OUAGA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - The first apostolic vicariate of Dahomey, which extended from the mouth of the Volta River to that of the Niger, was erected by division of the apostolic vicariate of the Two Guineas (v. GUINEA) on 28 Aug. 1860, and entrusted to the students of the Lyon Seminary for Foreign Missions. On 23 Aug. 1870, while retaining the same boundaries, it was renamed the apostolic vicariate of the Bight of Benin, which in 1943 Lagos (v.).
On 26 June 1883 the territory between the Volta and the Ouémé-Okpara was erected into the apostolic prefecture of Dahomey, which, after various boundary modifications due to new erections, became an apostolic vicariate on 25 May 1901. After further territorial cessions, it changed its name in 1948 to that of O., where the Ordinary resides. The territory, thus reduced, comprises the southern zone of Dahomey up to the boundaries of the Savalou and Parakou districts, near the ninth parallel of north latitude. It has an area of approx. 38,000 sq. km.
The principal ethnic group is the Dahomeyan, which at the end of the 19th century was notorious for the slave trade and human sacrifices. Out of a population of approx. 1,250,000 inhabitants, Catholics and catechumens number 125,000. Muslims are approx. half, and Protestants approx. 16. The rest are pagans. There are 23 districts and a single quasi-parish, 234 secondary stations, 24 churches, and 235 chapels. Foreign missionaries number 45, nationals 18, brothers 6, sisters 106, catechists 563, and teachers 295. There are 5 dispensaries, 2 homes for the elderly, 1 for lepers, 41 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, and 1 normal school. Three periodicals are published, with a total circulation of 3,000. There are various pious associations.