Miss World 1981, the 31st 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, was held on 12 November 1981 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. The winner was Pilín León from

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, the first titleholder from her country since

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. She was crowned by

Miss World 1980 Miss World 1980, the 30th anniversary of the Miss World pageant, was held on 13 November 1980 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom, televised for the first time by Thames Television for ITV. The winner was Gabriella Brum from We ...

, Kimberley Santos of Guam. Another Venezuelan,

Irene Sáez Irene Lailin Sáez Conde (born 13 December 1961) is a Venezuelan politician and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1981. She has been a model, was the mayor of Chacao (a municipality of Caracas), governor of the state of Nueva Esparta ...

, had been crowned

Miss Universe 1981 Miss Universe 1981 was the 30th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, held on 20 July 1981 at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City, New York. Irene Sáez of Venezuela was crowned by Shawn Weatherly of the United States. There were 77 contes ...

in July, making Venezuela one of the few countries to hold both major international titles (

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

and

) in the same year. The Continental Queens of Beauty were awarded for the first time. This edition marked the return of Suriname, which last competed in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and Chile, El Salvador, French Polynesia (as Tahiti), Iceland last competed in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. Mauritius, Panama, Paraguay, Swaziland, the United States Virgin Islands withdrew from the competition for unknown reasons.

Results

Placements

Special awards

Contestants

67 contestants competed for the title.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Miss World Miss World 1981 in London 1981 beauty pageants Beauty pageants in England Events at the Royal Albert Hall November 1981 in the United Kingdom