Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (or metro) area comprising two urban districts. Jingzhou's central urban area has grown out of Shashi City and Jingzhou Town (historically also known as Jiangling); their names were preserved in the names of Shashi District and Jingzhou District, which include the city's historical center, as well as Jiangling County, which administers the suburban areas of the larger historical area of Jiangling. The name "Shashi" also remains in the names of a number of local facilities, such as Jingzhou Shashi Airport and a railway freight station. Toponymy The contemporary city of Jingzhou is named after ancient province of the same name, which was one of the nine provinces of ancient China. Said province was named after the nearby Jing Mountains. Geography and climate Jingzhou occupies an area of with a topography rising from east to west. It is covered by a dense network of waterways, as well as lakes, and is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River on the Jianghan Plain. Downstream to its east lies Wuhan, the provincial capital, and to the west lies the city of Yichang, the Three Gorges, and Chongqing Municipality. Jingmen City, also in Hubei, lies to the north; to its south are Yueyang and Changde, both in Hunan Province. 12.42% of the city's area is forested. Jingzhou has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with hot, humid summers, and damp, chilly, but drier winters. Monthly daily average temperatures range from in January to in July. The area receives 1,800 to 2,000 hours of sunshine per year and has a frost-free period of 242−263 days annually. Demographics According to the 2010 Census, the prefecture-level city of Jingzhou has 5,691,707 inhabitants and a population density of 405 inhabitants per km2. As of the 7th census of Jingzhou done by the municipal government, Jingzhou's population shrunk slightly to an estimated 5,231,180 inhabitants, residing in about 1,833,292 households. Of Jingzhou's residential population, 2,664,658 or 50.94 percent were males while 2,566,522 of 49.06 percent were females. The sex ratio was 103.82 (female=100, male to female). There were 534,914 persons with university education. Compared with 2010, the number of people with university education went up from 6,828 persons to 10,225 persons