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Bălți

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Bălţi
File:Primaria Balti.gif
Flag of Bălţi
Flag
Official seal of Bălţi
Seal
Location of Bălţi in Moldova
Location of Bălţi in Moldova
Country Moldova
MunicipalityFile:Balti-flag.gif Balti
CommunesSadovoe, Elizaveta
Founded1421
City rights1818
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Council
 • MayorVasile Panciuc, since 2001
Area
 • City78 km2 (30 sq mi)
 • Urban
41.42 km2 (15.99 sq mi)
Elevation
59 m (194 ft)
Population
 (2004)
 • City127,600
 • Density1,748/km2 (4,530/sq mi)
 • Urban
122,700
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
MD-3100
Area code+373 231 X-XX-XX
Licence plateBL XX 000
Websitewww.balti.md

Bălţi [ˈbəltsʲ] (Romanian: Bălţi, [Бельцы] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), [Бєльці] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest in terms of area and economic importance (after Chişinău), and the third largest city in terms of populationan (after Chişinău and Tiraspol). It is one of the five Moldovan localities having the status of municipalities. Bălţi, sometimes also called "the northern capital", is the major industrial, cultural, commercial centre and transportation hub in the north of Moldova. The city is situated 127 km north of the capital Chişinău, and is located on the river Răut, a tributary of Dniester, on a hilly landscape in the middle of the Bălţi depression of the North-Moldavian uplands.

Etymology and names

The word Bălţi (pl. of Romanian sing. "baltă" [1]) is translated literally " puddles, pools", sometimes also as "swamp". It is considered that the city had been named thus because it was founded on a hill dominating the wetland formed where the creek Răuţel falls into the river Răut.

At the time of belonging to the Russian Empire and being part of the Soviet Union, the spelling Beltsy was also used. The spelling Бэлць was used between 1940-1989 in Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet, and after 1989 is sometimes used in Russian.

Geography and territory

File:Balti Bielce.jpg
Vasile Alecsandri square in the city center

Bălţi is situated on the tops and slopes of hills, and partially in a small valley. The land in the north of Moldova is very fertile, mostly consisting of chernozem. The agricultural potential represents one of the most important natural resources of Moldova. Several extraction sites for raw materials used in the construction industry are also found in the vicinity of Bălţi. The creeks Răuţel, Copăceanca, and Flămândă cross the territory of the municipality, and flow into the river Răut. Also, several lakes are situated in Bălţi: City Lake, Komsolskoe Lake, Kirpichnoe Lake, Strâmba Lake. The all-time maximum temperature registered in the city was 38°C, the all-time minimum -32°C. There are 350 to 450 mm 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. 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) striking on average every 35 years.

The city itself is located on portions of four hills. The river Răut separates one hill in NE, the inner slope of which is occupied by the neighborhood Slobozia. Its affluent Răuţel separates one hill in S, the inner slope of which is the Podul Chişinăului district, and in the valley ca 1 km upstream - Bălţul Nou neighborhood. The central hill dominates the valleys of the creek and river, and contains the downtown area and the old town; its gentle eastern slope - the industrial area and Molodova; the valleys - an unfinished project of a canoe-kayak park, Autogara, 9th district, the area of the former Bălţi concentration camp, and the Bălţi City Airport. The NW and N parts are located on the highest of the four hills, separated from the rest of the city by the railway lines. The inner slopes of this hill are occupied by Pământeni and 8th district, the hill top - by the medical facilities area, and the outer slope - by Dacia/BAM. The municipality covers an area of 78.0 km², of which the city proper 41.42 km², the village Elizaveta (an eastern suburb) 9.81 km², and the village Sadovoe (a north-western suburb) 26.77 km². Of these, an important portion (20.11 km²) is actually agricultural land.

The names of city neighborhoods reflect different historic influences: 19th century suburbs: Pământeni, Slobozia, Molodova, Podul Chişinăului; others are known by their Soviet-era names: 8th district, 9th district. A district in the northern part of the city is called Dacia, and is sometimes colloquially referred to as Bam. A district in the southern part is called Bălţul Nou, and one in the eastern part - Autogara.

History

Main article: History of Bălţi

Middle Ages

In 1421, the city was founded as a fair by Rimgaila of Masovia, a sister of Vytautas the Great of Lithuania and an ex-wife of the Moldavian Prince Alexandru I cel Bun [Alexander the Good]. At the time the territory belonged to the Dorohoi ţinut (land/county, later to Soroca county and, mostly, Iaşi county of the Principality of Moldova (Iaşi was the capital of the Principality from 1574 to 1859. A place of crossroads, Bălţi soon became well-known as a horse fair.

