Let's treat this for what it is: A simple question about game mechanics and rules.
Not an invitation to open the years-old fluff session about whether self-farming is "morally" right within the game. That's been debated enough. If you need more of that, go back a few pages and just re-read the old posts.
Magellan - as Martian said, the answer is yes, you are able to grab your own countries in FFA. I would strongly suggest against getting into the debate of if you SHOULD though....folks here are a bit knee jerk about it, as you can see.
its not as bad as alliance but it is fairly bad, especially for untaggeds. Consider joining a netting alliance if you want to play in relative peace; panlv, tko, and ely would all be good places to join.