The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ETHIOPIA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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A
More clues leading to the result ETHIOPIA
- Taipei home, semi out in the country
- State of a hot pie I ordered
- Land of the revolution: I have lost my short-sightedness
- Country‘s leaderless state shown in film; not, oddly, optimal
- I hope it regenerates a country
- Here in Africa, unworldly character — old, religious — advanced to accept greeting
- English welcome in patio after rambling about country
- Wickedly hot pie excellent served up in country
- Greeting penned by a poet I fancy in African country
- In terrible heat I work on island in African country
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The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.