In 1469, a Crimean Tatar invasion led by the khan Meñli I Giray burned the place to the ground, before being defeated in the Battle of Lipnic, about 100 km north. Bălţi was very slowly rebuilt.

Eighteenth century

Since the 16th century, the Principality of Moldavia became a vassal to the Ottoman Empire. Although it preserved the self-rule, Moldavia had to satisfy ever increasing annual dues. In 1711, the Moldavian prince Dimitrie Cantemir, also a well-known historiographer and scientist of the time, impressed by the defeat of the Swedish-Polish king Charles XII at the Battle of Poltava (600 km east in eastern Ukraine) by the young Russian tsar Peter the Great, invited the latter to Moldavia in a bold move to try to end Ottoman suzerainty and reclaim the independence of Moldova. During this failed military campaign the main headquarters of the Russian and parts of the Moldavian armies were established at Bălţi, due to its crossroads location.

After 1711, the Ottomans no longer selected the Ruler (Prince) from the Moldavian nobility, instead sold regularly the throne for a number of years to Greek merchants from the Phanar district of Constantinople, which made profit by collecting higher taxes. (See also The Fanariot Époque)

File:Balti-horses.jpg
Bălţi as a horse fair

1766 The prince Alexandru Ghica, one of a few local (and non-Greek) princes of that time, divided the Bălţi estate into two parts, awarding one to the Saint Spiridon monastery of Iaşi, and the other to the merchant brothers Alexandru, Constantin and Iordache Panaiti. Over the next decades, the three boyar brothers improved the locality of the town.

The development of the town in the 18th century suffered also due to the fact that the country had to support the burdens of three invading armies, Ottoman, Russian, and Austrian, which clashed in 4 wars of a total duration of 16 years, during which they performed extensive regular requisitions to supply their troops, and established separate administrations that imposed upon the Moldavians serfdom-like obligations to support the movements and encampments of the armies, notwithstanding punishments for performing these obligations for the other armies.

Nineteenth century

At the end of the fifth Russo-Turkish war, in 1812, the Treaty of Bucharest saw the Ottoman Empire ceding (without having such a legal right) to the Russian Empire the eastern half of Moldavia, including the town of Bălţi, which received the name Bessarabia. During 1812-1828, the Russians allowed substantial economic and cultural freedom to Moldavians, wanting to secure the new province. The new border has cut most of the Iaşi county, to which Bălţi initially belonged, from the city of Iaşi itself. This, however, made Bălţi, with a population of 8,000, the administrative center of the county.

Moreover, in 1818, the town received serendipitously formal city rights. The Russian tsar Alexander I visited his newly acquired province, and during his passing through Bălţi he received news that his nephew, the future tsar Alexander II of Russia, was born. Overjoyed, he granted Bălţi official city status.

In 1828, an administrative reform abolishes the autonomy of Bessarabia, and the administration changes from Romanian to Russian. At the same time, the number of counties of Bessarabia is reduced from 12 to 8, but Iaşi county is preserved. After 1860, education and mass in Romanian is banned. This policy, however, results in instituting a degree of alienation of Moldavians from the Russian administration, due to the absence of assimilation through education. while the literacy rate remains very low, comparing to the rest of Europe at the time.

1887 Iaşi county is renamed Bălţi county.

1889 The city becomes a railroad hub.

The ethnic composition of the city diversified with settlers arriving from Austrian Galicia, Ukraine and (fewer) from Russia proper, being offered land or seeking freedom of religion.[2]

A significant number of Jews (from Galicia, then in the Habsburg Empire) settled in Bălţi, and by the end of the century became first a plurality, then a majority.

Twentieth century

World War I period

With the start of World War I, most of male population of the region ages 18-45 was enrolled in the Russian army, and subsequently self-organized in Moldavian Solders Committees, became a political force that drove many of the changes that came. In 1917, at the dissolution of the Russian Empire, Bessarabia elected (October-November 1917) a National Diet, Sfatul Ţării, proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic, and then union with Romania (27 March/9 April 1918). The city hosted a County Congress of Farmers, the largest of the kind in Bessarabia, on 19 November / 1 December 1917, which sent representatives to Sfatul Ţării.[3]


