Bălți (; russian: Бельцы, , uk, Бєльці, , yi, בעלץ ) is a city in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

. It is the second largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the middle of the ...

. The city is one of the five Moldovan

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

. Sometimes also called "the northern capital", it is a major industrial, cultural and commercial centre and transportation hub in the north of the country. It is situated north of the capital Chișinău, and is located on the river Răut, a tributary of the

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and t ...

, on a hilly landscape in the Bălți steppe.

Name

The word "''bălți''" (pl. of

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

sing. "''baltă''") in direct translation means "puddle". It is believed that the city had been named thus because it was founded on a hill dominating the wetland formed where the creek Răuțel ("Little Răut") falls into the river Răut. In addition to the official name ''Bălți'' and the Russian name ('), between 1940 and 1989 in

Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet designed for the Romanian language spoken in the Soviet Union ( Moldovan) and was in official use from 1924 to 1932 and 1938 to 1989 (and still in use today in the breakaway Moldovan reg ...

, and after 1989 in Russian, the name was/is also rendered in

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...

as ().

History and symbols

Consecration of Constantine and Elena Cathedral in Bălţi on June 2, 1935

Coat of arms

The current

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

and flag of Bălți, elaborated by Silviu Tabac from the Moldovan State Commission for

Heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...

, have been adopted by the Municipal Council in April 2006. A shield, with alternating six silvery strips (symbolizing water), and six blue strips (symbolizing earth) form the background (symbolizing the name of the city). The central element of the shield is an

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

in red clothes, in the military outfit (yellow) of

Stephen III of Moldavia Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

(

: Ștefan cel Mare) times (15th century). The archer represents the medieval

military recruitment Military recruitment refers to the activity of attracting people to, and selecting them for, military training and employment. Demographics Gender Across the world, a large majority of recruits to state armed forces and non-state arme ...

, formed by local free peasants. On top of the shield there is a silver crown in the shape of fortress wall, with seven towers. (The crown represents the fact that the locality is a city. Apart from Bălți, only the capital

, and

Tiraspol Tiraspol or Tirișpolea ( ro, Tiraspol, Moldovan Cyrillic: Тираспол, ; russian: Тира́споль, ; uk, Тирасполь, Tyraspol') is the capital of Transnistria (''de facto''), a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the th ...

are allowed to have seven towers, while other cities must limit this number to three or five.) The shield is supported by two rearing silver horses (the white horse is the traditional symbol of the region, which was part of Iași County before 1812). Under the shield there is a ribbon with the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

inscription '' CEDANT ARMA TOGAE'', meaning ''let arms yield to the

toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...

''. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the archer was featured on the coats of arms of the region. In the 19th century, the city and district coats of arms also featured a horse head. In the early 20th century, a shield representing an archer, standing on a hill, the sun, and three bullrush sticks (elements quite sufficient to identify the place where Bălți is situated in the landscape of the north of Moldova) formed the coat of arms of the Bălți county, while these and horse elements - the coat of arms of the city proper.

Flag

The city's flag is composed of two horizontal strips: a blue one on the bottom, and a silver one on top. The shield and archer elements from the coat of arms are also present in the centre of the flag.

Geography

Bălți is situated on the tops and slopes of three hills and in two small valleys. The land in the north of

is very fertile, mostly consisting of black earth or

chernozem Chernozem (from rus, чернозём, p=tɕɪrnɐˈzʲɵm, r=chernozyom; "black ground"), also called black soil, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compou ...

. Several extraction sites for raw materials used in the construction industry are also found in the vicinity of Bălți. The creeks Răuțel, Copăceanca, and Flămândă cross the territory of the municipality, and flow into the river Răut. Also, several lakes are situated in Bălți: City Lake, Komsolskoe Lake, Hunters and Fishermen Lake, Strâmba Lake. The

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

covers an area of , of which the city proper , the village Elizaveta (an eastern suburb) , and the village Sadovoe (a north-western suburb) . Of these, an important portion () is agriculturally cultivated.

