Stretching from the Cairngorm Mountains northwards to a coastal lowland plain known as the Laigh of Moray, Moray is bisected by the River Spey which flows northwards to empty into the North Sea. The region is renowned for its many whisky distilleries and its chief towns are Elgin (the administrative centre), Forres, Buckie, Fochabers, Keith, Dufftown and Tomintoul.