When you bind a <select> element with v-model, the selected option will populate the bound variable.
Note that, if you set a value for your options, the variable will take it instead of what is written within the tags. For example, you can write as follows:
<select> <option value="1">Japan</option> <option value="2">India</option> <option value="7">Canada</option> </select>
This ensures that you have every country bound to a numeric value.