Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond admitted defeat in Scotland's independence referendum Friday -- and urged the rest of Scotland to do the same.

In a televised statement, he thanked Scotland "for 1.6 million votes for Scottish independence."A turnout of 86% is one of the highest in the democratic world for any such vote, he said.

[Original story published at 12.37 p.m. ET]

Voters in Scotland made their choice Thursday -- remain part of the United Kingdom, or form their own independent nation. They chose to remain.

With 31 of 32 of councils reporting, the "No" campaign had garnered enough votes to secure their victory, and with it Scotland's continued place within the union.

The first councils to declare all went to the "No" campaign, as did the capital, Edinburgh, which voted overwhelmingly to stay in the union with 123,927 for "Yes" and 194,628 "No" votes. Argyll and Bute and Aberdeenshire also voted "No."

Glasgow delivered a solid win for the independence camp with 194,779 votes for "Yes," and 169,347 for "No," but lead was not big enough to overturn the "No" camp's overall majority so far, which maintains a 8% (54% to 46%) lead over pro-independence camp.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/europe/scotland-independence-vote/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

The Scots probably saw what happened when their fellow Scot left Man U (English Premier Club) and another was brought in naaaaa tongue dem nor de tell blind man say rain de fall naaaaa

bigtt76: The Scots probably saw what happened when their fellow Scot left Man U (English Premier Club) and another was brought in naaaaa tongue dem nor de tell blind man say rain de fall naaaaa

sooo funny!

the Scottish people messed up big time.

Good one for the Scots. Their decision to remain part of the United Kingdom is not misplaced. Unity in diversity is the best.
Best wishes to all UK citizens.