On 17/30 May 1917, general Sherbachov, the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armies on the Romanian Front, by order 156370, consented to the request of the Moldavian Central Solders Committee of All Bessarabia to form 16 cohorts exclusively of Moldavian solders, commanded by Moldavian officers, and distributed them to all the counties of Bessarabia.[4][5] In September, their number was further increased in view of the sacking and violence provoked by the multiplication of the ad-hoc gangs of Russian army deserters. Although most of the gangs were small in size, there were also several large ones: two Cossack regiments dislocated in Bălţi county, and a 3,000-strong infantry detachment in Orhei, whose leadership failed, which resulted in extensive pillaging in Bălţi, Soroca and Orhei counties, with many dead, including several Bessarabian public personalities, which substantiated the outcry of the population.[6][7] The committees of the two regiments stationed in Bălţi county adopted resolutions which called for continuous sacking until the solders would be given discharge papers.[8] In December 1917, when the Directorate General for Armed Forces of the Moldavian Democratic Republic was formed, one of its first units was in Bălţi, where the Druzhina (popular militia unit) no. 478 of the Russian Empire, composed almost entirely of Moldavians, and led by captain Anatolie Popa, was nationalized. [9] In March 1918, the Bălţi County Council, along with the ones of Soroca and Orhei, submitted resolutions to the Sfatul Ţării, asking it to consider union with Romania.[10]

Inter-war period

File:Bishp Palace.jpg
The Bishopric Palace

In the first part of the 20th century the economy expanded, and the city started to diversify. Many buildings in the town/city date from the inter-war period.

1920s The seat of the Bishopric is moved from Hotin to Bălţi, and the Bishopric Palace is built (finished in 1933), with the effort of Visarion Puiu.

1920s The Saint Constantine and Elena Cathedral is built throughout (finished in 1932, officially inaugurated 1933, in the presence of the royal family)

1940 The city reaches close to 40,000 inhabitants. Cca. 45-46% were Jews, 29-30% Romanians, and the rest were Ukrainians, Russians, Poles, Armenians.

World War II period

As a result of Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina,a part of the city population was deported to Siberia (the largest deportation occurred on 12-13 June 1941, as well as the smaller ones, used the Bălţi Slobozia Railway Station as one of the major departing point for the cattle car trains with people deported from northern MSSR).

In June 22 - July 26, 1941, the Romanian Army participated in the Axis offensive against the Red Army dislocated in Bessarabia, in the so-called Operation Munich, capturing Bălţi by July 1941.

Reinhard Heydrich, the chief of the German Reich Security Main Office (German: Reichssicherheitshauptamt), flew several fighter missions in his private modified Me109 from the Bălţi-City Airport in July 1941. Heydrich was shot down by Soviet anti-air fire over Ukraine, and barely escaped capture after having to swim for his life.

Upon the Axis capture of the city, a 20-strong unit of the German SS Einsatzkommando D proceeded to murder ca. 200 Jews of the city over three days. The majority of the 15,000 Jewish population of the city managed to escape in the previous two weeks. The Soviet authorities organized their evacuation by railway, in cattle cars, to Central Asia, mostly to Uzbekistan. Although the majority have survived and returned to the city after the war, their life as refugees and on the road was highly subhuman, due to quasi-absence of regular supplies, normal housing, or useful employment opportunities. In August 1941, there were 1,300 Jews left in the city, and the pro-fascist government of Ion Antonescu has decided to deport them. In September 1941, they, together with other Jews from the county, were gathered in two created ghettos, in Răuţel and Alexăndreni, size ca. 3,500 each. In ca. 10 days, the ghettos were dissolved, and the Jews hastily moved, mostly during the night, to a concentration camp in Mărculeşi, size ca. 11,000. After two more weeks, this was also abolished, and the Jews were deported to occupied Transnistria. Less then one third of the deported Jews survived the Holocaust, which affected ca. 75,000 Bessarabian Jews, as well as many Jews in Bukovina and Transnistria.[11]

On February 27 - March 2, 1944, the Soviet army retook the city from the Romanians, eventually re-annexed the territory to the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1944, the Soviets have created two camps in the city, a small POW camp within the present location of the military base, and a large concentration camp at the SE outskirts of the city, by fencing out several blocks of one-story houses, the Bălţi concentration camp. It contained up to 45,000 prisoners at a time, most of which were POWs, while others were arrested locals of military age who were discharged, due to light injuries, from the Romanian Army after fighting from several weeks to several months against Nazi Germany. In total, ca. 55,000 people have passed through this camp, of them ca. 45,000 Romanians (up to half of which were locals), ca. 5,000 Germans, ca. 3,000 Italians, ca. 2,000 Hungarians, Poles and Czechs.

1944 Fearing the repeat of the 1940-1941 political persecutions and deportations, thousands of people, including many intellectuals, flee to Romania. Like the other localities of Moldova, the city has largely lost its pre-World War II intelligentsia to fleeing from persecution.

