Fos-sur-Mer

Fos-sur-Mer (French pronunciation: [fɔs syʁ mɛʁ], literally Fos on Sea; Provençal: Fòs) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.

Fos-sur-Mer
Commune
Industrial zone
Coat of arms
Location of Fos-sur-Mer
Fos-sur-Mer Show map of France Fos-sur-Mer Show map of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Coordinates: 43°26′25″N 4°56′55″E
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Bouches-du-Rhône
Arrondissement	Istres
Canton	Istres
Intercommunality	Aix-Marseille-Provence
Government
• Mayor (2022–2026)	René Raimondi[1]
Area 1	92.31 km2 (35.64 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	15,694
• Density	170/km2 (440/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	13039 /13270
Elevation	0–39 m (0–128 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Fos-sur-Mer is situated about 50 km (31 mi) north west of Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast, and to the west of the Étang de Berre. The city has 6 km (3.7 mi) of sand beach.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 550 —     1800 418 −3.84% 1806 579 +5.58% 1821 690 +1.18% 1831 916 +2.87% 1836 1,498 +10.34% 1841 1,862 +4.45% 1846 1,938 +0.80% 1851 1,984 +0.47% 1856 2,130 +1.43% 1861 2,218 +0.81% 1866 1,170 −12.01% 1872 1,170 +0.00% 1876 1,040 −2.90% 1881 1,140 +1.85% 1886 1,146 +0.11% 1891 1,464 +5.02% 1896 1,473 +0.12%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 1,393 −1.11% 1906 996 −6.49% 1911 1,114 +2.26% 1921 1,223 +0.94% 1926 1,350 +2.00% 1931 1,531 +2.55% 1936 1,543 +0.16% 1946 1,645 +0.64% 1954 2,349 +4.55% 1962 2,898 +2.66% 1968 2,869 −0.17% 1975 6,709 +12.90% 1982 9,031 +4.34% 1990 11,605 +3.18% 1999 13,925 +2.05% 2007 15,832 +1.62% 2012 15,859 +0.03% 2017 15,494 −0.46%
Source: EHESS[3] and INSEE (1968-2017)[4]

Economy

Fos is the site of a major port development operated by the Autonomous Port of Marseille. 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 ( merged into ArcelorMittal in 2006). The presence of the steel, chemistry and oil industries means that pollution levels are high.

Sports

Fos-sur-Mer is home to Fos Provence Basket which plays its home games at the 2,000 seat Complexe sportif Parsemain.

See also

• Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department