Neighbourhoods

The city itself is located on portions of three hills. The river Răut separates one of the hills to the north-east, the slopes of this hill are occupied by the neighbourhood Slobozia. Răut's affluent Răuțel separates another hill in the south, the slopes of which are the Podul Chișinăului district. The largest of the three hills dominates the valleys of the creek and river, and contains the city centre and the old town, and the neighbourhoods Pământeni,

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

, 6th district, 8th district, the city's main industrial area, and Moldova neighbourhood. The top of this hill is occupied by the medical facilities district. Bălții Noi neighborhood is situated in the valley of the Răuțel creek. A Soroca neighbourhood, 10th district, 9th district, the area of the former Bălți concentration camp, and the Bălți City Airport are situated in the valley of the Răut river. The names of city neighborhoods reflect different historic influences, such as names of 19th century suburbs that are nowadays within city limits: ''Pământeni'', ''Slobozia'', ''Molodova'', ''Podul Chișinăului'', ''Bălții Noi''; others are known by their

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-era names: ''6th district'', ''8th district'', ''9th district''. A neighbourhood in the northern part of the city is called ''Dacia'', and is colloquially sometimes referred to as ''BAM''. A district in the eastern part is known as ''10th district''.

Climate

Bălți has a warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Dfb''). The all-time maximum temperature registered in the city was , the all-time minimum . There are 450 to of annual rainfall, mostly during summer and fall. Winds are generally from the north-east or the north-west at about 2–5 m/s.

Seismology

The city is situated in the 7th zone of seismic activity, with a well-felt earthquake (generally without any serious structural damage to the city's buildings) occurring every 35 years on average.

Cityscape

Architecture

Cultural venues in the city include: * Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre * The oldest surviving building, a two-story boyar house, right in the heart of the city centre, dates back to 1609. Though it has been re-constructed and re-modeled many times with total disregard to conservation to the extent that now it simply looks like an odd two-story building. * Monument of Stephen the Great (2003)
Others
(see down through the text) Churches:
Saint Nicolas Church, Bălți
(1795). Although Orthodox, the building, financed by Gheorghe Panaiti, has a degree of

catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

influence brought in by the architect Antuan Weismann from

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. * Saint Constantine and Elena Cathedral, Bălți (1934), Orthodox, built in neo-

Byzantine style Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the ...

. The building, at which official opening the Romanian

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...

was present, survived almost without visible effects the harsh treatment during the

era. During this time it was mostly a depot and later turned into the municipal museum.
Bishopric Palace, Bălți
(1924–1932), was the main office of the agricultural enterprise-institute "Selectia", and the surrounding park during the

era.
Saint Parascheva Church, Bălți
(1933), by the bishop Visarion Puiu.
Archangels Michael and Gabriel Church, Bălți
(1912–1933)
Saint Peter and Paul Church, Bălți
(1915–1929) * Armenianbr>Saint Gregory Church, Bălți
(1916) * Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church (1884)

Culture and contemporary life

Entertainment and performing arts

Theaters: * Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre * "Eugène Ionesco" Theatre * "Licurici" Republican Puppet Theatre * "B.P. Hajdeu" Republican Drama-Muzical Theatre * "Mihai Eminescu" National Theatre * "Luceafarul" Republican Theatre * Municipal Theatre "Satiricus I.L. Caragiale" Museums and

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

: * "Exhibition of the Union of painters "Constantin Brâncuși" * Artum Art Gallery

Media

* '' Deca-press'', the oldest independent

press agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency may ...

in the north of the country. * '' Spros i Predlojenie'', a major Russian language

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

serving northern Moldova. *
Gazeta.MD
' the News agency founded in December 2007. * '' Golos Bălți'' the city newspaper, founded in 1947. * '' Makler'' the advertising newspaper from Moldova and Ukraine. *
Belicy-sity
' information and entertaining portal Belicy-sity.

Radio stations

List of FM radio stations from Bălți as of 4 July 2009. * 90.0-«Serebriannii dojdi» * 90.5-«Prime FM» * 92.00-«Retro FM» * 101.0-«Vocea Basarabiei» * 101.5-«City radio» * 102.1-«Radio ALLA» * 102.9-«BBC» * 103.5-«Vzrosloe radio Shanson» * 103.9-«Fresh FM» * 104.9-«Radio Moldova» * 105.6-«Megapolis Fm» * 106.2-«Russcoe Radio» * 107.2-«NOROC» * 107.6-«Hit FM»

Civil society

Bălți is a source of

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s for care of socially vulnerable persons, ''Tinerii pentru Dreptul la Viață'' ("Youth for the right to live"), a

youth organisation The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...