Post-World War II period

In 1944, with the return of the Soviet authorities, the policy of political and class persecution resumed. The largest of post-war deportations occurred on 5-6 July 1949, and included also 185 families from the city of Bălţi, and 161 families from the then suburbs.[12] (The population of the city at the time was cca. 30,000.) Numerous people, especially youth, were also enrolled in labor camps throughout the Soviet Union.

In the summer of 1944, most of the active age Moldovans in the recaptured territories were enrolled in the Soviet Army and were sent to fight in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Eastern Prussia, where ca. 1/3 perished, and 1/3 received injuries. These solders were disbanded in late 1946, at which time a famine occurred in the Moldovan SSR. This famine, which killed ca. 10% of the population, and left other 15-20% with dystrophia, was caused by war, a severe drought, insufficient labor force and Soviet practices of quasi-total confiscation of farmers' harvests and food reserves "for the needs of the State" (postavka requisitions). In 1949-1950, mass collectivization of farmed land was implemented. These events changed the social and economic background, and influenced the city, whose economy was dominated by marketing and processing of farm products.

At least one anti-Soviet armed resistance group was active in the city during the Stalinist era. "Sabia Dreptăţii" ["The Sword of Justice"] was discovered by the NKVD in 1947, centered at the Pedagogical Licée (former Ion Creangă Licée) in the Bălţi.[13][14]

During the 1940s and early 1950s, the city has lost a significant part of its population to Stalinist repressions (political imprisonment and deportations), Romanian deportation of Jews (Holocaust), World War II, the Moldavian famine (1946-1947) and emigration.

After World War II, during the period when the city was part of the former Soviet Union, there was significant immigration from all over the USSR in a move to rebuild the country, develop the industry and establish a local Soviet and party apparatus.

From 1950s to 1980s, many Moldovans from the countryside of northern Moldova moved to Bălţi. By the end of 1980s, most of the Jews of Moldova had migrated to Israel. The Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking group had by then reached 50% of the population of the city, with Moldavian/Romanian-speaking representing the other 50%.

During the 1980s, the constituency that included the city delegated to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union the Soviet marshal Sergei Akhromeyev, one of the most preeminent hard-liners in the Soviet power system. He was one of the close allies of the 1991 putchists that tried to overthrow Gorbachev.

Fall of communism and independence of Moldova

During 1988-1989, the most effervescent period in Moldova's recent history, Bălţi was known as the "quiet city" of Moldova. Only a couple public demonstrations took place in the city during this period, none gathered more than 15,000. The main reform-oriented part of the population was formed by the students and faculty of the local university, which regularly gathered indoors, sometimes numbering several thousands. A portion of the population of the city, mostly from among the Russophones opposed the drive for re-establishing the Romanian language as the only official language of the country.

The former Soviet apparatus representatives have retained political control over the city administration, although some reforms have been done. The municipal activity is done in Russian and Romanian. The city also actively supports Ukrainian language and culture.

1992-2007 Permanent or work-seeking emigration to Russia, Italy, Romania, Portugal, Spain, Greece, US, Germany, Israel, France, and a low natality rate have led to a 23% decrease in population, including a 45% decrease among ethnic Russians, 30% ethnic Ukrainians, 15% ethnic Moldavians.

Flag and coat of arms

Coat of arms

File:Balti-arms.jpg
Current coat of arms

The current coat of arms and flag of Bălţi, elaborated by Silviu Tabac from the Moldovan State Commission for Heraldry, have been adopted by the Municipal Council in April 2006.

A shield, with (alternating) six silverly strips (symbolizing water), and six blue strips (symbolizing earth) form the background (baltă, plural bălţi in Romanian means pools or puddles in English). The central element of the shield is an archer in red clothes, in the military outfit (yellow) of Stephen III of Moldavia times (15th century). The archer represents the medieval military recruitment, formed by free peasants paying tax only to the country's ruler, and ready to serve at the first call, which were based in this region of Moldavia.[15]

File:Balti-flag.gif
Current flag of the city

On top of the shield there is a silverly crown in the shape of fortress wall, with seven towers. (The crown represents the fact that the locality is a city. Apart from Bălţi, only the capital Chişinău, and Tiraspol are allowed to have seven towers, while other cities must limit this number to three or five.) The shield is supported by two silverly horses raised on two legs. (The white horse is the traditional symbol of the region, which was part of Iaşi County before 1812.) Under the shield there is a ribbon with the Latin inscription CIDANT ARMA TOGAE, meaning arms yield to togas.[16]

Flag

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

File:Balti-old.jpg
1990-2006 coat of arms
File:Balti-armsold.jpg
19th century coat of arms

Old symbols

In the Middle Ages, the archer featured on the coats of arms of the region.

