How Scotland Would Stack Up As An Independent Country

As the battle for Scotland heats up with just eight days to go before a referendum on independence, the three main political parties in the UK sent their leaders north on Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to ask Scots to vote “no” and stay in the United Kingdom. The pro-independence side accused them of spreading misinformation. But reciprocal accusations of spreading untruths have been a staple of more than two years of campaigning on both sides.

But just looking at the facts, how would an independent Scotland stack up against other countries in the world? We look at serious statistics -- where Scotland stands in GDP per capita, for example -- and at other, more frivolous data, such as the number of Scottish tennis players who have won Wimbledon (one.)

Much of that answer is based on who gets their hands on the precious oil that sits under the North Sea. Scotland is either entitled to a geographical share, which means it would take all oil within a 200-mile radius of its shoreline, or a population-based share, commensurate with the size of its population in the UK, just 8 percent.