First Minister Alex Salmond is “confident” that the vast majority of people in the northern and Western Isles will vote for independence in September.
Speaking at an event in New York yesterday, he also pointed out that the results of a recent poll showed that most voters did not support plans for the islands to break away from mainland Scotland.
A Press and Journal-commissioned poll published in February, showed that 82% of people questioned in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles said they should remain part of Scotland.
Only 8% of respondents thought the northern isles should break away from Scotland and 10% said they did not know.
Mr Salmond made the point at a question-and- answer session at the Wall Street Journal newspaper when he was asked if there was a concern that islanders might want to remain part of the UK in the event of a Yes vote.
The Aberdeenshire East MSP said people in the Hebrides were “probably the most passionate advocates” of independence.
He added: “The Yes groups in both Orkney and Shetland are very, very strong and I am confident we will see the northern islands coming behind a Yes vote as I am confident about the rest of the country.”
The first minister said he was in favour of more power being devolved to the islands to enable people to re-invest revenue from natural resources into local services. “I do think there is a good argument for more island autonomy because there are particular issues which affect the communities,” he added.
Mr Salmond said an independent state would continue to support Gaelic language and culture but he admitted that Scotland would not be a “great military power”.
In a separate speech at Glasgow Caledonian University’s campus in New York, he said the country would use “enlightened self-interest” to become a force for good in the world.
Mr Salmond said small nations had the potential to make names for themselves and he cited the roles of Ireland and Norway in peacekeeping and the contribution of Switzerland to humanitarian efforts as examples.