AMAZONAS (MANAUS), Diocese of. — In the state of Amazonas (Brazil), which is the largest of the Brazilian states (1,826,000 sq. km.) but very sparsely populated (fewer than 500,000 inhabitants) as it is largely covered by equatorial forest. The inhabited centers are almost exclusively located along the rivers, and the capital, Manaus, on the Amazon River, holds about one-fifth of the entire state's population, composed roughly half of Indians, some of whom are semi-wild. The diocese, erected on 27 April 1892, is a suffragan of Belém do Pará (since 1906); its seat is in Manaus. The cathedral is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. In 1907, the region traversed by the Rio Branco was separated and erected as a prefecture. On 1 May 1925, with three parishes from the diocese of A., the prelature nullius of Labrea was erected; on the same day, the parish of Humaytá and the city of Porto Velho were detached to form the prelature nullius of Porto Velho.
AMAZONI (MANÓS), DIOCESI DI
BIBL.: s. V. in The Cath. Enc., I (1907), p. 381; U. Rouzès, Amazones, in DHG, IX, col. 1014; AAS, 17 (1925), pp. 380, 561-66.