SWAZILAND, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. - In South African territory under British protection, enclosed between the Transvaal and Mozambique.
The first two Servite missionaries went there in 1913 and, at the beginning of 1914, established the first station at Mbabane. At that time there were no indigenous Catholics. On 19 Apr. 1923 the territory of S. was detached from the apostolic vicariate of Natal, now the archdiocese of Durban, to form the apostolic prefecture of S., entrusted to the Servites. On 13 July 1938 three further civil districts, Piet Retief, Ingwavuma, and Ubombo, were annexed to the prefecture. On 15 March 1939 it was erected into a vicariate, and on 11 Jan. 1951 it was raised to the diocese of Bremersdorp, suffragan of the archdiocese of Pretoria.
It has an area of 29,780 sq. km., inhabited by approximately 290,000 indigenous people and 4,300 Europeans. The indigenous inhabitants belong to the Bantu race of the Zulu group and speak Swazi and Ronga. Catholics number: Europeans 84, coloured persons 345, indigenous people 13,931.