In the 19th century, the city coat of arms was for most of the time 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 Bălţi is situated in the landscape of the north of Moldova) formed the coat of arms of the Bălţi county, while these and horse elements - the coat of arms of the city proper.

Administration

Bălţi Municipality is a territorial unit of Moldova (one of its 3 municipalities not subordinated to other territorial units; it has the status of municipality since 1994), containing the city itself, and the villages of Elizavetovca and Sadovoe.

The Mayor Office (Romanian: Primăria) is headed by the Mayor (Romanian: 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 counselors elected every four years. As a result of the last regional elections of local public administration held in June 2007, the Communist Party (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 counselors) and "Meleag" faction (3 independent counselors and 4 representatives of different parties).

The Mayor of the municipality is elected for four years. Vasile Panciuc, PCRM, 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 in Moldova), and in 2007.

Population

Demographics

In accordance with the data submitted by the Department of Statistics and Sociology of the Republic of Moldova, the population of Bălţi municiplaity was, as of 1 January, 2006 127,600, from which 122,700 live in the city of Bălţi, 4,900 in the suburbs (3,500 in Elizaveta, 1,400 in Sadovoe[1]).

2004 Census

According to the 2004 Moldovan Census, the population of Bălţi municipality was 127,561. The population of the Bălţi city - 122,669, suburban villages - 4,892; men - 58,418; women - 69,143.[2]

Available census information

The population of Bălţi in accordance with all availavle census data.[3]

Year 1897 1930 1959 1970 1979 1989 2004
Population 18,500 30,600 67,666 105,505 126,950 161,475 127,561

In 1897 was carried out the first Russian Empire Census; in 1930 was carried out the census of Romania (in 1939 another Romanian census was carried out, however its data was never processed because of the beginning of the World War II); in 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 the all-Soviet Union population censuses were carried out.

Ethnic Groups[4]:

Ethnicity Number %
Moldovan* 66,877 52.4 %
Ukrainian 30,288 23.7 %
Russian 24,526 19.2 %
Romanian* 2,258 1.8 %
Bulgarian 297 0.2 %
Gagauz 243 0.2 %
other 2,889 2.3 %
not declared 183 0.1 %

* Official census data showed separately Moldovans and Romanians; however, due to the contested status of the Moldovan ethnicity and OSCE objections over the procedure, organizations such as the CIA World Factbook present them together. For Bălţi that means 69,135 Moldavians/Romanians, or 54.2% of the population of the city. According to the "Moldova Azi" news agency,[17] a group of international census experts described the 2004 Moldovan census as "generally conducted in a professional manner", while remarking that that "a few topics… were potentially more problematic".

  1. The census includes at least some Moldovans who had been living abroad over one year at the time of the census.
  2. The precision of numbers about nationality/ethnicity and language was questioned. Some enumerators apparently encouraged respondents to declare that they were "Moldovan" rather than "Romanian", and even within a single family there may have been confusion about these terms. Also it is unclear how many respondents consider the term "Moldovan" to signify an ethnic identity other than "Romanian".

According to the [citation needed] Romanian official census for 1930, Bălţi had a population of 30,570, of which 14,200 were Jews, 8,900 Romanians, 5,400 Russians and Ukrainians, 1,000 Poles. Also 14,400 were Christian Orthodox, 14,250 Judaic, 1,250 Romano-Catholic. In that year, the city represented only 7.9% of the population of the surrounding Bălţi County (it would be 30% of the same territory today).

Religion

File:Balti-old1.jpg
A historic image of the St. Nicolas Orthodox Church in the central square

At the last census[5], 90.7% of the population (110,961 people) identified themselves as Christian Orthodox, 2.1% (2,609 people) as Baptist, 0.8% (990 people) as Catholic, 3.2% (3,960 people) as belonging to other religious groups, none more than 0.5%: 576 people as Seventh-day Adventist, 487 people as Pentecostal, 296 as Methodist, 166 as Evangelicalist, 106 as Muslim, 77 as Presbyterianist, 47 as Old Believers, 44 as Reformed, 2161 as followers of other religions 0.4% (544 people) as atheist, and 2.7% (3,304) as agnostic.

Social aspects

The post-independence decrease in the city population is mainly due to economic and demographic situation of Moldova, which prompted a wave of permanent or temporary emigration.

