Annexation is the process of incorporating land into a country, state, or municipality. In many cases it is a legitimate means for a governmental unit to acquire land. For example, a city may annex unincorporated land into it’s borders. In the context of international law, annexation often implies the forcible transition of one state’s territory by another state. Such was the case when the United States annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii as part of a broader expansionist agenda of the late nineteenth century.