Populate a Drop down from Database

The $data array that you pass to the view, is automatically extracted bij CI. As a result, the view will not know the array $data, but it does know the variables that are part of it.
You can populate the dropdown with this:

PHP Code:

<?php echo form_dropdown('country_id',$country);?>

The form helper will build a <select></select> element. The array keys in $country will be used as values of the option elements, and the array values will be visible as text in the dropdown.

Hope this will help you.