Balti is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after Chisinau. 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 Chisinau, and is located on the river Raut, a tributary of the Dniester, on a hilly landscape in the Balti steppe.

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)