Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond on Wednesday stressed that Scotland's future should be in Scotland's hands.

In a debate at the Scottish Parliament with exactly one year to go until the historic referendum to be held on Sept. 18, 2014, Salmond said decisions about Scotland will be taken by the people who care most about Scotland, those who live and work here, to build a more prosperous and more just society with an abundance of natural resources and skilled and inventive population.

To achieve that aim, decisions on key issues such as the economy, welfare, taxation and international relations need to be taken at Holyrood the Scottish parliament alongside the decisions already taken in areas such as education, health care and law and order, said the Scottish First Minister in his opening statement in the "Scotland's Future" debate.

In 365 days, the people in Scotland would "claim the opportunity with both hands" and make Scotland as good as it can be, he noted.

"In exactly a year's time, the people of Scotland will choose whether to become an independent country," Salmond said.

"The record of this chamber has proven that the best people to take decisions on Scotland's future are the people who live and work in Scotland -- they are and always will be the people who care most about the future of Scotland," he asserted.

The Scottish First Minister termed the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum as an opportunity "once in a generation", while the U.K. government's Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore described it as "once in a lifetime".

Already two years in the making, since the Scottish National Party (SNP) won its landslide victory in the Holyrood elections in May 2011, the referendum has moved into countdown mode.

If Scotland votes Yes in the Independence referendum next year, the SNP government said that Scotland would become an independent country in 2016 and the next Scottish Parliament general election is scheduled for May 5, 2016.

Current polls show that more Scots are in favor of staying in the United Kingdom, while large numbers also declare themselves undecided.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Salmond signed the Edinburgh Agreement in October 2012, allowing Scotland to hold a referendum in autumn 2014 to decide whether Scotland should be an independent country. Endi

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