SCOTLAND IS VOTING ON ITS INDEPENDENCE RIGHT NOW

Scotland is voting right now on whether to end its 307-year union with the United Kingdom and go it alone as an independent country.

Opinion polls show the country is evenly split with a narrow lead for the pro-UK "No" vote over the pro-independence "Yes" vote. But the difference is within the margin of error so it is literally too close to call.

Tomorrow, the Scots will wake up to a brand new, uncertain future. If the country is independent, it will face the fact that it has no currency, no central bank, and a chorus of economists who believe the nation will exist on the brink of "failed state" status (that last moniker comes from Glaswegian historian Niall Ferguson). The nationalists, of course, believe the opposite: That government from London has milked the country of its rightful oil revenues and can't be trusted to maintain proper levels of spending on health, education and infrastructure.

Or, if Scotland remains part of Great Britain, it will wake up with a giant hangover headache - they're already partying North of the border - and the sound of the entire world saying "never mind!" And everything will go back to normal.

• We're covering this live all day and - as the votes are counted - all night, so check back, click here, or refresh this page or updates.

The Telegraph notes something that could be increasingly interesting as the day/night goes on: "Many pubs plan to open all night."

Tennis champ Andy Murray has revealed that he favors voting "Yes," hours before the poll.

Britain's quirky TV broadcasting rules have gone into effect which prevent the major TV channels from commenting on the vote while the voting takes place, lest they influence the result. So all the news is coming from the web and print outlets. Here's the relevant news blackout rule:

Discussion and analysis of election and referendum issues must finish when the poll opens. (This refers to the opening of actual polling stations. This rule does not apply to any poll conducted entirely by post.)

Business Insider will, of course, be providing its regular ongoing coverage of the vote.

About 4.3 million, or 97% of the electorate have registered to vote. The vote has been extended to 16-year-olds, and thousands of teenagers will also be voting as a result. Long lines are expected at polling stations, the Financial Times says:

Scotland has set up 5,579 polling stations, which means typically there will be no more than 800 voters allocated to each polling station, in a bid to avoid any large queues. The polls opened at 7am and will close at 10pm.

The real fun comes when the polls close this evening at 10 p.m. The final result won't be known for hours afterward, with individual council areas reporting totals on a rolling basis. Here's a rough schedule of how that's likely to happen (below). Note that the crucial halfway point looks like it's going to come at about 3 am.