Scotland is a "better nation" as a result of the independence referendum, Alex Salmond claimed as he told how the debate over the country's future had seen people become more informed and energised.

The First Minister, who has already announced his intention to resign after Scotland last week voted to remain in the United Kingdom, said the lengthy campaign had left the country with one of the most politically engaged populations anywhere in the world.

But he warned Westminster leaders that the people of Scotland would not tolerate any delay in them delivering on their pledge of more powers for Holyrood.

Just days before the historic vote, David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg all made a public vow that key powers, including those over tax and welfare, would be transferred to Edinburgh.

They also promised that the Barnett formula, which determines how public funding is divided across the UK, would be kept.

Mr Salmond said Scotland now has "a responsibility to hold Westminster's feet to the fire to ensure the pledges are met".

He said: "That's not just a job for the Scottish Government, it is one for all parties in the Parliament. Indeed we might well argue there is a special obligation on the unionist parties, they promised further devolution, it is essential they deliver."

But he stressed the "true guardians of progress" are the "energised electorate of this nation".

He went on to state that the people of the country would not "tolerate any equivocation or delay" in fulfilling the promises.

The SNP leader was addressing Holyrood as MSPs returned for the first time since last Thursday's vote.

"Scotland now has the most politically engaged population in Western Europe and one of the most engaged of any country anywhere in the democratic world," he said.

"This land has been a hub of peaceful, passionate discussion, in the workplace, at home, in cafes, pubs and on the streets of Scotland. Across Scotland people have been energised, enthused by politics as has never happened before, certainly not in my experience."

He said there is now a "totally new body politic" in Scotland, which is "speaking loud and clear".

Mr Salmond said: "All of us must realise that things will never be the same again.

"Wherever we are travelling together we are a better nation today than we were at the start of this process, we are more informed, more enabled and more empowered.

"As a result of that our great national debate in my estimation will help us make a fairer, more prosperous and more democratic country. In all of that, all of Scotland will emerge as the winner."

With 85% of the electorate taking part in the referendum, the turnout was the "highest for any vote on this scale ever held on these islands", Mr Salmond said.

"This has been the greatest democratic experience in Scotland's history and it has brought us great credit, both nationally and internationally.

"The true story to emerge from the referendum is that Scotland now has the most politically-engaged population in Western Europe."

He said the Scottish Government would bring forward "constructive proposals" for what changes should now be made to the UK's constitutional set-up.

But with the Prime Minister now linking further devolution to changes in England, Mr Salmond said this could throw the process in Scotland "into delay and confusion".

With regards to new powers for Holyrood, he said: "In the Scottish Government's view the enhanced devolution settlement should pass three key tests - it should enable us to make Scotland a more prosperous country. In particular, genuine job-creating powers are important.

"It should allow us to build a fairer society, we need to address the deep-lying causes of inequality in Scottish society, and it should enable Scotland to have a stronger, clearer articulated voice on the international stage.

"We need to ensure that the powers delivered to this Parliament match not just the rhetoric but also the ambitions of the people of Scotland."

He stressed the need to maintain the Barnett formula, saying it is "vital that new economic powers do not in any way disadvantage Scotland".

Mr Salmond said: "The Barnett formula promise is essential, until or unless Scotland has control of all of our own resources."

He also said the Scottish Government wants to "ensure that the Scottish Parliament is entrenched in legislation" so it "can never therefore be abolished or diminished by Westminster".

The SNP leader added that this had also been promised prior to the referendum, but was "missing from the motion at Westminster".

He said: "Overall there is a great opportunity for this Parliament, together, to help the UK Government deliver its promise of significant extra powers for this chamber."

The referendum was the first time that 16 and 17-year-olds across Scotland were allowed to take part in a national ballot.

Mr Salmond said there is now an "unanswerable case" for this age group to be given the vote in all UK elections, as he urged party leaders at Westminster to make the change in time for next May's general election.

Mr Salmond, who opened today's debate at Holyrood on the future of Scotland, said: "There is not a shred of evidence for arguing now 16 and 17-year-olds should not be allowed to vote.

"Their engagement in this debate, this great constitutional debate, was second to none. They proved themselves to be the serious, passionate and committed citizens we always believed they should be.

"Everyone in this chamber should be proud of this chamber's decision to widen the franchise. There is an overwhelming, indeed an unanswerable, case for giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in all future elections in Scotland, indeed across the United Kingdom.

