BACNINH, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. - On 1 June 1883 the vicariate of Northern Tonkin, which in 1924 took the name of B., was separated from the apostolic vicariate of Eastern Tonkin and entrusted to the Dominican province of the Philippines. It was divided in 1913 for the creation of the apostolic prefecture, now vicariate, of Langson and Caobang.
Area of the territory, situated in the torrid zone near the Tropic of Cancer: 24,700 sq. km; total population (approximate estimate, 1942): 1,200,000 inhabitants, mostly Annamites, about 60,000 of Tho or Thai stock, and about 25,000 Man, in the mountainous region. Catholics: 58,728, almost all Annamites, with 730 catechumens; some thirty Protestants, and 1,140,000 pagan inhabitants. The 46 principal and 428 secondary stations are entrusted to 67 Annamite secular priests and 12 Dominicans, assisted by 6 foreign and 201 Indochinese nuns; there are 131 catechists and 347 teachers. Works of the mission: a minor seminary with 22 pupils, and 59 philosophers and theologians studying outside the mission; the « Domus Dei », for aspirants to the seminary and for catechists; 32 dispensaries, 20 orphanages, a home for the aged and a leper hospital, and 1 hospital. Evangelization proceeds slowly (an annual average of 300 adult baptisms), both because of the small number of personnel and because the people are absorbed in material concerns. The Second World War has created further obstacles.