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.