Pontardawe () is both a town and a community in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: "Cwmtawe") in Wales. With a population of 6,800, it comprises the electoral wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos. A town council is elected. Pontardawe forms part of the county borough of Neath Port Talbot. On the opposite bank of the River Tawe, the village of Alltwen, part of the community of Cilybebyll, is administered separately from Pontardawe, but has close ties to the town. Pontardawe is at the crossroads of the A474 road and the A4067 road. Pontardawe came into existence as a small settlement on the northwestern bank of the Tawe where the drovers' road from Neath and Llandeilo crossed the river to go up the valley to Brecon.