Jingmen is a prefecture-level city in central Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Jingmen is within an area where cotton and oil crops are planted. The population of the prefecture is 2,873,687. The urban area of Jingmen City has a population of about 400,000. Jingmen is so named as in ancient times it was the gateway to Jingzhou, one of the Nine Provinces and means literally Gateway to Jingzhou. During the Second World War, the city was occupied by Japanese forces.