Updated 11:58 a.m. Moscow Time
LONDON, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - With all ballots counted, Scotland has chosen to stay in the United Kingdom with 44.7 percent in support of independence and 55.3 percent rejecting it.
The referendum saw the turnout of 84.59 percent.
Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, accepted his defeat before the results were counted. "Our referendum was an agreed and consented process. Scotland has decided No at this stage to become and independent country and I accept that verdict," Salmond said Friday.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Friday the results of the Scottish referendum that saw the victory of those voting against independence and "kept our country of four nations together."
The UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg posted on Twitter Friday: "In a dangerous and uncertain world I have no doubt we are stronger, safer, and more prosperous together than we ever could be apart".
If the majority of people in Scotland voted for independence, the region could become independent on March 24, 2016.
