SIKKIM, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. — It is situated in northeastern India. On 3 July 1883 and 20 March 1912, respectively, the British Bhutan—forming the civil district of Kalimpong—and a part of independent Sikkim, a region still closed to all missionary penetration, were annexed to the Apostolic Vicariate of Tibet (later the Apostolic Vicariate of Tatsienlu, now the Diocese of Kangting in China).
These territories, together with the rest of Sikkim, belonged to the Archdiocese of Calcutta. On 15 February 1929 they were erected into a mission *sui iuris*, entrusted to the Paris Foreign Missions Society and declared a suffragan of Calcutta. It was later elevated to an Apostolic Prefecture on 16 June 1931. The first mission station was founded in 1872 at Pedong by Fr. Cesgotin. His missionary companion, Fr. Moussot, was killed in Tibet on 2 July 1901. In 1934, missionaries sent from the Abbey of St. Maurice in Agauno arrived at Pedong, and in 1937, with the appointment of the current Apostolic Prefect, the Apostolic Prefecture effectively passed to the Canons Regular of the same abbey, who, to publicize the mission, have published *L'Echo di S.* since 1936.
It has an area of 8,400 sq. km and borders the dioceses of Shillong, Jalpaiguri, and Patna, the Archdiocese of Calcutta, and Tibet. The population numbers about 200,000, of whom only 1,700 are Catholics. The remainder consists of Buddhists from Tibet, Hindu emigrants from Nepal, and animist aborigines. Christian penetration is extremely difficult. The Apostolic Prefecture is divided into 6 primary stations and several secondary stations; there are 6 chapels. Instruction is provided in 13 elementary schools with about 350 pupils and in 3 middle schools with 120 students.