Sikaiana formerly called Stewart Islands is a small atoll 212 km NE of Malaita. It is an outlying region of Malaita Province in the Solomon Islands and is only 2 km² in size. The population is approximately 300 people of Polynesian descent. Some residents have claimed that the island group was annexed by the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1856 and has since become part of the United States. However, the U.S. government rejects this contention and regards the atoll as outside its territory.