"All parties in this parliament I think should make a vow to urge Westminster to make this happen in time for next year's general election."

Labour leader Johann Lamont and Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said it is now time to move on from the independence debate, insisting that remaining in the United Kingdom is now the settled will of the Scottish people.

Ms Lamont said the SNP cannot spend its next two years in government saying: "If you had voted Yes that would have happened."

But SNP members cheered as Ms Davidson read out a list of improvements which the Scottish Government had previously said could only happen with independence, challenging the SNP administration to make them happen under devolution.

SNP Environment Minister Richard Lochhead shouted across the chamber: "You should have voted Yes."

Ms Lamont said: "The constitutional question has hung over this country all of my life, and I give absolute credit to the First Minister for giving the people of Scotland the opportunity to answer it.

"While he might not have got the result he was looking for, we can all agree that the United Kingdom is now the settled will of the Scottish people.

"No longer will the UK be a deal struck by the privileged few.

"It is now the choice of the many, expressed in a fair and democratic way in which we can all have confidence."

She added: "We cannot spend the next two years, having moved from: 'If you vote Yes this will happen', to: 'If you had voted Yes that would have happened'.

"We cannot leave the politics of the place in that shape. We need to move on."

Ms Davidson said she understands the "hurt, grief and loss" of those that voted for independence.

"But that pain is not healed by people crying foul and that grief is not ministered to by talk of a conspiracy," she said.

"To truly come back together and move on, we need the Scottish Government to acknowledge that the process was not flawed.

She added: "Since Friday, we have had three senior nationalists, including the First Minister himself, saying there are other ways to unilaterally declare independence.

"We need those at the top to respect and accept the result. Because without such acceptance, we cannot move on. And move on we must."

To repeated cheers from the SNP, she said: "I have here five pages of quotes from members of these Government benches where they say 'only with independence'."

Ms Davidson added: "This Government has spent seven years telling the country all of the things it says it can't do. Now it has 18 months to tell us the things that it can do."

Ms Lamont also backed the First Minister's call for voting to be extended to 16 and 17-year-olds for all future elections.

"I was immensely proud and emotional on the day of the election to travel with my family, with my son in particular at 17, taking the opportunity to vote in shaping Scotland's future," she said.

"It was a momentous occasion for him, and I certainly would agree with the First Minister that actioning the question of votes at 16 is something that should be embraced.

"We are committed on this side to votes at 16.

"Votes at 16 has been our policy for years, and we want it to happen, and I don't believe that there is any good reason why it shouldn't happen right now."

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie also backed the case to give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in all UK elections.

He said: "The most inspiring aspect was the 16-year-old voter who, in voting for the first time ever, did so with great pride, confidence and knowledge.

"They (16 and 17-year-olds) have carried themselves very well in this referendum. They have given opportunities to 16 and 17-year-olds right across the UK."

Mr Rennie turned to the outcome of the referendum itself, and plans to hand more powers to Scotland.

"The First Minister is fond of expressing great confidence in the ability of the Scottish people, but to my great disappointment over the weekend, that confidence evaporated.

"Within hours of the result, and agreeing to participate in the process for more powers on Friday, the First Minister was actively seeking to undermine it with a range of bogus distractions, claims and allegations."

Mr Rennie questioned whether Mr Salmond accepted the result of the vote. He said he had met with Lord Smith today to discuss the Lib Dems' proposals for further devolution.

His party has set out a package of powers including control over income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and assigning the revenues from corporation tax, under a federal settlement.

"I am confident that agreement can be reached," Mr Rennie said.

"I hope the SNP engage positively and constructively as well. Not with some back-door attempts to re-run the referendum, not with some back-door attempt to put forward three tests which sound exactly like the tests the First Minister set for independence, but with positive proposals for change that reflect the biggest ever democratic endorsement this country has ever seen."

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, a supporter of independence, praised voter engagement and condemned bad behaviour on both sides of the debate.

Turning to further powers for Holyrood as an alternative to independence, he said: "I don't see any variant of "devo-next" that doesn't increase our need to represent ourselves on the world stage, that doesn't increase our need to take the further steps on."

He said some progress is now going to happen with further powers coming to Holyrood but Mr Harvie warned: "The Smith Commission very clearly is not going to have the time to undertake the depth of public engagement that I believe Scotland deserves to have.

