Fos-sur-Mer is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...

 department in southern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Geography

Fos-sur-Mer is situated about 50 km (31.1 mi) north west of Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, on the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 coast, and to the west of the Étang de Berre

Étang de Berre

The Étang de Berre is a body of water adjacent to the Mediterranean, about 25km north-west of Marseille.-Geography:Created by the rise in water levels at the end of the last ice age, this small inland sea is composed of...

. The city has 6 km (3.7 mi) of sand beach.

Population

Economy

Fos is the site of a major port development operated by the Autonomous Port of Marseilles. The facilities include container handling terminals and a gas (methane) terminal. The waterside location of the industrial zone is attractive to heavy industry including steel. The steel group ArcelorMittal has its Sollac Méditerranée plant here. The presence of the steel, chemistry and oil industries means that pollution levels are high.