Scottish voters went to the polls Thursday to answer a simple question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

By early Friday morning, we learned that 55 per cent of them said “No.”

Ballots in some regions have yet to be counted, but it’s clear that the United Kingdom will remain intact.

The vote captivated audiences around the world. You can revisit our live coverage of the historic night below:

1:25 a.m. EDT: Alex Salmond has conceded defeat in the independence referendum. He said he accepts the result and called the vote a “triumph” of the democratic process. He also said he expects the unionist parties to keep the promises they made to Scotland.

1:19 a.m. EDT: A disappointed member of the "Yes" camp in Glasgow. (AP photo)

Scotland votes no

1:01 a.m. EDT: Edinburgh has voted 61% No. With only three regional councils left to report their results, British media are declaring that Scotland will remain in the United Kingdom. Current vote tally is 55% No, 45% Yes for independence.

12:54 a.m. EDT: Salmond also updated his Facebook cover photo a short time ago.

Post by Alex Salmond.

12:44 a.m. EDT: The U.K. prime minister has just tweeted for the first time since Wednesday. Meanwhile, SNP Leader Alex Salmond is thanking the "Yes" camp.

12:42 a.m. EDT: British media are reporting that David Cameron will speak about the referendum results early Friday morning, and the Queen is expected to release a written statement in the afternoon.

12:17 a.m. EDT: The BBC and The Guardian newspaper are now predicting that Scotland will reject independence. Current vote tally: 54% No; 46% Yes.

11:54 p.m. EDT:  Glasgow, with nearly 500,000 voters, has voted 53% Yes. Turnout was 75 per cent. 

11:48 p.m. EDT: North Lanarkshire has voted 51% Yes; South Lanarkshire voted 55% No. Glasgow results expected soon. 

11:39 p.m. EDT: Aberdeen City has voted 59% No; East Dunbartonshire 61% No. With 17 regional councils reporting, the overall vote breakdown is now 56% No, 44% Yes.

11:34 p.m. EDT: More results:

  • Angus: 56.3% No, 43.7% Yes.
  • Dumfries and Galloway: 66% No, 34% Yes
  • Stirling: 60% No, 40% Yes

11:24 p.m. EDT: In Falkirk, it’s 53.5% No, 46.5% Yes.  We still have 20 regional councils to go. 

11:20 p.m. EDT: With 11 out of 32 regions reporting, the overall vote breakdown is currently 53% No, 47% Yes.

11:17 p.m. EDT: It’s a resounding “No” in East Lothian. With a turnout of nearly 88 per cent, 61.7% voted No, while 38.3% voted Yes.

11:14 p.m. EDT: The rollercoaster ride continues. In Midlothian, 56% voted No, 44% voted Yes.

11:11 p.m. EDT: Another Yes vote, this time from West Dunbartonshire. 54% voted Yes, 46% No.

11:02 p.m. EDT: CTV’s Daniele Hamamdjian (@DHamamdjian) has been watching the crowds in Glasgow all night.

10:56 p.m. EDT:  Dundee, which has been called the “City of Yes” leading up to the referendum, has lived up to its name, with 57.3% per cent voting Yes, and 42.7 per cent voting No. Turnout was 78.8%.

In Renfrewshire, the vote breakdown is 47.2% Yes, 52.8% No.

10:42 p.m. EDT: This is the current mood at a "No" campaign event in Glasgow. Only five polling regions have reported results, but the "No" vote has prevailed so far. (AP photo)

Scotland vote

10:36 p.m. EDT: Another region has voted “No” -- by a very slim margin. The result in Inverclyde is 49.9% Yes, 50.1% No.

10:05 p.m. EDT: Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar (Western isles) have voted “No” to Scottish independence. Result breakdown is 46.58% Yes, 53.42% No.

9:46 p.m. EDT: The results from Shetland Islands are in: Yes: 36.29%; No: 63.71%. It’s still early and votes from only three regions have been tallied, but these numbers seem to be shifting the mood on both sides, according to reporters on the ground.