Remittances from the migrant workers account for 30% of Moldova's GDP, the highest percentage in all of Europe.[18] Often, elderly relatives and children of these workers are left to live in Bălţi. Due to that, in Bălţi, many children are left with minimal parental supervision for months, or more. [citation needed]

The majority of the population of Bălţi is bilingual (Moldovan/Romanian (see also Moldova language) and Russian). Some people also understand and/or speak Ukrainian. Some older ethnic Russians or ethnic Ukrainians, especially those who came to Moldova as adults and had a career in the Soviet system, speak only Russian, although they often understand some Moldovan/Romanian. Younger ethnic Moldovans, educated after 1989, might not know Russian.

Civil society

Bălţi is one of the major sources of civil society development locally as well as nationwide in Moldova. Bălţi is home to numerous independent and apolitical organisations such as Deca-press, the oldest independent press agency in the north of the country, Spros i Predlojenie, a major northern Moldovan daily newspaper, Second Breath, one of the major Moldovan NGOs for care of socially vulnerable persons, Tinerii pentru Dreptul la Viata, a known youth organisation.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Bălţi

Most of the city's industry centers on food processing, notably in the production of flour, sugar, and wine. Manufacturing of furniture agricultural machinery also plays an important role in Bălţi's economy.

Shopping

Bălţi is home for major chains such as German Metro Group AG, Ukrainian Fourchette, Moldovan Fidesco.

Numeorus 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 Dacia district (north) of the city. Souvenir bouiques are mostly found around the central square Vasile Alecsandri. The central market, busy from early morning, and its historical building may offer you just about anything from genuine butcher's products, all varieties of fresh vegetables and fruits, to a new dog.

Manufacturing

File:Balti-Raut-Conglomerate.jpg
The main administrative building of the Răut conglomerate (company)

This city is an important economic center, with manufacturing playing an important role. Besides traditional for Moldova wine making, sugar, meat processing, flour milling, oil production, and light industry in general, Bălţi is the center for manufacturing of agricultural machinery, of various construction materials, fur, textile, chemical and furniture industries. A mammoth Soviet-type conglomerate 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 equipment for Soviet Military submarines. However due to swift changes in the economic environment after the breakdown of the Soviet planned economy system, the manufacturing base of the city has severely suffered. However, more recently, new economic ties are being created, with collaboration and direct investment mostly from the European Union.

Services

File:Banci.jpg
Office building of one of the banks in Bălţi

The service sector has developed after 1989 to cover little more than the basic needs of the population. A variety of small private stores and supermarkets opened. Also, there are six public-owned and four private-owned markets; these are places where small-scale businessmen or women can for a tax trade different goods: imported or local-made clothing (quite often counterfeit) or agricultural products from farms in the villages neighboring Bălţi. More recently several supermarket chains have started opening stores in the city.

Energy and utilities

The main energy supply of the city comes from the local thermo-electric plant CET Nord, which uses a variety of imported carbon-based fuel (easier to obtain and cheaper than oil). The city is well-connected by high-voltage lines, and there are recent plans for the construction of a new line. Russian-imported natural gas is distributed to households, generally for cooking, not for heating. But this commodity has recently become a political hazard. Winter heating is distributed in a centralized fashion throughout the city by pipelines. Although the city was often without electricity and heating during the political hassles of 1994-2001, it has experienced no shortages or interruptions ever since. The drinking water is supplied into the pipes from a network of local artesian wells (which are insufficient) and from the river Nistru (Dnister) by a 60 km long pipeline connecting Bălţi to Soroca (which is not economically feasible).

Tourist industry

Hotels

  • Lidolux Hotel Bălţi
  • Hotel Bălţi (former Basarabia)
  • Hotel Tinereţe

Nightclubs

File:Baltipanorama.jpg
View of the central esplanade

The nightlife in the centre of Bălţi is mainly concentrated around the central Vasile Alecsandri square, which, together with adjoining Independence street and other central squares, is one of the biggest esplanades in Europe. Numerous cafés and restaurants with international cuisine can be found there (including Turkish, Japanese). Most of the city's feasts take place here. One of the favourite pastimes of Baltiers is an evening stroll along the Independence street and Vasile Alecsandri square.

Bălţi is home for two of the biggest clubs in the north of Moldova. The Soho Club, 500m from the city centre, in the Palace of Culture the and Convention Centre of the "Răut" Company, is known for its 1980-style parties on Thursdays. The A-Club, located near the Bălţi-Slobozia Railway Station, is known for its after parties on week-ends for younger visitors, whereas it is also known for an after-work Wednesday party, popular nowadays in Europe.

