GONAVES

capital of L'Artibonite dpartement, western Haiti, on the northeastern shore of the Golfe de la Gonve (Gulf of Gonaves). Originally an Indian village called Gonaibo, it is now the commercial centre and port of the fertile Artibonite Plain, with a natural harbour; coffee, cotton, sugar, bananas, mangoes, and cabinet woods are exported. In 1802 the French captured the revolutionary hero Franois Toussaint-Louverture at his farm outside the town. Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaimed Haiti's independence from France at the town's Place d'Armes on Jan. 1, 1804. A notable landmark is the Muse du Centenaire, inaugurated in 1904 to commemorate the nation's first century of independence. Pop. (1982 prelim.) 34,209.