Noréaz (; ) is a former municipality in the district of Sarine in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. On 1 January 2020 the former municipalities of Corserey, Noréaz and Prez-vers-Noréaz merged to form the new municipality of Prez. World heritage site It is home to the En Praz des Gueux prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site. En Praz des Gueux is the only prehistoric lakeside settlement on the banks of a small lake in the Canton of Fribourg. The site is dated to the classic Cortaillod era (4000-3500 BC). The site was discovered by accident in 1971 in a boggy area near the present shore of the Lac de Seedorf. Under a layer of about of peat timbers, gravel and stone slabs were discovered. History Noréaz is first mentioned in 1134 as Noarea. Geography Noréaz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 63.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 28.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.0% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.1% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.4%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 40.9% is used for growing crops and 21.6% is pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 1.6% is in lakes and 0.4% is in rivers and streams. The municipality is located in the Sarine district. It consists of the village of Noréaz and the hamlet of Seedorf. Lac de Seedorf is located in the municipality. Coat of arms The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Or a Semi Lion rampant issuant Gules and Azure three Escallops Argent. Demographics Noréaz has a population () of . , 4.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 19.1%. Migration accounted for 15.1%, while births and deaths accounted for 4%. Most of the population () speaks French (430 or 91.1%) as their first language, German is the second most common (29 or 6.1%) and Portuguese is the third (7 or 1.5%). , the population was 49.4% male and 50.6% female. The