Szprotawa [ʂprɔˈtava] (German: Sprottau) is a town in western Poland, in Żagań County, Lubusz Voivodeship.

The first mention of today's Szprotawa comes at 1000 in the chronicle of bishop Thietmar of Merseburg, who accompanied the emperor Otto III on pilgrimage to the grave of Saint Adalbert in Gniezno.

Iława, currently a district of Szprotawa, is one of the two hypothetical locations where emperor Otto III and Polish ruler Bolesław the Brave could have met.

It was ruled by the Piasts and Jagiellons, including future Kings of Poland John I Albert and Sigismund I the Old, until its dissolution in 1506.

Since the Middle Ages, the town's wealth was primarily attributable to trade, mainly in cattle, salt and grain, from Silesia and Greater Poland to German states.

During World War II the Germans established two labour units of the prisoner-of-war camp in Żagań (then Sagan), intended for Italian and Soviet POWs.