the central government in London. In a bid to persuade Scots to stay in the fold, Britain's main political parties have pledged to turn over control of important tax and budgetary issues to the semi autonomous government in Edinburgh.

What would Scotland gain by breaking from Britain?

Scotland already runs its own health, education and legal systems, largely free of interference from London. But other governmental concerns such as employment, benefits, defence and the oil and gas industry are decided by the central government in London, where Scotland’s more liberal representatives tend to be eclipsed by a Conservative majority.

An independent Scotland would also gain control of oil and gas revenue which now goes to the British Treasury. But for many supporters of Scottish independence, the vote is ultimately about national pride.

With 4,285,323 people - 97% of the electorate - registered to vote, a historically high turnout is expected.

Votes will be cast at 2,608 polling places across the country until 22:00 on Thursday. The result is expected early on Friday morning.

Once closed, ballot papers will be counted in each of Scotland's 32 local authority areas.

These will include votes cast from the 789,024 postal vote applications, which was the largest volume of registration for postal votes ever in Scotland.

After votes have been tallied, the counting officer in each area will communicate the result to the chief counting officer Mary Pitcaithly in Edinburgh.

With her approval they will then make a declaration of the result.

Once the results from all 32 local authority areas are known, Ms Pitcaithly will declare the result of the referendum at the Royal Highland Centre outside Edinburgh.

Ms Pitcaithly has said she will announce the result at "breakfast time" on Friday.

The result is most likely to be between 06:30 and 07:30, according to Elections Scotland.

That is because the final Scottish declarations in the 2010 UK parliamentary elections and the 2011 Scottish parliamentary elections declaration were made at those times respectively.

However, running totals - which can be made from the first declaration onwards - may indicate a result earlier in the morning.

The bulk of these are expected to come in between 03:00 and 06:00.

Because of the expected high turnout, counting officers have put measures in place to reduce the risk of queuing at polling stations.

The remote nature of some Scottish regions also means bad weather could delay the receipt of ballot boxes at counting centres, in turn delaying the national result.

Helicopters and boats are being used to transport ballot boxes to counts in areas such as Argyll and Bute.

Elections Scotland said recounts will only be allowed at a local level on the basis of concerns about process, not the closeness of a result.