# Balș

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For other uses, see [Balș (disambiguation)](/source/Bal%C8%99_(disambiguation)).

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Town in Olt, Romania

Balș Town Location in Olt County Balș Location in Romania Coordinates: 44°21′0″N 24°5′58″E / 44.35000°N 24.09944°E / 44.35000; 24.09944 Country Romania County Olt Government • Mayor (2024–2028) Cătălin-Ștefan Rotea[2] (PSD) Area 41.13 km2 (15.88 sq mi) Elevation 129 m (423 ft) Population (2021-12-01)[1] 16,114 • Density 391.8/km2 (1,015/sq mi) Time zone UTC+02:00 (EET) • Summer (DST) UTC+03:00 (EEST) Postal code 235100 Area code (+40) 0249 Vehicle reg. OT Website primariabals.eu

**Balș** (Romanian pronunciation: [\[balʃ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Romanian) [ⓘ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ro-Bal%C8%99.ogg)) is a town in [Olt County](/source/Olt_County), [Oltenia](/source/Oltenia), [Romania](/source/Romania). The town administers three villages: Corbeni, Româna, and Teiș.

## Geography

The town is situated on the [Wallachian Plain](/source/Wallachian_Plain) and lies on the banks of the river [Olteț](/source/Olte%C8%9B). It is located in the northwestern part of the county, on the border with [Dolj County](/source/Dolj_County), 26 km (16 mi) west of the county seat, [Slatina](/source/Slatina%2C_Romania).

## Etymology

There are three hypotheses about the town's name:

1. The locality was named after the Balșița brook.

1. The name comes from the [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language) word "Baliş" (honey), as there is a large [apiculture](/source/Apiculture) area there.

1. A [boyar](/source/Boyar) named Balș settled here in the 5th or 6th century.

## Population

‹ The [template](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Template) *[Historical populations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Historical_populations)* is being [considered for merging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Templates_for_discussion/Log/2026_June_24#Template:Infobox_demographics). ›

Historical population Year Pop. ±% 1864 1,700 — 1884 2,500 +47.1% 1921 5,000 +100.0% 1938 5,300 +6.0% 1948 6,128 +15.6% 1973 11,578 +88.9% 1992 24,560 +112.1% 2002 21,195 −13.7% 2011 18,164 −14.3% 2021 16,114 −11.3% Source: Census data

At the 2002 census, the town had a population of 21,195; there were 20,552 [Romanians](/source/Romanians), 619 [Roma](/source/Romani_people_in_Romania), and 27 others. Listed by religion: 21,043 were [Eastern Orthodox](/source/Eastern_Orthodoxy), 47 [Seventh-Day Adventists](/source/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church), 36 [Baptists](/source/Baptists), 19 [Pentecostals](/source/Pentecostalism), 8 [Roman-Catholics](/source/Catholic_Church), 5 [Atheists](/source/Atheism), and 32 from other religions. At the [2021 census](/source/2021_Romanian_census), Balș had a population of 16,114; of those, 81.73% were Romanians and 6.32% Roma.[3]

## History

- 1450 – The estimated date when Balș was established.

- 1564 – First mention of Balș in a document

## Natives

- [Nicușor Bănică](/source/Nicu%C8%99or_B%C4%83nic%C4%83) (born 1984), footballer

- [Eugen Căpățînă](/source/Eugen_C%C4%83p%C4%83%C8%9B%C3%AEn%C4%83) (born 1986), rugby player

- [Claudia Constantinescu](/source/Claudia_Constantinescu) (born 1994), handballer

- [Ion Dumitra](/source/Ion_Dumitra) (born 1976), footballer

- [Cornel Feruță](/source/Cornel_Feru%C8%9B%C4%83) (born 1975), diplomat

- [Petre Pandrea](/source/Petre_Pandrea) (1904–1968), social philosopher, memoirist, and political activist

- [Cerasela Pătrașcu](/source/Cerasela_P%C4%83tra%C8%99cu) (born 1992), artistic gymnast

- [Daniel Stana](/source/Daniel_Stana) (born 1982), footballer

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["2021 Romanian census"](https://www.recensamantromania.ro/rezultate-rpl-2021/rezultate-definitive-caracteristici-demografice/). National Institute of Statistics. 1 December 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Results of the 2024 local elections"](https://prezenta.roaep.ro/locale09062024v2/). Central Electoral Bureau. Retrieved 6 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-RPL2021_3-0)** ["Populaţia rezidentă după grupa de vârstă, pe județe și municipii, orașe, comune, la 1 decembrie 2021"](https://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Tabel-1.03_1.3.1-si-1.03.2.xls) (in Romanian). [INSSE](/source/National_Institute_of_Statistics_(Romania)). 31 May 2023.

		- Church in Balș

		- Town police headquarters

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Balș](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bal%C8%99).

v t e Olt County, Romania Cities Slatina (county seat) Caracal Towns Balș Corabia Drăgănești-Olt Piatra-Olt Potcoava Scornicești Communes Băbiciu Baldovinești Bălteni Bărăști Bârza Bobicești Brâncoveni Brastavățu Brebeni Bucinișu Călui Cârlogani Cezieni Cilieni Colonești Corbu Coteana Crâmpoia Cungrea Curtișoara Dăneasa Deveselu Dobrețu Dobrosloveni Dobroteasa Dobrun Drăghiceni Făgețelu Fălcoiu Fărcașele Găneasa Gârcov Găvănești Ghimpețeni Giuvărăști Gostavățu Grădinari Grădinile Grojdibodu Gura Padinii Ianca Iancu Jianu Icoana Ipotești Izbiceni Izvoarele Leleasca Mărunței Mihăești Milcov Morunglav Movileni Nicolae Titulescu Obârșia Oboga Oporelu Optași-Măgura Orlea Osica de Jos Osica de Sus Pârșcoveni Perieți Pleșoiu Poboru Priseaca Radomirești Redea Rotunda Rusănești Sâmburești Sârbii-Măgura Scărișoara Schitu Seaca Șerbănești Slătioara Șopârlița Spineni Sprâncenata Ștefan cel Mare Stoenești Stoicănești Strejești Studina Tătulești Teslui Tia Mare Topana Traian Tufeni Urzica Vădastra Vădăstrița Vâlcele Valea Mare Văleni Verguleasa Vișina Vișina Nouă Vitomirești Vlădila Voineasa Vulpeni Vulturești

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Balș](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal%C8%99) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal%C8%99?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.