TUMACO, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE. – It is situated on the south-western coasts of Colombia.
The territory was established as a prefecture on 1 May 1927 and entrusted to the Augustinian Recollects. It has an area of approximately 25,000 sq. km and a population of approximately 200,000, all Catholics except for a few Protestants. There are 11 missionaries, 26 women religious, 5 quasi-parishes, and 115 mission stations. There is one seminary, 3 colleges, and 162 schools.
BIBL.: MC, 48 (1950), p. 45; Anuario de la Iglesia Catól. en Colombia, 1951, Bogotá, pp. 333–34. Saverio Paventi