On the back of Scotland’s decision not to become an independent country, it occurs to me to ask …
How many “countries” (states, provinces, or whatever you want to call them) have ever voted in a free and fair election NOT to take independence from their “imperial masters”?
The only other which comes to mind is Quebec in 1980 and 1995. Are there any others since (say) 1800? One hears of so few that it seems to me that if independent sovereignty is sought, it is almost always attained.