Bellary, Mission *sui iuris* of
Bellary, a *mission sui iuris*, is a suffragan of Madras (India) and entrusted to the Friars Minor of the English province. Erected in 1928, it comprises the territory of the Bellary district (Madras governorship), detached from the archdiocese of Madras, and the districts of Raichur and Gulberga (Nizam State), detached from the diocese of Hyderabad. It has an area of 18,070 sq. km and a population of 4,300,000 souls, the great majority of whom are of Kannada race and language, with strong minorities of Telugu and Marathi peoples. Nine-tenths of the population follow Hinduism, about 400,000 are Muslims, and only 10,000 are Christians, of whom 3,471 are Catholics (statistics of 1939), served by 9 missionaries, 76 sisters, and 29 indigenous catechists, with 6 parishes, 12 elementary schools with 851 pupils, and 4 secondary schools with 784 students. The mission maintains a small hospital, an old-age home, and 322 orphans.