Mostly cold near eastern country (5)

I believe the answer is:

chile

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'country' is the definition.
(Chile is an example)

'mostly cold near eastern' is the wordplay.
'mostly' means to remove the last letter.
'cold' becomes 'chill' (chill is a kind of cold).
'near eastern' becomes 'e' (I am not sure about the 'near' bit.).
'chill' with its final letter removed is 'chil'.
'chil'+'e'='CHILE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chile that I've seen before include "Long narrow country" , "South American country" , "Long, thin country" , "Country liberated by Bernardo O'Higgins" , "Country of S. America" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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