Sports

* 7 sport schools in Bălți offer programmes in the following sports:

Orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

handgun shooting sports A handgun is a short-barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced aga ...

equestrianism Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other act ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. * Municipal Stadium "

Olimpia Bălți Stadium Olimpia may refer to: Sports teams *Club Atlético Olimpia, a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay *Club Deportivo Olimpia, a football team based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras *Club Olimpia, a sports club based in the city of Asunción, Paraguay * ...

" (home of FC Olimpia Bălți) *

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

Swimming Pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

"Central" *

Swimming Pool "Volna" (open air) * FC Olimpia Bălți is a football club based in the city and plays in Moldova's top league, the

Moldovan National Division The Moldovan Super Liga is an association football league that is currently the top division of Moldovan football league system. The competition was established in 1992, when the country became independent from the Soviet Union. It was formed in ...

Economy

Historically Bălți was known for producing

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. They also had many

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyard ...

s and

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

s. Most of the city's industry centres on

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex in ...

, notably in the production of flour, sugar, and wine.

Manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

of furniture and agricultural machinery also plays an important role in Bălți's economy. The

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

has developed after 1989 to cover the

basic needs The basic needs approach is one of the major approaches to the measurement of absolute poverty in developing countries globally. It works to define the absolute minimum resources necessary for long-term physical well-being, usually in terms of ...

of the population.

Manufacturing

This city is an important economic centre, with

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

playing an important role. Besides traditional for Moldova

wine making Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and w ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

meat processing The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally no ...

flour milling A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

, oil production, and

light industry Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for ...

in general, Bălți is the centre for manufacturing of

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that ...

, of various

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

materials, fur, textile, chemical and furniture industries. A mammoth Soviet-type

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** ...

8,000-worker factory (called "Lenin" before 1989 and "Răut" afterwards) produced a large variety of machine building products for consumer or industry use, from irons and telephone sets to

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

equipment for

Soviet military The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s. However, due to swift changes in the economic environment after the breakdown of the Soviet

planned economy A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...

system, the manufacturing base of the city has severely suffered. Nevertheless, more recently, new economic ties are being created, with collaboration and direct investment mostly from

the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been d ...

. Lisa Dräxlmaier GmbH celebrated the inauguration of its second plant in Moldova. The facility, which will be located in Balti, will produce wiring harnesses. The plant has about of production and logistics space.

Shopping

Bălți has several major shopping chain outlets, such as the German Metro Group AG, Ukrainian Fourchette and Moldovan Fidesco. Numerous shops, can be found in the central (retail), eastern (en gros) and northern (retail) parts of the city. The biggest shopping galleries are located in the centre and in the Dacia district (north) of the city. Souvenir boutiques are mostly found around the central square Vasile Alecsandri. The central market is open from early morning. A variety of small private stores and supermarkets are available. There are also six public-owned and four private-owned markets. More recently several supermarket chains have opened stores in the city.

Health facilities

The city has a big Republican hospital, another multifunctional municipal hospital, a children's hospital, and a range of other medical facilities (smaller clinics and hospitals, as well as buildings, named poly-clinics, gathering doctors offices).

Demographics

Births Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the ...

(2010): 1573 (10.6 per 1000) * Deaths (2010): 1447 (9.7 per 1000) *Growth rate (2010): 126 (0.9 per 1000) As per 2014 census preliminary results, 105,000 inhabitants live within the Bălți municipality limits. This represents a 17.7% drop in the number of residents as opposed to the results of the 2004 census. According to the

2004 Moldovan Census The 2004 Moldovan census was carried out between October 5 and October 12, 2004. The breakaway Transnistria failed to come into an agreement with the central government in Chişinău, and carried out its own census between November 11 and Novemb ...

