| Šilalė | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Pushpin Map: | Lithuania Šilalė District Municipality |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Šilalė district municipality |
| Coordinates: | 55.4833°N 33°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Ethnographic region |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Type4: | Eldership |
| Subdivision Type6: | Capital of |
| Subdivision Name1: | Samogitia |
| Subdivision Name2: | Tauragė County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Šilalė district municipality |
| Subdivision Name4: | Šilalė city eldership |
| Subdivision Name6: | Šilalė district municipality Šilalė city eldership Šilalė rural eldership Traksėdžiai eldership |
| Established Title: | First mentioned |
| Established Date: | 1533 |
| Established Title2: | Granted town rights |
| Established Date2: | 1950 |
| Population Total: | 4,640 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Pushpin Image: | Silales kaimiskoji seniunija (Silales rajono zemelapis).png |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
Šilalė (; Samogitian: Šėlalė, Polish: Szyłele) is a city in western Lithuania, Samogitia, Tauragė County. It is located 30km (20miles) north of Tauragė. The River Lokysta flows through the town and there is a pond in the centre of the town.
The town is part of the Samogitian ethnographic region of Lithuania and was first mentioned in the sixteenth century. Its name derives from the generic word sila ("Pinewood") and Samogitian suffix -alė. It was located in the Duchy of Samogitia in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
During World War II, the town was under Soviet occupation from 1940, and then under German occupation from 1941 to 1944. In July 1941, 135 Jewish men from Šilalė were shot on a site in the Jewish cemetery.[1] In September 1941, the Jewish women and children of Šilalė were shot in the Tūbinės forest. Around 1,300 Jews were massacred by an Einsatzgruppen of Germans and local Lithuanian collaborators.[2]
2011 – population of 5,492 people:
2001 – population of 6,281 people: