The default Magento 2 offers features that allow the admin to easily manage the store, and improve the performance.
This post shows one such method to configure country options in Magento 2 that identifies where the business is located and the countries from where the store accepts the orders.
With this tutorial, the store admin can restrict countries to place an order as the business may be local. Or the products offered may be restricted in some countries, or shipment may be costlier.
Even, the merchant would want to target specific countries only for the business and restrict other countries.
In such cases, the admin can set up country options accordingly and can refer the below steps:
Steps to Configure Country Options in Magento 2:

1. Login to admin panel
2. Go to Stores > Configuration
3. Select General under General
4. Expand Country Options
Default Country – Select the country where the business is located
Allow Countries – Select the countries from which your store accepts orders
Zip/Postal Code is Optional for – Select the countries where you conduct business that does not require a ZIP or postal code to be included as part of the street address
European Union Countries – Select the EU countries where you conduct business
Top Destination – Select the countries that you target for sales
5. Save the configuration
Once configured, the customers can only select the shipping to countries allowed from the country options in Magento 2 backend:

That’s it.
If there is requirement to add country, state, or city from the frontend and developer needs to add a new region for specific country in Magento 2 database, then you can refer to our blog regarding it.
You can also refer to Configure Country Options in Magento 2 from our Magento 2 video tutorial series:
Also, please share the solution with the Magento community via social media.
Thank you.