Central area of a country or region (8)
I believe the answer is:
interior
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'central area of a country' is the first definition.
(I've seen this before)
'region' is the second definition.
(interior is a kind of region)
(Other definitions for interior that I've seen before include "Domestic" , "sort of design for its > minister?" , "Inner part" , "The area inside" , "Inland region" .)