, data submitted by the Department of Statistics and Sociology of the

Republic of Moldova A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, the population of municipality of Bălți was 127,561, of which the population of the city itself was 122,669, and that of the suburban villages of Elizaveta and Sadovoe was of 3,523, respectively 1,369. Of these, 58,418 were men and 69,143 were women. ''Ethnic groups, 2014'': ''Footnote'': * There is an ongoing controversy regarding the ethnic identification of Moldovans and Romanians. The

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of Bălți in accordance with available census data.

Religion

At the 2004 census, 90.7% of the population (110,961 people) identified themselves as Christian Orthodox, 2.1% (2,609) as

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

, 0.8% as

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 0.5% as

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

, 0.4% as

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, 0.1% as

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

, 0.09% as

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, 0.06% as

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

, 0.04% as

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow b ...

, 0.04% as Reformed, 1.8% (2161 people) as followers of other religions, 0.4% as

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 2.7% (3,304) as

non-religious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

Social aspects

The post-independence decrease in the city population is mainly due to the

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

and

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...

situation of Moldova, which prompted a wave of permanent or temporary emigration. Remittances from the

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

account for 30% of Moldova's

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

, the highest percentage in all of Europe. Often, elderly relatives and children of these workers are left to live in Bălți. The majority of the population of Bălți is bilingual (

and Russian), but some people only know one of these two languages. Many people in the city also understand and/or speak

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Pre-WWII Jewish Community

"Between the two world wars, the Jewish community of Bălți was a vibrant population of trade, industry and culture, Zionism and Yiddish, political parties and youth movements. Bălți was the second largest populated city in Bessarabia, with the second largest number of Jewish inhabitants after Kishinev, and the economic center of the region. In the official 1930 census, Bălți was listed as having 14,229 Jewish residents, about 60% of its total population. "Following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement, Bălți was absorbed into the Soviet Union in the summer of 1940, coming under Soviet rule. "On 22 June 1941, the Germans invaded the USSR. On 9 July, Bălți was occupied by German and Romanian armies, and waves of abuse and murder began. At the end of July, the German units and Gestapo officers left the city in the hands of the Romanians. In September 1941 the last of the Jews of Bălți– some 2,800 people – were expelled to the Mărculești Camp, and the Jewish population of the city ceased to exist. In Mărculești, many members of the community died, and the rest were deported to Transnistria."

Government

Bălți Municipality is a territorial unit of

(one of its 3 municipalities not subordinated to other territorial units; it has had the status of municipality since 1994), containing the city itself, and the villages of Elizaveta and Sadovoe. The Mayor Office ( ro, Primăria) is headed by the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

( ro, Primar), and administers the local affairs, while the Municipal Council serves as a consultative body with some powers of general policy determination. It is composed of 35 council members elected every four years. As a result of the last regional elections of local

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment ( public governance), management of non-profit es ...

held in June 2007, the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

(PCRM) holds 21 mandates, 11 mandates are held by representatives of other parties, and 3 mandates by independents. There are two factions in the Municipal Council: the PCRM faction (21 members) and "Meleag" (Romanian for "Native land") faction (3 independents and 4 representatives of different parties). The

of the municipality is elected for four years. Vasile Panciuc,

PCRM The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., which promotes a plant-based diet, preventive medicine, and alternatives to animal research, and encourage ...

, is the incumbent from 2001 and was re-elected twice: in 2003 during the anticipated elections (as a result of a new reform of the

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

in Moldova), and in 2007.

Politics

Until recently, voters in the Bălți municipality mainly supported the

. This is explained by the fact that the municipality contains a large Russian-speaking minority (43%) which primarily votes Communist. However, support for the

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

has seen a steady decline in the last three elections.

Elections

, - ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:center;" colspan=2, Parties and coalitions ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;", Votes ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;", % ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;", +/− , - , , align=left, Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova , align="right", 36,348 , align="right", 56.89 , align="right", −1.27 , - , , align=left,

Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova ( ro, Partidul Liberal Democrat din Moldova, PLDM) is a conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Moldova, political party in Moldova. The party is led by Tudor Deliu. Until 2016, PLDM was led ...

