Bad actor said residents backed a country (7)

I believe the answer is:

croatia

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'country' is the definition.
(I know that Croatia is a country)

'bad actor said residents backed a' is the wordplay.
'bad' indicates anagramming the letters.
'said residents' becomes 'i' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'backed' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go at the back of others).
'actor' anagrammed gives 'croat'.
'croat'+'i'+'a'='CROATIA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for croatia that I've seen before include "European state" , "Balkan country, capital Zagreb" , "Adriatic country" , "East European country" , "From small country" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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