[c#] Cant get text of a DropDownList in code - can get value but not text

I am using ASP.NET 3.5

I have a drop-down list called lstCountry with an item in it like this:

<asp:ListItem Value="United States">Canada</asp:ListItem> 

This will display Canada but in code the value will be "United States". How can I retrieve the value "Canada" also in my code?

I have tried all of these and all of them return "United States"

lstCountry.Text
lstCountry.SelectedValue
lstCountry.SelectedItem.Text

My Drop Down list:

 <asp:DropDownList ID="lstCountry" runat="server" Width="200px">
              <asp:ListItem>Please Select</asp:ListItem>
  <asp:ListItem>United States</asp:ListItem>
  <asp:ListItem Value="United States">Canada</asp:ListItem>
 </asp:DropDownList>

How I read the value in code:

    Dim country As String
    country = lstCountry.SelectedItem.Text

try

lstCountry.SelectedItem.Text

What about

lstCountry.Items[lstCountry.SelectedIndex].Text;

You can try

lstCountry.SelectedItem.Text

Have a look here, this has a proof-of-concept page and demo you can use to get anything from the drop-down: asp:DropDownList Control Tutorial Page

had the same problem and just solved it, i used string [variable_Name] =dropdownlist1.SelectedItem.Text;

AppendDataBoundItems="true" needs to be set.