in the bulgarian language, the common word for "country" as in going back to the older meaning of the word from english, the word is:

strana

this means "side" sorta like "scala" in italian. it is also the origin of the word "strange" in english. the serbs specifically use the "persons" modifier "ac" (ats) stranats for foreigneir, where there is another form used in bulgarian "chuzhdenets" and "chuzhd-" actually means strange and foreign and there is also the expression for being outside the country: "chuzhbina" (bil sam chuzhbina za velikden - i was overseas for christmas).

but they distinguish between a country and a territorial monopoly, they are used interchangeably but "strana" is more like you think - your football teame - and the word for modern state is "durzhava" and the word "durzh-" means to hold, so, a government holds the territory. the people who live in it, however, tend to then be divided by which side of the line they are on.

for me, the allusions to tribal gang hooligan football fan mentality writ large is obvious. "which kind of foreigner are you" kakav chuzhdenets si ti? well more normally just "ot kade si?"

i kinda am starting to properly miss eastern europe i think.