Miss World 1978 was the 28th edition of the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

pageant, held at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom on 16 November 1978. At the end of the event,

Mary Stävin Mary Ann-Catrin Stävin (born 20 August 1957) is a Swedish actress, model and beauty queen. She won Miss World 1977 and appeared in the James Bond films ''Octopussy'' (1983) and ''A View to a Kill'' (1985). Early life Stävin was born in Öreb ...

of Sweden crowned

Silvana Suárez Silvana Rosa Suárez Clarence (; 29 September 1958 – 21 October 2022) was an Argentine model and beauty queen who won the Miss World 1978 contest, representing Argentina. The pageant was held in London, United Kingdom. Suárez became the se ...

of Argentina as the new Miss World, this was the second time Argentina has won Miss World. Contestants from sixty-eight countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by

Paul Burnett Paul Burnett (born 26 November 1943) is an English radio disc jockey. Early career Burnett began his radio career while in the Royal Air Force in the Persian Gulf in 1964. In 1966 he joined offshore radio station, Radio 270, broadcasting o ...

and Sascha Distel. Distel also performed in this year's pageant.

Background

Selection of participants

Contestants from sixty-eight countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two candidates were appointed to their position to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

, the first runner-up of Miss Argentina 1978, was appointed to represent her country at Miss World after the original winner, Margarita Susana Heindrycks, was disqualified for being underage. Pascale Taurua was originally crowned Miss France 1978 and was to compete internationally. However, she decided to return to homeland rather than taking the title, and the title was given to Brigitte Konjovic, the first runner-up. Due to personal reasons, Konjovic was dethroned as Miss France, and the title of Miss France 1978 was given to the second runner-up Kelly Hoarau. Malek Nemlaghi of Tunisia was initially disqualified after refusing to remove her

yashmak A yashmak, yashmac or yasmak (from , "a veil") is a Turkish and Turkmen type of veil or worn by women to cover their faces in public. Today, there is almost no usage of this garment in Turkey. In Turkmenistan, however, it is still consciously ...

and wear boxer shorts for the official photo-call. However, she was reinstated back into the competition after she agreed to remove her yashmak at the dress rehearsal.

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

The 1978 edition saw the debuts of Dominica and Saint Vincent and the return of India, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, Swaziland, Tunisia, and the Virgin Islands. Nigeria , which last competed in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Philippines, Swaziland, and Tunisia last competed in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, While, Italy, Jamaica, Singapore and the United States Virgin Islands last competed in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. Bolivia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa withdrew in this edition. Angelyn Tukana of Papua New Guinea withdrew due to lack of funding. Yolanda Kloppers of South Africa did not compete after the Miss World Organization decided to ban the country from competing due to its apartheid policy.

Results

Placements

Special awards

Contestants

Sixty-eight contestants competed for the tile.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Miss World Miss World 1978 in London 1978 beauty pageants Beauty pageants in England Events at the Royal Albert Hall November 1978 in the United Kingdom