In September 18th, 2014, a cataclysmic event occured in the history of the United Kingdom. Scotland had declared independece from Great Britain, and it proceeded to vote its fate. Fortuantely, for the United Kingdom, the majority of the Scots have voted against independence, with about a 8% margin. If we look carefully at this incident, we can know that achieving independence from other countries was actually a common goal in the twenty-first century. Let's take a look into those areas who are still trying to achieve independence from other countries.

1. Scotland VS Great Britain, North Ireland VS Ireland

Even though Scotland is located in Great Britain, they are actually completely different countries. Great Britain is a country made up of 4 nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and North Ireland. Even though these four nations are in the same country, they have different cultures and backgrounds. England and Scotland have a notion of rivalry and enmity between themselves. The English originate from the blonde Anglo-Saxons; the Scottish originate from the red-headed Celtics. The English had all the power and ruled harshly, so the Scottish fought for years to achieve independence. However, the two were incorporated into one nation because the queen of England, Elizabeth I, did not have anyone to inherit the throne. From then, the two became one. Anyway, people either aspire independence or do not want it for several reasons. England said that it will not let Scotland use the pound, the currency of both nations, if Scotland declare independence. Scotland currently has no solution to this problem. Also, all the major international corporations in Scotland declared that they will leave if Scotland gains autonomy, so it will be a huge damage to the Scottish economy. Finally, Scotland will probably not be accepted by the European Union (EU). Yet the opposition advocate independence for different reasons. They believe that they can recover the economy quickly, because 98% of Great Britain's natural resources such as oil come from Scotland. So, Scotland will have exclusive rights to use the natural resources and become richer than England in the moment of time.
The same reasons apply for Ireland and North Ireland. Ireland is a country located right next to Great Britain, and the Irish is completely different from the British. So, when the Irish finally declared independence from the British, the British took the parts now known as North Ireland. However, the Irish constitution clearly states that the six states, now North Ireland, belongs to Irish territory. Because they still do not agree on this matter, conflicts occur in regard to this matter.

2. Cataluna VS Spain

Cataluna is a region that is familiar with many people by Barcelona. Spain, many years ago, was divided up into many small nations, and Cataluna was one of it. However, after it was incorporated into Spain, Cataluna got excluded from almost everything. The laws favored other kingdom, and Spain always ostracized the Cataluna region from economic development plans. This continued after Spain became a republic, and this even continued until now. In 2010, many Catalunans came out to the streets of Barcelona to protest the unfairness of the constitution. This enmity, existing from the past, continued until now. Some people from Cataluna do not know how to draw the Spanish flag. Surprisingly, Cataluna became rich by themselves and grew so wealthy that 20% of Spain's GDP comes from them. Spain's economy will be heavily affected by the independence. Also, another region in Spain's north called Basque is currently calling for independence, so it will be a huge crisis toward Spain's national identity if they allow this. Currently, Spain officially outlawed the independence votes in Cataluna, but the Catalunans said that they will do it anyway on November 9th.

3. Tibet, Xinjiang Uygyur VS China

Tibet is located in southwest China, and consist of one-eight of China. The Xinjiang Uygyur Autonomous Region lies in northwest China, and they together, consist of 25% of Chinese land. Tibet was an independent kingdom years ago, but the Chinese dynasties have constantly invaded Tibet and Xinjiang and colonized them. After Japanese colonization, the two temporarily come to a truce. But, this truce is broken after a little while, when China gains independece from Japan. China marches off to Tibet and Xinjiang to conquer them, and officially declares them as Chinese provinces. Since then, Tibet and Xinjiang have tried their best to declare independence from China, but China uses strong force to prevent this from happening. To begin with, China has a total of 56 different ethinic groups and 55 minorities. Even though 93% of China is ethnic Chinese (Han), the 7% consist of minorities. If Tibet and Xinjiang declare independence, then the others will also attempt to do the same, throwing China into turmoil. Also, the two regions produce more than a quarter of China's resources together. China's economy and power in the world will be substantially reduce if China allow the independence. Finally, the two have great geographical significance. Tibet borders India, Nepal, and other Southeast Asian countries. Xinjiang borders Mongolia, Russia, and Central Asian countries. Thus, the two can be used as a great military standpoint in crisis.