Berbești

For other uses, see Berbești (disambiguation).

Berbeşti
Town
Coat of arms of Berbeşti Coat of arms
Berbeşti Location of Berbeşti
Coordinates:
Country	Romania
County	Vâlcea County
Status	Town
Government
• Mayor	Vintilă Chelcea (National Liberal Party)
Area
• Total	54.34 km2 (20.98 sq mi)
Population (estimated January 1, 2009)
• Total	5,635
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
2002	5,704	—
2011	4,591	−19.5%
Source: Census data

Berbeşti is a town located in Vâlcea County, Romania, about 78 km south-west from Râmnicu Vâlcea. It was granted town status by law in October 2003. As of January 2009, it has a population of 5,635.

The town administers five villages: Dămţeni, Dealu Aluniş, Roşioara, Târgu Gânguleşti and Valea Mare.

Geography and climate

Set on the lower course of the Tărâia River, a tributary of Olteţ River, Berbeşti is crossed by the 45th parallel north.

Berbeşti is bordered by Mateești commune to the north, Sineşti commune to the south, Alunu to the west and Copăceni to the east.

Economy

The main economic activity is coal mining that began in the 1970s. Following the economic reforms in the late 1990s, Berbeşti saw an economic downturn similar to most of the mono-industrial towns in Romania.