Balș

Balș is also a commune in Iași County, see: Balș, Iași.

"Bals" redirects here. For the Japanese retails company see BALS.

Balș
Town
Balș Location of Balș
Coordinates: 44°21′0″N 24°5′58″E / 44.35000°N 24.09944°ECoordinates: 44°21′0″N 24°5′58″E / 44.35000°N 24.09944°E
Country	Romania
County	Olt County
Status	Town
Government
• Mayor	Vitalie Staicu (Social Democratic Party)
Area
• Total	41.13 km^2 (15.88 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	18,164
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.bals.ro/

Balș (Romanian pronunciation: [balʃ]) is a town in Olt County, Romania. The town administers three villages: Corbeni, Româna and Teiș.

Etymology

There are three hypotheses about the town's name:

1. The locality was named after the Balșița brook.
2. The name comes from the Turkish word "Baliş" (honey) as there is a large apiculture area there.
3. A boyar named Balș settled here in the 5th or 6th century.

Population

• 1864 - 1,700 inhabitants.
• 1884 - 2,500 inhabitants.
• 1921 - 5,000 inhabitants.
• 1938 - 5,300 inhabitants.
• 1948 - 6,128 inhabitants.
• 1973 - 11,578 inhabitants.
• 1992 - 24,560 inhabitants.
• 2002 - 21,195 inhabitants.

The composition from the last census, sorted by nationality:

* 20,552 Romanians

* 619 Romani

* 27 others

The composition from the last census, sorted by religion:

* 21,043 Eastern Orthodox

* 47 Seventh-Day Adventists

* 36 Baptists

* 19 Pentecostalists

* 8 Roman-Catholics

* 5 Atheists

* 32 other religion

History

• 1450 - The estimated date when Balș was established.
• 1564 - First mention of Balș in a document