Bals : Romania

Bals is a town in Romania, Olt county.
There are 3 hypotheses about its name :
The locality was named after the Balsita brook.
The name come from the Turkish word “Balis” (honey) as there is an large apiculture area.
A boyar named Bals settled here in V-VI century.
Population
1864 - 1,700 inhabitants.
1884 - 2,500 inhabitants.
1921 - 5,000 inhabitants.
1938 - 5,300 inhabitants.
1948 - 6,128 inhabitants.

1973 - 11,578 inhabitants.
1992 - 24,560 inhabitants.
2002 - 21,195 inhabitants.
Sorted by nationality :
20,552 Romanians
619 Gypsies
16 Hungarians
2 Germans
1 Ukrainean
1 Turk
1 Chinese
1 Bulgarian
2 other nationalities

Sorted by religion :
21,043 Ortodoxs
47 Adventists of 7th day (sp?)
36 Baptisti (sp?)
19 Penticostali (sp?)
8 Roman-catholics
5 Atheists
32 other religion

History
1450 - The estimate date when Bals was establish.
1564 - First mention of Bals in a document.