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Bălţi

Bălți
Bălți City Hall
Bălți City Hall
Flag of Bălți
Flag
Official seal of Bălți
Seal
Bălți is located in Moldova
Bălți
Bălți
Location within Moldova
Coordinates: 47°46′N 27°55′E / 47.767°N 27.917°E / 47.767; 27.917Coordinates: 47°46′N 27°55′E / 47.767°N 27.917°E / 47.767; 27.917
Country  Moldova
Municipality Bălți
Communes Sadovoe, Elizaveta
Founded 1421
City rights 1818
Government
 • Type Municipal Council
 • Mayor Renato Usatîi (since 2015)
Area
 • City 78.00 km2 (30.12 sq mi)
 • Urban 41.43 km2 (16.00 sq mi)
Elevation 59 m (194 ft)
Population (2014 census)
 • City 105,000
 • Density 1,346/km2 (3,490/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code MD-3100
Area code(s) +373 231 X-XX-XX
Licence plate BL XX 000
Website www.balti.md

Bălți (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈbəlt͡sʲ]; Polish: Bielce, Russian: Бельцы, Belʹtsy and Бэлць, Bėltsʹ, Ukrainian: Бєльці, Byelʹtsi, Yiddish: בעלץBelts) is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest in terms of area and economic importance after Chișinău, and the third largest in terms of population after Chișinău and Tiraspol. The city is one of the five Moldovan municipalities. 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 127 kilometres (79 mi) north of the capital Chișinău, and is located on the river Răut, a tributary of the Dniester, on a hilly landscape in the Bălți steppe.

The word "bălți" (pl. of Romanian sing. "baltă") in direct translation means "swamp". 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 Бельцы (Beltsy), between 1940-1989 in Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet, and after 1989 in Russian, the name was/is also rendered in Cyrillic as Бэлць (Russian pronunciation: [ˈbɛlt͡s]).


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