9:27 p.m. EDT: Supporters of the "Yes" campaign are still going strong in Glasgow's George Square. (AP photo)

Scotland vote

9:17 p.m. EDT: Results are in from the Orkney Islands: No: 67.20% Yes: 32.80%.

8:56 p.m. EDT: Turnout numbers are still trickling in, some of them surprising.

8:32 p.m. EDT: Referendum results are now coming in by region:

7:48 p.m. EDT: The leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond, sent out a buoyant tweet a short time ago. U.K. Prime Minster David Cameron, however, has been silent on Twitter all day.

7:35 p.m. EDT: Here's the scene at one polling station in Aberdeen, Scotland (AP photo)

Scotland vote

7:27 p.m. EDT: Voter turnout numbers are now starting to trickle in by region.

7:06 p.m. EDT: Canadians of Scottish origin are gathering in pubs and homes across the country, prepared to pull an all-nighter while they wait for referendum results. One of those parties is taking place in Ottawa, where Bryan Lyall says this vote shouldn’t be compared to the Quebec referendum of 1995.

“Being a true Scotsman, I see Scotland trying to get their country back,” he told CTV News Channel.

Lyall, who sits on the grand committee of the Scottish Society of Ottawa, said he grew up in an area of Scotland near the English border, “where we used to fight against the English all the time.”

“We liked a good skirmish,” he said. “I can honestly say it’s not the same for Quebec.”

Whether Scotland says “Yes” or “No” to independence, “there will definitely be a party” on Friday, Lyall said.

7 p.m. EDT: If you’re following #indyref action on Twitter, here is an interesting visualization of all the referendum-related tweets around the world. You can also check out this real-time map of "Yes" and "No" tweets.

6:38 p.m. EDT: Some important numbers and background info:

  • More than 4.2 million people – a whopping 97 per cent of those eligible -- had registered to vote in the referendum
  • Vote counting is taking place in 32 regional centres across Scotland 
  • If the “Yes” vote prevails, Scotland and the U.K. will have 18 months to figure out a separation plan. Scotland has penciled in March 24, 2016 as its Independence Day.
  • If you’re just tuning in, we have a good primer on the referendum.

6:35 p.m. EDT: CTV News Channel producer Michael Gillings, a native of Scotland, says the streets of Edinburgh were “quiet” today and people seemed very serious about the vote. “Everybody is anxious” and glued to their TVs, waiting for results. “This is historic in so many ways. Everybody is engaged,” Gillings says.

6:18 p.m. EDT: A lot of the referendum coverage has focused on Scotland’s youngest voters. For the first time in the U.K., 16- and 17-year-olds were able to cast ballots. In interviews leading up to the vote, many teenagers said they back the pro-independence Scottish National Party because they feel it will offer them a better future.

6:08 p.m. EDT: Cal Flyn (@calflyn), a freelance journalist who is pro-independence, tells CTV News Channel that there has been a lot of excitement in Scotland throughout the day.Still, there is “a lot of uncertainty” about what will happen if the “Yes” campaign wins.She says most of the mainstream media in the U.K. has been covering the “No” campaign. Media and U.K. politicians have been trying to play catch-up ever since the strength of the pro-independence movement became apparent, she says.

6 p.m. EDT: CTV’s John Vennavally-Rao (@jvrCTV), reporting from London, says a recent survey suggests half of adults in England don’t seem to care that much about what happens in Scotland. There is no sense of panic about the referendum in London, he says.

5:40 p.m. EDT: There are no official exit polls, but a poll taken by YouGov after people cast their ballots predicts that 54 per cent of people voted “No,” while 46 per cent voted “Yes.” That’s based on a survey of 1,828 people, plus 800 people who voted by mail.

5 p.m. EDT: The polls have closed and vote counting begins. CTV News correspondents Daniele Hamamdjian and Ben O’Hara-Byrne are on the ground in Scotland, while John Vennavally-Rao is in London.

The pro-independence “Yes Scotland” campaign sent out this tweet: