def trim_country(df):
    """
    :param df: dataframe with column 'country' containing country name, possibly followed by () and/or ;
    :return: mutated dataframe by trimming country name
    """
    # delete ( and following, escape (
    df['country'] = df['country'].str.replace(r'\(.*', '')

    # delete ; and following
    df['country'] = df['country'].str.replace(r';.*', '')

    # delete , and following. For example change Bahamas, The to Bahamas
    df['country'] = df['country'].str.replace(r',.*', '')

    df['country'] = df['country'].str.strip()
    return df