Miss World 1996, the 46th 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, took place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium,

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India on 23 November 1996. At the end of the event, Irene Skliva of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

was crowned as Miss World 1996 by Jacqueline Aguilera of Venezuela. Skliva was the first Greek to win the title. Contestants from eighty-eighty countries and territories participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Richard Steinmetz and Ruby Bhatia.

Background

Controversy

The event was organised by ABCL which was led by

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

. The beauty pageant saw resistance by several groups due to the perceived culture clash. However, due to support of the local government, the event was held successfully.

Selection of participants

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition saw the debut of Bonaire, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia, and the return of Grenada, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Urugauy and Yugoslavia; Grenada, 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 ...

, Yugoslavia last competed in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, Uganda and Urugauy last competed in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and Kenya and Nigeria last competed in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Denmark, withdrew from the competition.

Results

Placements

Continental Queens of Beauty

Special awards

Judges

* Andre Sekulic * Linda Pétursdóttir – Miss World 1988 from Iceland * Vijay Mallya * Marlene Cardin *

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and television personality who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. Referred to as "Mr. Perfectionist" in the media, he is known for his work in a variety of film g ...

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (; Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popu ...

– Miss World 1994 from India *

Sanath Jayasuriya Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya (, ; born 30 June 1969), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, captain, cricket administrator and coach. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest all rounders ever to play in ODI cricket. A left arm orthodox sp ...

* Ninibeth Leal – Miss World 1991 from Venezuela * Tom Nuyens – Mister World 1996 from Belgium * Parmeshwar Godrej''The Daily Gazette ''
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Contestants

Notes

Withdrawals

* – Nicole Symonette could not compete due to financial problems with the Miss Bahamas Committee that ran Miss Bahamas for both Miss World and Miss Universe and thus was only able to send a representative to Miss Universe 1996. * – Due to financial problems

References

{{Miss World 1996 delegates Miss World 1996 in India 1996 beauty pageants Beauty pageants in India 1990s in Bengaluru November 1996 in India Events in Bengaluru