S=pd.Series(['Finland','Colombia','Florida','Japan','Puerto Rico','Russia','france'])
S.str.contains('^F.*')
import numpy as np
df['first_five_Letter']=df['Country (region)'].str.extract(r'(^w{5})')
df.head()
S=pd.Series(['Finland','Colombia','Florida','Japan','Puerto Rico','Russia','france'])
[itm[0] for itm in S.str.findall('^[Ff].*') if len(itm)>0]
# Total items starting with F
S.str.count(r'(^F.*)').sum()
df[df['Country (region)'].str.count('^[pP].*')>0]
# Get countries starting with letter P
S=pd.Series(['Finland','Colombia','Florida','Japan','Puerto Rico','Russia','france'])
S[S.str.match(r'(^P.*)')==True]