BASUTOLAND. - A small (30,344 sq. km.) landlocked territory of southern Africa, enclosed between the Orange, Natal and the Cape Colony. It corresponds to the source basin of the Orange River; it is therefore a mountainous country (Champagne Castle 3650 m.), but with valley floors suitable for crops (cereals) and good pastures (1.5 million head of sheep; half a million goats and as many cattle). The Basuto, a branch of the Bantu negroes, who replaced the Bushmen, have multiplied since the second half of the last century; today they number about 600,000 (against barely 1450 whites), organized in a British Protectorate, which a resident commissioner administers (since 1884) under the control of the British high commissioner for the South African Union.
Bibliography2 worksE. Obst, Reisen und Forschungen im B. 1925-1926, in Frankfurt. Geograph. Hefte, 11 (1937), pp. 99-108; B. Minelli, Il B., in Le Vie del Mond
BIBL.: E. Obst, Reisen und Forschungen im B. 1925-1926, in Frankfurt. Geograph. Hefte, 11 (1937), pp. 99-108; B. Minelli, Il B., in Le Vie del Mondo, 6 (1938), pp. 141-58.
APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF BASUTOLAND
The territory is entrusted, as a mission, to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who began their work toward the middle of the last century, when the country still depended on the vicariate of Natal. It was erected as a prefecture on 8 May 1894 and as an apostolic vicariate on 18 Feb. 1909.
The mission had to struggle with very great difficulties, coming also from the French Protestant mission. Today, however, it is in full development.
Among an almost exclusively native population of 559,273 souls, it counts 177,086 Catholics and 15,404 catechumens, 75 quasi-parishes and 258 secondary stations, 107 priests, of whom 3 are native, 67 coadjutor brothers and 408 sisters, of whom many are native. There is a seminary for the native clergy at the seat of the apostolic vicar at Roma di B. The king of the country is a Catholic. Three periodicals are published there, and in 1945 the university college 'Pius XII' was erected for the natives.
Bibliography4 worksT. Ortolan, Les Oblats de Marie Immaculée, II, Paris 1915, pp. 447-72; G. Rommerskirchen, Bilder aus dem B. Hünfeld 1927; G.B. Lingueglia, T
BIBL.: T. Ortolan, Les Oblats de Marie Immaculée, II, Paris 1915, pp. 447-72; G. Rommerskirchen, Bilder aus dem B. Hünfeld 1927; G.B. Lingueglia, Tra i Cafri del B., Milan 1931; Arch. di Prop. Fide, Prospectus status missionis, 14 Nov. 1948, Posiz. n. prot. 4811-48.
Pietsch, Giovanni, and Giuseppe Caraci. “Basutoland.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, coll. 994–995. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949. https://azioneromana.com/article/basutoland.
MLA
Pietsch, Giovanni, and Giuseppe Caraci. “Basutoland.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949, coll. 994–995. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/basutoland.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec2_basutoland,
author = {Pietsch, Giovanni and Caraci, Giuseppe},
title = {Basutoland},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {II},
pages = {994--995},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1949},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/basutoland}
}
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