[Techtalk] Open Office Question

[Figaro]

Hello all.
I have a big spreadsheet (3700 lines (about 14800 cells). I need to sort 
the data in reference to contents (country name) of a row (eg: 3) to 
generate a new listing.
Now the usual >data>sort>Argentina will sort everything nicely for  
about 300 lines  the remainder is still sorted by first cell (alphabetic 
name convention). I have tried moving to next line not sorted the issue 
the >data>sort>... which again does something recognizable, however only 
for the succeeding 300 lines, and not in respect to previous sorted  
lines. So, I need help here. I am NOT a spreadsheet master, in fact 
detest the things
, but need to learn.  I suppose that mysql may have a way to import the 
.ods or another format file then sort and save for export to either html 
or something usable to open office. But I'm not a database junkie 
either.. so if someone can point me to a tutorial or similar ... one 
would be VERY appreciative.
I should mention that several of the cell fields are embedded urls 
(active links) for direct connection to other data sources. Sort of a 
large directory of engineering companies, their addresses, web site 
urls, and stock quote data urls, and financial ownership (stake holder) 
listing.
As always.. your help, time and consideration is very much appreciated...
thank you,
matthew