Gold altar is desecrated in this country (9)
I believe the answer is:
australia
'this country' is the definition.
(Australia is an example)
'gold altar is desecrated' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'Au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'desecrated' indicates anagramming the letters.
'altar'+'is'='altaris'
'altaris' is an anagram of 'stralia'.
'au'+'stralia'='AUSTRALIA'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for australia that I've seen before include "English speaking nation" , "Commonwealth country" , "Antipodean continent" , "Test match players" , "faraway country" .)