"We have to avoid it becoming just another party political stitch-up though. Whether its large parties or small parties, if this is a deal done inside the political bubble then it will fail to give effect to that groundswell appetite and enthusiasm for genuine democratic reform."

Kevin Stewart, SNP MSP for Aberdeen Central, paid tribute to the campaigners who had never been involved in politics before, saying their contribution to the debate had been "truly inspiring".

He said: "Democracy and participation have grown in Scotland over these past few weeks and months.

"The people of this country now recognise that they themselves have power. That genie is now well and truly out of the bottle and woe betide any politician or political party that does not recognise that Scotland and her people have changed forever."

Mr Stewart added: "Trust is now key in ensuring that people who have been disenfranchised remain enfranchised. We should trust our young people to make decisions and should give them the vote in every election."

Neil Findlay, Labour MSP for Lothian, said: "On both the No and Yes side many of us want similar things. We want a fairer Scotland, a more just Scotland and a caring Scotland. We simply disagreed on the best way to achieve that goal.

"The task now is to convince those in power that being all things to all people changes little. We need progressive action to address the inequality in our society."

He attacked Mr Salmond's claim that Scotland could become independent without going through another referendum and the suggestion that a similar vote was only one of a range of options.

Mr Findlay said: "Can I ask the First Minister to reflect on his comments of yesterday and consign his plans for a constitutional coup d'etat to the waste paper bin marked very bad and dangerous ideas?"

Mid Scotland and Fife SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing said: "The citizens of Scotland have now come alive and they have raised expectations about the level of political debate and involvement in future democratic contests, and I hope that all parties live up to those raised, heightened expectations."

Young voters of 16 and 17 had been a "credit and inspiration" to their country, Ms Ewing said.

"What politician could look young people in the eye and tell them that though they were deemed mature enough to vote for the future of their country they are somehow not eligible to vote in the coming Westminster and subsequent elections?"

She paid tribute to the "truly remarkable" First Minister who had "taken Scotland into a new era, an era of self-belief and of confidence, an era where people have rightly understood that they are entitled to be ambitious for their country and they are entitled to have hope that their lives and their families lives can indeed be better".

SNP MSP Christine Grahame, who has often been at odds with Scottish Government policy, thanked the outgoing First Minister for his "tolerance of my politically idiosyncratic moments in the chamber".

But she set herself firmly at odds with the Better Together campaign and the mainstream media, which she accused of bias and scaremongering.

"While others Tweeted and Facebooked, which I do not do, many pensioners were accessing the debate through the press and terrestrial media," she said.

"No-one in the No side can possibly dispute the inequality of the debate there.

"With only one national paper, the Sunday Herald, declaring for Yes, the headlines screaming: 'Vote Yes for higher prices' and so on.

"Nicholas Witchell (BBC royal correspondent) even had the audacity to tell us the Queen's private thoughts on the debate - BBC impartiality parked.

"But the crux for me was the threat to the state pension, either directly by scaring people into believing that it would never be paid out or couldn't be paid from Scotland's own resources."

She added: "I know of cases where pensioners were entering the polling station where No campaigners were still telling them they would lose their pension should they vote Yes."

Labour MSP Jackie Baillie called on Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is widely tipped to be the next First Minister, to distance herself from Mr Salmond's claim that "a referendum is only one of a number of routes" for Scotland to "improve its position in pursuit of Scottish independence".

Ms Baillie said: "I am astonished but perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that a mere 24 hours later (after the referendum), the sovereign will of the people of Scotland was simply brushed aside and Alex Salmond was declaring UDI (unilateral declaration of independence).

"One cannot help but think that despite his resignation he is actually intent on causing maximum difficulty for his deputy, because you cannot on the one hand talk about respecting the result and then deny the democratic will of the people and set out plans to simply assert independence.

"As the heir-apparent, Nicola Sturgeon needs to be very clear: does she respect the will of the Scottish people, does she respect the result, will she get on with the business of government, or does she deny that democratic will of the people and simply assert independence?"

SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson said the No vote could turn into "a Pyrrhic victory" - success at a great cost for the victor - for the No campaign.

"Today's Australian newspaper, in its leading article, says: 'Scottish nationalists need not dispair - they have lost the battle but not necessarily the war'," he said.