MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - The first turnout numbers of the Scottish referendum are starting to come in from the 32 local authority areas across the nation, with key parts of the country reporting historic voter turnout.
In the early hours of Friday, Sky News reported that turnout in Dundee, Scotland's fourth-largest city after Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, reached an unprecedented 90 percent.
The three key cities, which account for 25 percent of Scotland's population, will be the last three areas to report on their voting results.
But the first official statement came from Orkney, an archipelago in northern Scotland, where almost 84 percent showed up to place a cross on their ballot papers.
"Orkney is 83.7%, with 14,907 votes cast. Clackmannanshire's voter turnout is 88.6%, with 35,411 votes cast," BBC reported.
Sky News also quoted Blair McDougall, the director of the pro-unity Better Together campaign as saying in the interview that there was a "near 100-percent turnout" in some areas.
Referendum polls closed at 10 p.m. local time, with official results expected to be announced between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. local time on Friday.
If the majority of Scots vote "yes" in the referendum, then on March 24, 2016, Scotland will become independent from the United Kingdom.
