Balș is a town in Olt County, Oltenia, Romania. The town administers three villages: Corbeni, Româna and Teiș.
Etymology
There are three hypotheses about the town’s name:
- The locality was named after the Balșița brook.
- The name comes from the Turkish word “Baliş” (honey) as there is a large apiculture area there.
- 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
