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This is the Guardian's guide to Scottish independence.[br]For the non-Brits.

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It’s a long and complex story but let's[br]begin by answering the most fundamental question.

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Where is Scotland anyway?

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The country of Scotland is right here, at[br]the top of the island of Great Britain, the

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crazy hat worn by the bearded troll who appears[br]to be looking west, toward Ireland and laughing.

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On Thursday the 18th of September, the people[br]of Scotland will vote to decide whether or

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not it will become a country in its own right.[br]But wait, I hear you ask. Didn’t you just

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call Scotland a country? Isn’t Scotland[br]already a country?

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The definitive answer to that question is:[br]sort of.

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Technically Scotland is a country within a[br]country known as the United Kingdom. Scotland

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may have its own church, its own legal system,[br]its own professional soccer league and its

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own dietary idiosyncrasies, but it’s still[br]part of the UK, which also includes the countries

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of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish[br]people have British passports.

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Scotland did used to be a separate country,[br]with its own king, James VI. Then in 1603

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Queen Elizabeth - not that one, this one - died[br]without leaving an heir, and the nearest relative

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they could find turned out to be her cousin[br]James. He became James I of England, while

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still keeping his job as James VI of Scotland.[br]If you think that’s confusing, you ain’t

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heard nothing yet.

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England and Scotland maintained a monarch-sharing[br]arrangement for over a century before the

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Acts of Union in 1707 made the two nations[br]a single entity, with one parliament, located

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in London. Scotland went along with this largely[br]because it was almost bankrupt, thanks to

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something called the Darien Disaster, which[br]happened way over here and is, frankly, another

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story for another time.

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Let’s have a stirring musical interludel[br]before we skip ahead, Way ahead.

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Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh (etc)

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In the 1970s speculation about devolution,[br]the notion of returning a measure of power

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to the Scottish government gave rise to what[br]used to be known as the West Lothian question.

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For most people in the UK today the real West[br]Lothian question is: ‘What is the West Lothian

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question?’

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The West Lothian question named after the[br]Scottish constituency of the MP who first

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asked it. To paraphrase, he basically posited[br]a world where Scotland had its own regional

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parliament, but also continued to send representatives[br]to the British parliament in London. How could

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it be, he asked, that Scottish MPs could vote[br]on laws that affected only England, and yet

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had no vote on matters that affected Scotland?[br]That would be totally crazy! You weren’t

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really meant to answer the West Lothian question;[br]it was just there to demonstrate that a Scottish

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parliament couldn’t logically exist, and[br]that if you tried to set one up the universe

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would disappear, or something.

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But then in 1998, after a referendum on devolution,[br]they did set up a Scottish Parliament, with

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its very own brand new building. I know, but[br]it’s meant to be really nice on the inside.

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Devolution is not the same as being a separate[br]country. The British parliament merely devolved

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certain powers to Scotland, rather than transferring[br]them, and it reserved to the right to overturn

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any law made in the Scottish legislature.

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In 2011 the Scottish National Party - a party[br]that campaigned on a pledge to hold an independence

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referendum - won a landslide in the Scottish[br]parliament. The SNP leader - this man, Alex

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Salmond (you don’t pronounce the L, like[br]with the fish) - became Scotland’s First

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Minister, and promised a referendum within[br]the election cycle. In 2012 British Prime

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Minister David Cameron finally agreed to a[br]legally-binding referendum, saying: “This

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United Kingdom can never hold a country within[br]it without its consent.” What he meant was:

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“I’m allowing this because it’s certain[br]to fail”. Polls consistently showed that

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only a minority of Scots would vote for actual[br]independence.

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A Yes Campaign was set up, and also a No campaign,[br]which isn’t called the No Campaign, because

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that would sound a bit negative. Instead it’s[br]called Better Together, which is arguably

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worse.

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Those is Yes camp include Alex Salmond and[br]the SNP, and also the Scottish Green Party,

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the Scottish Socialist Party, possibly Rupert[br]Murdoch, Sir Sean Connery and both of the

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Proclaimers.

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The No camp includes all three main political[br]parties, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Susan

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Boyle, one of the Dr Whos, and a majority[br]of the people in the rest of the UK, who don’t

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get a vote.

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Those conspicuously offering no opinion include[br]Andy Murray, Billy Connelly and the Queen.

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Recently the no camp's comfortable lead has[br]eroded and a lot of questions that nobody

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had ever answered satisfactorily have suddenly[br]become interesting to people.

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Questions like: if it were independent, what[br]would Scotland use for money? What about Scottish

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passports? Would Scotland be able to join[br]the EU? Or NATO? And what will they call the

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rest of the UK if Scotland leaves? At the[br]moment they’re are literally calling it

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“the rest of the UK” or rUK for short,[br]which gives you an idea how much thought has

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gone into the whole business.

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The real question is: will Scotland be better[br]off as an independent country, or would it

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be an economic disaster. And the real answer[br]is nobody knows... because it’s the future.