A lake in an alpine country or a large island state (9)
I believe the answer is:
australia
'a large island state' is the definition.
'Australia' can be an answer for 'state' (Australia is an example). I am not sure about the 'a large island' bit.
'a lake in an alpine country' is the wordplay.
'lake' becomes 'L' (geographical abbreviation).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'an alpine country' becomes 'austria' (I've seen this in another clue).
'a'+'l'='al'
'al' placed into 'austria' is 'AUSTRALIA'.
'or' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for australia that I've seen before include "A land down under" , "Island continent" , "Smallest continent" , "Norfolk and Christmas Islands belong to it" , "USA lariat found down under" .)