Minute man in two areas in the US (7)
I believe the answer is:
america
'the us' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'minute man in two areas' is the wordplay.
'two areas' means two replacements for 'area'.
'minute' becomes 'm' (abbreviation).
'man' becomes 'eric' (I've seen this before).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'm'+'eric'='meric'
'a'+'a'='aa'
'meric' going within 'aa' is 'AMERICA'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for america that I've seen before include "Care and aim badly for the continent" , "The USA" , "Western land mass" , "Ira came from the continent" , "Camera I found in the continent" .)