Balș

For other uses, see Balș (disambiguation).
Balș
Town
Balș

Location of Balș

Coordinates: 44°21′0″N 24°5′58″E / 44.35000°N 24.09944°E / 44.35000; 24.09944Coordinates: 44°21′0″N 24°5′58″E / 44.35000°N 24.09944°E / 44.35000; 24.09944
Country  Romania
County Olt County
Status Town
Government
  Mayor Vitalie Staicu (Social Democratic Party)
Area
  Total 41.13 km2 (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

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

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