, align="right", 11,721 , align="right", 18.35 , align="right", +5.53 , - , , align=left,

Democratic Party of Moldova The European Social Democratic Party ( ro, Partidul Social Democrat European, PSDE) is a centre-left, populist social-democratic political party in Moldova. Established in 1997, the party holds pro-European views, and is an associate member of th ...

, align="right", 8,746 , align="right", 13,69 , align="right", -1.91 , - , , align=left,

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, align="right", 3,147 , align="right", 4.93 , align="right", −2.71 , - , , align=left, Party Alliance Our Moldova , align="right", 882 , align="right", 1.38 , align="right", −1.49 , - , style="background:gray;", , align=left, Other Party , align="right", 3,057 , align="right", 4.76 , align="right", +1.85 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#e9e9e9;" colspan=2, Total (turnout 58.73%) , style="text-align:right; width:30px; background:#e9e9e9;", 64,233 , style="text-align:right; width:30px; background:#e9e9e9;", 100.00 , style="text-align:right; width:30px; background:#e9e9e9;",

Military

The

1st Motorized Infantry Brigade "Moldova" The 1st Motorized Infantry Brigade "Moldova" is an motorized infantry unit of the Moldovan National Army's Ground Forces based in the Moldovan city of Bălți. It was the first Army unit to be created in the newly independent country, being founded ...

of the Moldovan Land Forces Command (out of a total of 6 brigades – three infantry, one artillery, one airborne and one anti-aircraft) is located in Bălți. A unit of

"'' Tochka-M''" short-range rockets, each carrying of conventional explosive, was known to be based in the city. No up to date information is available.

Education

Alecu_Russo_State_University,_Balti,_Moldova_(49256067681)

Primary and Secondary Education

There are 13

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the t ...

s and 6 professional education institutions ( ro, colegii) offering the last 3 years of high school education and 2 years post-high school technical education. Also, 14 secondary schools (numbered 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 23), 7 professional or professional-technical schools (numbered 1 through 7), and 3

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

s, including one for

visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

are located in the city.

Higher education

* The Alecu Russo University of Bălți, the second largest university in Moldova, named after the 19th century

scholar and ethnologist

Alecu Russo Alecu Russo (March 17, 1819 near Chișinău – February 5, 1859 in Iași), was a Moldavian Romanian writer, literary critic and publicist. Russo is credited with having discovered one of the most elaborate forms of the Romanian national folk ba ...

. The university houses one of the biggest libraries in the South-Eastern Europe. It is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

. * The private Dniester Institute of Economy and Law * The private Moldovan Branch of the non-governmental educational institution "Baltic Institute of Ecology, Politics and Law" * The private Humanist Contemporary Institute These schools teach either in Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, English or are mixed. The latter case was inherited from the

system, which provided for education in Russian and Romanian (Moldovan) languages, where mixed schools were created with the administration being carried out in both languages.

Historical monuments and architecture

* Saint Nicolas Cathedral (1795) * Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1884) * Saint Gregory Armenian Church (1916) * Saint Constantine and Helen Cathedral (1935) * Saint Parascheva Church (1934) * Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1929) * Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel (1933) * Bălți Bishopric (1934) * Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre * Matrimonial Palace * History and Ethnography Museum * A monument of Stefan the Great (2003) * Bust of

Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active ...

* Bust of

Vasile Alecsandri Vasile Alecsandri (; 21 July 182122 August 1890) was a Romanian patriot, poet, dramatist, politician and diplomat. He was one of the key figures during the 1848 revolutions in Moldavia and Wallachia. He fought for the unification of the Romani ...

* Bust of

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, wr ...

(2001) * A monument to soldiers killed in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

(1999)

Transport

Public transport

Passenger transport in Bălți is handled mainly by the Bălți Trolleybus Authority and Bălți Bus Authority, as well as by private bus, minibus and taxi companies. The total number of passengers transported in Bălți in 2004 was 35.4 million. There are around 25 minibus lines in Bălți and its

agglomeration Agglomeration may refer to: * Urban agglomeration, in standard English * Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as " city cluster". * Economies of ag ...

