Sometimes 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 current coat of arms and flag of Bălți, elaborated by Silviu Tabac from the Moldovan State Commission for Heraldry, were adopted by the Municipal Council in April 2006.

The central element of the shield is an archer in red clothes, in the military outfit (yellow) of Stephen III of Moldavia (Romanian: Ștefan cel Mare) times (15th century).

Apart from Bălți, only the capital Chișinău, and Tiraspol are allowed to have seven towers, while other cities must limit this number to three or five.)

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.

The city's flag is composed of two horizontal strips: a blue one on the bottom, and a silver one on top.

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.

* In March 2023, the Parliament of Moldova approved a law referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution, making the name Moldovan obsolete.

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

"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.

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.

[18] Theaters: Museums and art galleries: List of FM radio stations from Bălți as of 4 July 2009.

Bălți is home to numerous independent and apolitical organisations such as Second Breath, one of the Moldovan NGOs for care of socially vulnerable persons, Tinerii pentru Dreptul la Viață ("Youth for the right to live"), a youth organisation.

[31] Most of the city's industry centres on food processing, notably in the production of flour, sugar, and wine.

Besides traditional for Moldova wine making, sugar, meat processing, flour milling, oil production, and light industry in general, Bălți is the centre 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.

Bălți has several major shopping chain outlets, such as the German Metro Group AG, Ukrainian Fourchette and Moldovan Fidesco.

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.

A unit of Soviet Tochka-M short-range rockets, each carrying 500 kg (1,102 lb) of conventional explosive, was known to be based in the city.

135 kilometres (84 miles) of Soviet-style highway (portions in good or fair condition) connect the city to the capital Chișinău.

One of them, Bălți International Airport, 15 kilometres (9 miles) 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.