Scots are used to being told their country is "too wee" to be independent.

Imagine then how people on the tiny Aaland Islands feel about going it alone.

This largely self-governing Baltic archipelago - officially part of Finland but populated by around 28,000 Swedes - has been the world's poster-boy for successful devolution for more than 90 years.

But now, very slowly, some Aalanders are starting to think they could become one of Europe's usually filthy rich microstates, like San Marino, Monaco or Liechtenstein.

Many islanders, however, are too frightened of uncertainty to take such a leap, admits the man leading the party that wants to break free of Finland.

"Most people want more self-determination but they think independence is scary," said Axel Jonsson of Aalands Framtid. "I think the situation may be the same in Scotland."

Mr Jonsson's party, whose support has edged up in recent years to about one in 10 Aalanders, is a formal ally of the SNP.

He's been following politics in Scotland and Catalunya carefully.

Why? Because such bigger nations, whether their independence campaigns are successful or not, are acting as pathfinders for smaller movements across the continent.

Mr Jonsson said: "We have very good co-operation with the SNP and follow their work very closely.

"Scotland would set an example in Europe and especially in the European Union. That is interesting for everyone who wants to develop their autonomy and go towards independence in the EU."

I don't want to overstate this. Our constitutional niceties ARE important to the minority of Aalanders, such as Mr Jonsson, hoping to follow in Scotland's footsteps and have an independence referendum.

But I am not going to pretend the latest ins-and-outs of EU membership for a separate Scotland are front-page news in the Aalands. In fact, I'd gently suggest the Scottish story hasn't taken off in the Nordic world at all.

No, Aalanders, despite enjoying what is probably the world's oldest devolved government, are much more interested in the creeping moves to ever-greater autonomy in the Faroes, the still Danish-owned islands to our north.

Most Aalanders, after all, despite Mr Jonsson's efforts, are devomaxers, not independentistas.

Me? I think the Aalands might just prove to be more important to Scotland than Scotland is to the Aalands.

Why? Because the devolution arrangements in the islands have caught the eye of those who would like to see Orkney, Shetland and even the Western Isles have a bigger say on the way they are governed, whatever happens in next year's vote.

Take Steven Heddle, the leader of Orkney Islands Council. "This is something we are investigating," he said when asked about the Aalands. "We as a council are looking at ways of extending local democracy."

Scotland's islands authorities will be meeting this autumn to discuss their constitutional position in the light of the independence debate.

Expect the Aalands and, yes, the Faroes, to be cited regularly. Just don't, in my view, expect any serious calls for the three archipelagos to break from Scotland if we vote Yes next year.

But what you might hear are demands from Orcadians and Shetlanders in particular for the kind of autonomy the Aalands currently enjoy.

Mr Jonsson is aware of the interest. "We always try to show the world that the Aaland example is a good way to solve such problems.

"But we also always try to point out it is just an example, it is not a model you can copy. It has to fitted to the situation in Scotland. Maybe some aspects could inspire Shetland or Orkney?"

The inspiration may already have begun.

Cynics might notice that Orkney's new flag - distinctly Nordic and unfurled for the first time as recently as 2007 - is almost identical to that of the Aaland Islands. A co-incidence, stress officials in Kirkwall. I'm not so sure.

 

Many thanks to Niklas Lampi of Aalandstidningen for help with this blog.