I would like to know if it is possible to find users from my area. The way I currently do this is to search for a file, then when the search results come up I right-click and browse that user. I then look at the IP address to determine if the user is from my country. Is there not an easier way, such as search by IP address or something? Example search for 71.*.*.* to find all users with an IP address staring with 71.
Thanks.

I need to know what country you're from. Is 71 from the US?

Unless this is a very recent feature, you cannot search by IP address. However, you can "Direct Connect" if you know the other LW user's IP.