IQUIQUE. – A city and diocese of Chile, erected on 20 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI through the apostolic constitution *Ad gregem dominicum* by the suppression of the Apostolic Vicariate of Tarapacá; it was first a suffragan of Santiago de Chile, now of La Serena.
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evangelized, and the autonomous mission of the Putumayo was established, entrusted to the English Franciscans, who, overcome by the practical difficulties encountered, abandoned it; consequently it was again incorporated (1922) into the Prefecture of San León de Amazonas, erected the previous year as an Apostolic Vicariate. In 1945 the aforementioned mission was restored roughly within the same boundaries, but under the name of San José de Amazonas, and entrusted to the Canadian Franciscans. In the same year the Apostolic Vicariate of San León was renamed I. after the city where the Ordinary resides. The inhabitants of this vicariate number, according to 1949 statistics, about 60,000, most of whom are baptized. They are served by 15 Augustinian priests, 24 sisters, 100 catechists, and 254 teachers. Apostolic work is made difficult by the unhealthiness of the climate and the lack of communication routes. The populations are naturally good, but weakened in the fulfillment of their Catholic duties by terrible diseases: marsh fevers, pernicious, tertian, and tubercular fevers, and beri-beri.