The portion of the earth’s surface occupied by an independent nation or people; or the inhabitants of such territory. In its primary meaning “country” signifies “place;” and. in a larger sense, the territory or dominions occupied by a community ; or even waste and unpeopled sections or regions of the earth. But its metaphorical meaning is no less definite and well understood; and in common parlance, in historical and geographical writings, in diplomacy, legislation , treaties, and international codes, the word is employed to denote the population, the nation, the state, or the government, having possession and dominion over a territory. Stairs v. Peaslee. 18 How. 521, 15 L. Ed. 474; U. S. v. Recorder, 1 Blatchf. 218. 225, 5 N. Y. Leg. Obs. 280, Fed. Cas. No. 16,129. In pleading and practice. The inhabitants of a district from which a jury is to be summoned ; pais ; a jury. 3 Bl. Comm. 349; Steph. PL 73, 78, 230.
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