. The Bălți Bus Authority (B.B.A.) provides regular bus routes only in suburbs. There are also private bus and minibus services, which are not regulated by the B.B.A., provides regular routes in Bălți. There are 3

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

lines in Bălți, the fourth line being planned to be constructed in future. Most trolleybuses used by the Bălți Trolleybus Authority (B.T.A.) are different modifications of the Soviet ZiU-682, one Czech Škoda-14Tr13/6M, three Belorussian АКСМ–20101, and seven Russian Trans-Alfa 5298.00 (375). Bălți offers a choice of taxi services, most of which operate for a fixed fee in the

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

. Three taxi companies are branches of Moldovan national companies, two taxi companies are Bălți registered businesses.

Road

Bălți is an important transportation hub of

. The best

inter-city Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

transportation is done by coach or van (privately or publicly owned). of

-style highway (portions in good or fair condition) connect the city to the capital

. By road one can also reach

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

(in about 2 hours) to the north or to the east, and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

(in about 1 hour) to the south-west by the

Sculeni Sculeni ( yi, סקולען, ''Skulen'') is a commune in Ungheni District, Moldova. It is composed of four villages: Blindești, Floreni, Gherman and Sculeni. It is also a border checkpoint to Romania. History The town had an important Jewis ...

–

crossing point, which leads to the Romanian city of

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

( from Bălți), or to the west by the Stânca–Costești crossing. The Bălți Inter-City Coach Station provides for regular bus connections throughout Moldova, as well as for numerous European and international connections (

Eurolines Eurolines is a brand of intercity bus service owned by an international non-profit organisation formed under Belgian law. Using the Eurolines brand, partner bus companies operate service to over 600 destinations in 36 countries of Europe, as wel ...

Rail

Regular rail connections to

Ocnița Ocnița (; russian: Óкница) is a town and the administrative center of Ocnița District, Moldova. References

Cities and towns in Moldova Khotinsky Uyezd Ocnița District {{Ocnița-geo-stub ...

(north),

Rezina Rezina is a city in Moldova and the capital of Rezina District. Three villages are administered by the city: Boşerniţa, Ciorna and Stohnaia. Geography In the northeastern part of Moldova, as far as 98 km from Chișinău, the town of Rezin ...

(east) and

Ungheni Ungheni () is a municipality in Moldova. With a population of 35,157, it is the seventh largest town in Moldova and the seat of Ungheni District. There is a bridge across the Prut and a border checkpoint to Romania. There is another border ...

(south-east), as well as to

exists, however it takes today 6 hours to cover the to Chișinău. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

lines are not electrified, and contain only a single track between stations. Since Moldova gained independence, the railway lines became the responsibility of

Calea Ferată din Moldova Calea Ferată din Moldova (abbreviated as ''CFM'') is the sole railway operator in the Republic of Moldova, responsible for passenger and cargo transportation, as well as railway infrastructure maintenance within the country. The total length o ...

(Railways of Moldova) state company. There are two

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

s: Bălți-City Station and Bălți-Slobozia Station (the name of a city neighbourhood), which both serve internal and international traffic.

Air

The city also has two operational airports. One of them, Bălți International Airport, north of the city center (near the village of Corlăteni), was built in the 1980s, modern by Soviet standards, is officially certified. Large aircraft can land (one 2,200 meter runway), it operates both charter passenger and cargo flights. As of October 2007, it does not operate regular passenger flights. A second airport, for

small aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft c ...

, Bălți City Airport, is located on the Eastern outskirts of the city. It was the most important airport in the surrounding region during World War II, but currently is only used for municipal and regional

public services A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

, agriculture,

emergency service Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal w ...

s and

pilot training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a st ...

.Now, there are developing an industrial area.

Notable people

Boris Anisfeld Boris Izrailevich Anisfeld (1878–1973) was a Russian-American painter and theater designer. Biography 1878 - October 2. Boris Izrailevich (Srulevich) Anisfeld is born in Bieltsy, in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire (present ...

, Russian-American painter and theater designer. * Mihai Volontir, awarded Moldovan actor *

Natalia Barbu Natalia Barbu (; born 22 August 1979 in Bălți) is a Moldovan singer and songwriter. She is best known for representing Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Fight". Music career Throughout her career, Natalia has worke ...

