Balș

Balş is also a commune in Iaşi County, see: Balş, Iaşi.

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

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

Etymology

There are three hypotheses about the town's name:

1. The locality was named after the Balşiţa brook.
2. The name comes from the Turkish word "Baliş" (honey) as there is a large apiculture area there.
3. A boyar named Balş 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 Romas

* 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 Balş was established.
• 1564 - First mention of Balş in a document