Rennell and Bellona is a province of the
Solomon Islands comprising two inhabited
atolls, Rennell and Bellona, or
Mu Nggava and
Mu Ngiki respectively in
Polynesian, as well as the uninhabited
Indispensable Reef. Rennell and Bellona are both
Polynesian-inhabited islands within the Solomons, most of the islands being primarily
Melanesian with a few Polynesian islands. They are thus considered
Polynesian outliers. The first known European to sight the islands was Mathew Boyd of
Camberwell,
London, Commander of the merchant ship,
Bellona, in 1793. The province has a combined population of 3,041 (2009 census). The
Samoic language of the islands is, in English texts, called "Rennell". The capital is
Tigoa on
Rennell Island.