South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire, metropolitan county, northern England; Barnsley is the administrative center. South Yorkshire is crossed, in a general eastern to western direction, by the Don River, on which are located several major iron- and steel-producing centers, including Sheffield, Rotherham, and Doncaster. Coal mining is important in much of the county. Agriculture, notably dairy farming, is carried on in the east. South Yorkshire was created in 1974 from parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire (see Yorkshire) and Nottinghamshire.