district, administrative and historic county of Norfolk, eastern England, occupying an area directly south of the city of Norwich. South Norfolk is principally an agricultural district extending across low-lying open countryside. Soils are generally fertile, and the old market centres (including Wymondham, Diss, Harleston, and Loddon) have small populations. A wide variety of crops, including barley, wheat, sugar beets, oats, and vegetables, are grown. Dairy cattle, pigs, and poultry are raised. Several parishes (towns) and villages have imposing churches ranging in date from the Norman to the Perpendicular Gothic periods (11th to late 15th centuries). The district's southern boundary, the River Waveney, is popular with anglers. Freshwater marshlands abounding in waterfowl are commonplace in the northeast. Long Stratton is the district seat. Area 350 square miles (907 square km). Pop. (2001) 110,708.