Artibonite (Haitian Creole: Latibonit) is one of the ten departments (French: départements) of Haiti. With an area of 4,984 km² it is Haiti's largest department. Artibonite has a population of 1,168,800 (2002). The region is the country's main rice-growing area. The main cities are Gonaïves (the capital) and Saint-Marc. An insurgency tried unsuccessfully to declare Artibonite's independence in February 2004.