The best sources for data and maps about the specific island countries are their tourist information offices.
A good source for general information is www.spto.org (formerly the South Pacific Tourism Organization), P.O. Box 13119, Suva, Fiji Islands (tel. 679/330-4177 in Fiji.
The U.S. Department of State maintains a Travel Advisory (tel. 202/647-5225; http://travel.state.gov) to keep you abreast of political or other problems throughout the world and posts travel warnings and other timely information.
The East-West Center at the University of Hawaii gathers news from throughout the islands on its Pacific Islands Report website, http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport. It's an excellent source for breaking news, and it has links to newspapers, news services, universities, and other useful sites.
Other useful sites for regional news are posted by the Hawaii-based Pacific Magazine (www.pacificmagazine.net) and Fiji-based Islands Business Magazine (www.islandsbusiness.com).
The best place to order quality maps of the region is from Maptown Ltd. (www.maptown.com). The Perry-Castañeda Library at the University of Texas at Austin posts free maps of the region on its website at www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/australia.html. Other free sources are www.mapsouthpacific.com, www.maps-pacific.com, and www.worldatlas.com.