, singer, represented Moldova at the 2007

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...

musical competition * Zelik Berditshever, Yiddish folk poet and composer *

Gheorghe Briceag Gheorghe Briceag (15 April 1928 – 16 August 2008) was a Moldovan human rights activist notable for his opposition to Soviet rule. In the 1940s, Briceag was given a ten-year sentence in the gulag for distributing anti-communist flyers; he wa ...

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

, dissident, and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

activist with the Helsinki Committee, recipient of the 2004

Homo Homini Award The Homo Homini Award ( Latin: "A human to another human") is given annually by the Czech human rights organization People in Need to "an individual in recognition of a dedication to the promotion of human rights, democracy and non-violent solution ...

* Iosif Chișinevschi, communist politician * Eugenio Coșeriu, philologist, founder of the School of Linguistics at Tübingen University * Roman Greenberg * *

Lia van Leer Lia van Leer (née Greenberg; he, ליה ון ליר; August 8, 1924 – March 13, 2015) was a pioneer in the field of art film programming and film archiving in Israel. She was the founder of the Haifa Cinematheque, the Jerusalem Cinematheque, ...

, founder and director of the International

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival ( he, פסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים, ar, مهرجان القدس السينمائي) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusal ...

Marian Lupu Marian Lupu (; born 20 June 1966) is a Moldovan politician who was the President of the Parliament of Moldova between 2010 and 2013. From this position he served as Acting President of the Republic from 2010 until 2012. Personal life Marian Lup ...

, politician, speaker of the

Parliament of Moldova The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period of 4 years. Parliamen ...

since 2005 *

Ion Pelivan Ion Gheorghe Pelivan (April 1, 1876 in Răzeni – January 25, 1954 in Sighetu Marmației) was a Romanian politician. In 1898, Ion Pelivan graduated from the Theological Seminary of Chișinău and in 1903 from the University of Tartu. Then ...

, lawyer and politician, co-leader of the Moldavian National Party, minister of the exterior of the

Moldavian Democratic Republic The Moldavian Democratic Republic (MDR; ro, Republica Democratică Moldovenească, ), also known as the Moldavian Republic, was a state proclaimed on by the '' Sfatul Țării'' (National Council) of Bessarabia, elected in October–Novemb ...

, killed by NKVD * Ștefan Pirogan, mayor of Bălți (1923–1934) *

Vadim Pirogan Vadim Pirogan (28 June 1921 in Bălţi – 16 January 2007 in Chişinău) was a Bessarabian activist and author. He was the head of the Communist Regime Victims Association and a member of the Moldovan Writers' Union. Biography Vadim Pir ...

, political prisoner and dissident *

Colea Răutu Colea Răutu (; 18 November 1912 – 13 May 2008) was a Romanian actor, born in Bălți (Russian Empire, now Republic of Moldova).Leonid Soybelman, musician * Nicolae Testemițanu, Moldovan physician, surgeon, hygienist, and politician *

Nicolae Filip Nicolae Filip (3 March 1926 – 15 May 2009) was a Moldovan physicist born in the village of Sofia, Bălți County to a family of farmers. He contributed significantly to the study of "The spread of ultrashort radio waves" and was elected as ...

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

Vadim Vacarciuc Vadim Vacarciuc (born 1 October 1972) is a retired weightlifter from Moldova. He competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his native Eastern European country, starting in 1996. Vacarciuc is best known for winning the silver medal in th ...

, weight lifter, 1997

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Boris Sandler Boris Sandler ( yi, באָריס סאַנדלער; born January 6, 1950, in Beltz) is a Yiddish-language author, journalist, playwright and lyricist and the former editor of the Yiddish edition of the '' Forward''. Early life; career beginnin ...

, novelist and editor of ''Forverts'' (

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

edition of the Jewish ''Forward'', published in New York). *

Isa Kremer Isabelle Yakovlevna Kremer (russian: Изабелла Яковлевна Кремер; 21 October 1887 – 7 July 1956) was a soprano of Russian Jewish descent who at various times of her life held citizenship in Russia, the United States, and A ...

