It has an area of 172,173 sq km with a population of 583,000, of whom 375,000 are Catholic; it comprises 24 parishes served by 11 diocesan priests and 60 regular clergy; it has 22 male and 10 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 337).
The diocese was created by Pius XII with the apostolic constitution *Ecclesiarum omnium* of 3 June 1939, by separation from the archdiocese of S. Fé, of which it is a suffragan. The parish church, dedicated to St Ferdinand, has been elevated to the rank and dignity of a cathedral.
BIBL.: AAS, 31 (1939), pp. 599-601.