UPDATE: UK votes to leave European Union

UPDATED WITH QUOTES FROM STURGEON, CORBYN, FARAGE

LONDON (AA) – Britain has voted to end its 43-year association with the European Union in an historic referendum result which will have global implications.

In a narrow outcome, 17,410,742 voters (51.9 percent) chose to leave the EU while 16,141,241 (48.1 percent) opted to stay in the bloc.

The turnout was 72 percent, the highest voter participation recorded in a U.K. national poll in nearly 25 years.

But while England and Wales voted to leave, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted strongly to remain in the EU, raising questions about the United Kingdom’s future.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – who previously warned that Scotland being taken out of the EU against its wishes could trigger another independence referendum – said on Friday that her country had spoken “decisively”.

She said in an early morning statement: “Scotland has delivered a strong, unequivocal vote to remain in the EU, and I welcome that endorsement of our European status.

“And while the overall result remains to be declared, the vote here makes clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union.”

Shortly after the results were announced, political party leaders called on Prime Minister David Cameron to immediately invoke Article 50 of the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, which allows member states to leave the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn, head of the main opposition Labour Party, told the BBC that Cameron should refer to the article at once so negotiations on Brexit can begin with other EU states.

Meanwhile Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU U.K. Independence Party, said Cameron’s position was untenable given he had campaigned for a Remain vote.

“I think it's very difficult to believe that he can become a Brexit prime minister,” Farage told BBC radio.

The results had a dramatic and instant economic effect, causing global stock markets to fall and sending the pound sterling plummeting against the U.S. dollar in overnight trading.

By Friday morning, the British currency was worth $1.37, down from more than $1.50 just five hours earlier.

The Bank of England, Britain’s central bank, said it was monitoring developments and would “take all necessary steps to meet its responsibilities for monetary and financial stability."

Bank governor Mark Carney was expected to make a statement later Friday morning.