Spain

Something that I have not discussed very much is travel for educational purposes. Particularly, traveling to a country to learn a language is such a great idea. Students today are more and more being encouraged to immerse themselves in the language and culture of another country. Spanish, the second most native language in the world actually beats english and follows english.
Spain has a population of approximately 40 million people and its currency is the Euro. What I never knew was that the country has the 7th largest economy in the world and its coastline has had many problems with drug trafficking. But, there are many different regions of Spain that each have different characteristics. 
Although there are many regions of Spain many people choose to visit its capital and largest city, Madrid. But, this website discusses the hidden gems of the rest of the country. 

In terms of politics, I had never known that the different regions are quite autonomous and there is not a huge emphasis on federal power. Yet, at the same time the democracy of Spain overall has been questioned by its citizens overall since its increase in austerity. (This was a very interesting article!) Further, Spain happens to be the largest entryway for drug trafficking into Europe.