Artibonite is one of the ten departments (French: départements) of Haiti. With an area of 4,887 km² it is Haiti's largest department. Artibonite has a population of 1,727,524 in 2003. The region is the country's main rice-growing area. The main cities are Gonaïves (the capital) and Saint-Marc. In February 2004 an insurgency tried unsuccessfully to declare Artibonite's independence.