Transportation

Main article: Transport in Bălţi

Public Transport

Passenger transport in Bălţi is mainly carried out by the Bălţi Trolleybus Authority and Bălţi Bus Authority, as well as by private bus, minibus and taxi companies. The total amount of transported passengers in Bălţi for 2004 was 35,4 million passengers.[citation needed]

Buses and minibuses

The Bălţi Bus Authority (B.B.A.) provides for 10 regular bus routes in Bălţi and its near agglomeration. There are also private bus and minibus services, which are not regulated by the B.B.A. There are around 25 minibus lines in Bălţi and its agglomeration.

Trolleybuses

There are 3 trolleybus lines in Bălţi, the fourth line being planned to be constructed in 2007-2008. Most troleybusses used by the Bălţi Trolleybus Authority (B.T.A.) are different modifications of Russian ZiU and of Czech Škoda.

Line Length In service from Number of stations Serviced by
Line 1 Molodovo – Aeroportul Bălţi-Oraş ?.? km / ?.? miles 1970? ? B.T.A.
Line 2 Gara Bălţi-Slobozia – Cartierul "Dacia" ?.? km / ? miles 1970? ? B.T.A.
Line 3 Combinatul de Carne – Autogara ?.? km / ? miles 1970? ? B.T.A.
Line 4 Centru – Cimitirul ?.? km / ? miles 2008? ? B.T.A.

Taxis

Bălţi offers a wide choice of taxi services (more than 5 companies), most of which with a fixed tarif in the inner city. Three taxi companies are branches of Moldovan national companies, two taxi companies are Bălţi registered businesses.

The "per km/time" fees is currently being enforced by the government through difficult negotiations with taxi trade unions.

Motorways

Bălţi was and is an important transportation hub of Moldova.

The best inter-city transportation is coach or van (privately or publicly owned). 135 km of Soviet style highway (portions in good or fair condition) connect the city to the capital Chişinău. By road one can also reach Ukraine (in about 2 hours) to the north or to the east, and Romania (1 hour) to the south-west by the Sculeni-Sculeni crossing point, which leads to the important Romanian city of Iaşi (104 km from Bălţi), or to the west by the Stânca-Costeşti crossing.

The Bălţi Inter-City Coach Station is one of the biggest in Moldova and provides for regular bus connections to almost any city and village in Moldova, as well as for numerous European and international connections (Eurolines).

Train Stations

File:Balti-Slobozia train.jpg
Bălţi Slobozia Railway Station

Regular railroad connection to Ocniţa (north), Rezina (east) and Ungheni (south-east), as well as to Chişinău exists, however it takes today 6 hours to cover the 200 km to Chişinău.

The railroad lines are not electrified, and contain only a single track between stations. Since Moldova gained independence, the railroad lines became the responsibility of Calea Ferată din Moldova (Railways of Moldova) State company.

There are two railroad stations: Bălţi-City Station and Bălţi-Slobozia Station (the name of a city neighborhood), which both serve internal and international traffic.

Airports

Main article: Bălţi-Leadoveni International Airport
File:Leadoevni-Airport.jpg
Bălţi-Leadoveni International Airport

The city also has two operational airports. One of them, Bălţi-Leadoveni International Airport (colloquially mentioned as Bălţi Airport), 15km north of the city center (near the village of Corlăteni, formerly called Leadoveni), modern by Soviet standards, built in 1980s, where large aircraft can land (one 2,200 meters runway), is officially certified and operates both charter passenger and cargo flights. As of October 2007, it does not operate regular passenger flights.

A second airport, for small aircraft, Bălţi-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 municiâl and regional public services, agriculture, emergency services and pilot training.

Culture

Architecture and tourist attractions

The main points of attraction in the city are:

File:Balti-teatr.jpg
Vasile Alecsandri Theatre
File:Eleneacathedral.jpg
St. Constantine and Elena Cathedral, the largest church

Theaters

  • "Eugene Ionesco" Theatre
  • "Licurici" Republican Puppet Theatre
  • “B.P.Hajdeu” Republican Drama-Muzical Theatre
  • “Mihai Eminescu” National Theatre
  • "Luceafarul" Republican Theatre
  • Municipial Theatre "Satiricus I.L. Caragiale"
  • Vasile Alecsandri theatre

Art galleries

  • "Exhibition of the Union of painters "Constantin Brâncuşi"
  • Artum Art Gallery

Churches


Main article: Memorials of Bălţi


The Yiddish song “Beltz, Mayn Shtetele” is a moving evocation of a happy childhood spent in the shtetl (little town) Beltz. Its composer Alexander Olshanetsky (1892-1946) had moved to the US from Bessarabia in 1921, the lyrics are by Jacob Jacobs (1892-1972).

