Southland District is a New Zealand territorial authority district that covers most of the southern end of the South Island as well as Stewart Island.

Southland District was formed through the 1989 local government reforms.

Southland District covers the majority of the land area of Southland Region, although the region also covers Gore District, Invercargill City and adjacent territorial waters.

The results were 86.3% European (Pākehā); 13.0% Māori; 1.4% Pasifika; 7.6% Asian; 0.8% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 3.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".

The percentage of people born overseas was 15.3, compared with 28.8% nationally.

Of those at least 15 years old, 3,174 (12.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 14,385 (56.5%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 7,026 (27.6%) people exclusively held high school qualifications.

Southland District was a sister city to Wyong Shire in New South Wales, Australia until 2010.