, soprano of Russian Jewish descent * Mikhaïl Faerman, Belgian-Russian classical pianist

Trivia

* The famous Yiddish song ''Mein Shtetle Belz'' from 1932, written by Jacob Jacobs (theater) and composed by

Alexander Olshanetsky Alexander Olshanetsky (1892–1946) was a Jewish-American composer, conductor, and violinist. He was a major figure within the Yiddish theatre scene in New York City from the mid-1920s until his death in 1946. Life and career Was born in Odes ...

for the play ''Ghetto Song'', makes a reference to the old Jewish city of Bălți. It had been a tribute to the famous singer

, born in Bălți, and who was probably also the first one to perform it.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Bălți is twinned with: * Arad, Israel *

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok U ...

, Poland *

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the na ...

, Romania *

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the u ...

, Ukraine *

Comrat Comrat ( ro, Comrat, ; gag, Komrat, Russian and bg, Комрат, Komrat) is a city and municipality in Moldova and the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia. It is located in the south of the country, on the Ialpug River. In 2014, Comr ...

, Moldova * Gyula, Hungary *

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

, Turkey *

Jining Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the northwest and south respectively. Jinin ...

, China *

Khmelnytskyi Khmelnytskyi ( uk, Хмельни́цький, Khmelnytskyi, ), until 1954 Proskuriv ( uk, Проску́рів, links=no ), is a city in western Ukraine, the administrative center for Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and Khmelnytskyi Raion (dist ...

, Ukraine * Lakeland, United States *

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

, Greece *

Livny Livny (russian: Ливны, p=ˈlʲivnɨ) is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia. As of 2018, it had a population of 47,221. :ru:Ливны#cite note-2018AA-3 History The town is believed to have originated in 1586 as Ust-Livny, a wooden fort on ...

, Russia *

Miercurea Ciuc Miercurea Ciuc (; hu, Csíkszereda, ; german: Szeklerburg) is the county seat of Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, a mainly Hungarian-speaking ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt Ri ...

, Romania * Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Ukraine *

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 5 ...

, Estonia *

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

, Russia *

Orsha Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers. History Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as R ...

, Belarus *

Płock Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to th ...

, Poland *

Podolsk Podolsk ( rus, Подольск, p=pɐˈdolʲsk) is an industrial city, center of Podolsk Urban Okrug, Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Pakhra River (a tributary of the Moskva River). History The first mentions of the village of Podol, ...

, Russia *

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...

, Belarus * Pushkin (Saint Petersburg), Russia *

Rechytsa , nickname = , image_skyline = Rzeczyca (BY) plac.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = Rechytsa town centre, Kastrychnitskaya (October) Square , image_flag = Flag of Rečyca, Belarus.svg , image_shield ...

, Belarus *

Smolyan Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province. The town is built ...

, Bulgaria *

Stryi Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative cen ...

, Ukraine *

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...

, Romania * Vinnytsia, Ukraine *

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...

, Belarus * Western Administrative Okrug (Moscow), Russia * Wuzhong, China * Zapadnoye Degunino District (Moscow), Russia

Consulates

Consulate-General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

, address
51, Sfântul Nicolae Str.
* Consulate of

, address
143, Kiev Str.

Notes and references

External links

* *
The former Jewish Community of Bălți/Beltsy

Tourism in Bălți at ''www.tur.md''The Story of the Jewish Community in Bălți
- an online exhibition by Yad Vashem
Jewish Cemetery in Bălți
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balti Municipalities of Moldova 1620 establishments in Europe Populated places established in the 1420s Moldova articles needing attention Beletsky Uyezd Bălți County (Romania) Capitals of the counties of Bessarabia Shtetls Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust

Name

History and symbols

Coat of arms

Flag

Geography

Neighbourhoods

Climate

Seismology

Cityscape

Architecture

Culture and contemporary life

Entertainment and performing arts

Media

Radio stations

Civil society

Sports

Economy

Manufacturing

Shopping

Health facilities

Demographics

Religion

Social aspects

Pre-WWII Jewish Community

Government

Politics

Elections

Military

Education

Primary and Secondary Education

Higher education

Historical monuments and architecture

Transport

Public transport

Road

Rail

Air

Notable people

Trivia

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Consulates

Notes and references

Further reading

External links