The Canton and Enderbury Islands are the coral atolls of Canton (now Kanton) and Enderbury in the Phoenix Islands, about 1,850 miles (3,000 km) south of Hawaii in the central Pacific Ocean. The islands were important naval and air bases on the way between the Americas and the Philippines and Australia and were claimed by both the United Kingdom and the United States of America. From 1939 to 1979 they formed a British–American condominium. Afterwards they formed part of the new country of Kiribati.