in reply to Using the 'if' statement...

The eq operator does not work like that, but you can use a regular expression:
my $pattern = join ('|', @countries);
if ($country =~ /^($pattern)$/) {
   print "True\n"
}

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Or you could use a for loop, or map
update: inserted parens

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Re^2: Using the 'if' statement...
by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jul 09, 2008 at 10:02 UTC
    Needlessly uses captures, and incorrectly assumes @countries contains regexps. Fix: 
    my $pattern = join '|',
              map quotemeta,
              @countries;

if ($country =~ /^(?:$pattern)$/) {
   print "True\n"
}

    [download]

    Or even 

    my ($pattern) = map qr/^(?:$_)$/,
                join '|',
                map quotemeta,
                @countries;

if ($country =~ $pattern) {
   print "True\n"
}

    [download]
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[d/l]
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Re^2: Using the 'if' statement...
by harishnuti (Beadle) on Jul 09, 2008 at 09:44 UTC

    Alternatively ,below online applies 
    print "True","\n" if ( grep /$country/, @countries ); # if present
print "False","\n" if (! grep /$country/, @countries ); # if not prese
+nt

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[reply]
[d/l]

      Needlessly uses a regexp, the regexp isn't anchored, and incorrectly assumes $country contains a regexps. Fix: 

      print "True","\n" if ( grep $_ eq $country, @countries );

      [download]

      I essentially posted that already.

[reply]
[d/l]
      You need to anchor your pattern match in grep, otherwise ... 
      @countries = qw(India Germany);
$country = 'd';

print "True","\n" if ( grep /$country/, @countries );

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[reply]
[d/l]

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