Education

Main article: Education of Bălţi

Primary and Secondary Education

There are [6] 13 high schools (Lyceums):

6 professional institutions (Romanian: colegii) offering the last 3 years of high school edication and 2 years post-high school technical education:

  • Republican College of Music and Pedagogy
  • Pedagogical College „Ion Creangă"
  • College of Medicine (Nursing school)
  • Professional College of Textile Industry
  • Polytechnical College
  • Technical College of Railroads

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, including one for visually impaired.

Higher Education

File:Balti-State-Univerisity.jpg
Bălţi State University

These schools teach either in Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, English or are mixed. The later case was inherited from the Soviet system, which provided for education in Russian and Romanian languages (at that time named Moldovan language), where mixed schools were created with the administration being carried out in both languages. Today, both Romanian and Russian languages are used in the administration.

Health Protection

File:RepublicanHospital.jpg
Bălţi Republican Hospital

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):[9]

  • Republican Multifunctional Hospital
  • Municipal Hospital/Clinic
  • Children's Municipal Hospital/Clinic
  • Emergency Medical Services Centre (with subsections throughout the city)
  • Tuberculosis Clinic
  • Hospital for Mental Illnesses
  • Hospital of Moldavian Rialroads
  • Network of Family Doctors
  • Non-Governmental Organisations
  • Private Hospital/Clinic Centre of Laser Therapy "Incomed"
  • Dental Clinic

Sport


Notable people

International Relations

Twin Cities

Consulates

  • Ukraine Consulate of Ukraine, address: str. Kiev 143
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bălţi.

Notes and References

  1. ^ http://dexonline.ro/search.php?cuv=bălţi
  2. ^ In particular, many were Russian clerics (Old Believers) who had not accepted a 17th century move of modernization within the Russian Orthodox Church, and were excommunicated, provoking a split. The western provinces of the Russian Empire with Bessarabia in particular, were more liberal religiously.
  3. ^ Pantelimon Halipa, Anatolie Moraru, "Testament pentru urmaşi", München, 1967, reprint Hyperion, Chişinău, 1991, p. 70
  4. ^ Halipa, Moraru, p. 144
  5. ^ Ion Nistor "Istoria Basarabiei", 3rd edition, Cernăuţi, 1923, reprint Cartea Moldovenească, Chişinău, 1991, p. 275
  6. ^ Halipa, Moraru, p. 70, p. 144
  7. ^ Nistor, p. 275
  8. ^ Halipa, Moraru, p. 70
  9. ^ Halipa, Moraru, p. 75-76
  10. ^ Nistor, p. 282
  11. ^ Template:Ru iconGhettos and concentration camps on the territory of the Soviet Union
  12. ^ Mihail Adauge, Alexandru Furtună, "Basarabia şi basarabenii", Chişinău, Editura Uniunii Scriitorilor din Moldova, 1991, p.332-335
  13. ^ Comisia Prezidenţială pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România: Raport Final / ed.: Vladimir , Dorin Dobrincu, Cristian Vasile, Bucureşti: Humanitas, 2007, ISBN 978-973-50-1836-8, p. 757
  14. ^ Elena Postică, "Rezistenţa antisovietică în Basarabia, 1944-1950", Chişinău, Editura Ştiinţa, 1997
  15. ^ In medieval Moldavia Arcaşii lui Ştefan [Stephen's archers], free peasants paying tax only to the country's ruler, formed the first line of defense against the invading barbarian hordes, and often would have to defend their families and villages themselves, or hide them in the forests, before the Principality's army would come to relief. Throughout the hilly part (i.e. most) of Moldova, many summits have an additional man-made earth addition of up to 10 meters in some places, where warning fires were located in the early Middle Ages. One can easily recognize these spots on the Moldavian, now deforested, mainly cultivated landscape, all the way to the banks of the river Dniester, across from which the Asian steppe begins, and can observe a repeating peculiarity: From each of the summits the otherwise obscured neighborhood is very well observable, with at least 3 other such spots in clear view, although possibly at a couple hours' walking distance.
  16. ^ In ancient Rome, Toga was the loose outer garment worn by citizens in public.
  17. ^ Experts Offering to Consult the National Statistics Bureau in Evaluation of the Census Data, Moldova Azi, May 19, 2005, story attributed to AP Flux. Retrieved October 11, 2005.
  18. ^ Template:Ro iconRomanii din strainatate vor sa revina in tara

External links


Template:Municipality of Bălţi, Moldova

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