rural area vs country

rural area and country both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
rural area	Yes	No	No	No
country	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, rural area and country are synonyms defined as:

rural area (noun)	country (noun)
an area outside of cities and towns	a politically organized body of people under a single government
	the people who live in a nation or country
	the territory occupied by a nation
	an area outside of cities and towns
	a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography)