# Miss Universe 1999

Miss Universe 1999 was the 48th Miss Universe pageant, held on 26 May 1999 at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago. Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana was crowned by Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago at the end of the event. This edition marks the most recent time that a first-time entry of a country at Miss Universe has won and the third time in pageant's history, after Colombia in 1958 and Finland in 1952. This edition also saw a back-to-back victory by black women. 84 contestants competed in this year.

## Background
### Selection of participants

Contestants from eighty-four countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Five of these delegates were appointees to their titles after being a runner-up of their national pageant or an audition process or other internal selection.

#### Replacements

Miss Barbados 1998, Michelle Selman did not compete for undisclosed reasons. Her first runner up, Olivia Harding replaced her. The winner of Miss Great Britain Universe 1999, Nicki Lane decided to give up the crown to her 1st runner up Cherie Pisiani, after Lane confessed that she had a child at 14 years old. The winner of Binibining Pilipinas 1999, Janelle Delfin Bautista had to resign due to citizenship issues as she was an American citizen. The Binibining Pilipinas World 1999, Miriam Quiambao assumed the Binibining Pilipinas Universe title.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss Universe 1999 | Botswana – Mpule Kwelagobe |
| 1st runner-up | Philippines – Miriam Quiambao |
| 2nd runner-up | Spain – Diana Nogueira |
| Top 5 | South Africa – Sonia Raciti  Venezuela – Carolina Indriago |
| Top 10 | Ghana – Akuba Cudjoe  India – Gul Panag  Jamaica – Nicole Haughton  Mexico – Silvia Salgado  Puerto Rico – Brenda Liz Lopez |

## Contestants

Eighty-four contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Hometown |
| Angola | Egidia Torres | 22 | Luanda |
| Argentina | Elena Fournier | 22 | Santa Fe |
| Aruba | Irina Croes | 18 | Oranjestad |
| Australia | Michelle Shead | 20 | Sydney |
| Austria | Katja Giebner | 21 | Vienna |
| Bahamas | Glennis Knowles | 25 | Nassau |
| Barbados | Olivia Harding | 25 | Bridgetown |
| Belgium | Tanja Dexters | 21 | Mol |
| Belize | Viola Jeffery | 21 | Belmopan |
| Bolivia | Susana Barrientos | 20 | Santa Cruz |
| Bonaire | Julina Felida | 21 | Kralendijk |
| Botswana | Mpule Kwelagobe | 19 | Gaborone |
| Brazil | Renata Fan | 22 | Santo Ângelo |
| British Virgin Islands | Movel Lewis | 20 | Road Town |
| Canada | Shannon McArthur | 26 | Windsor |
| Cayman Islands | Gemma McLaughlin | 19 | George Town |
| Chile | Andrea Muñoz | 23 | Santiago |
| Colombia | Marianella Maal | 20 | Barranquilla |
| Cook Islands | Tina Vogel | 24 | Avarua |
| Costa Rica | Arianna Bolaños | 22 | Guanacaste |
| Croatia | Marijana Kuzina | 21 | Šibenik |
| Curaçao | Jouraine Ricardo | 22 | Willemstad |
| Cyprus | Valentina Dionysiou | 19 | Nicosia |
| Czech Republic | Petra Faltynova | 20 | Prague |
| Dominican Republic | Luz García | 21 | Moca |
| Ecuador | Carolina Alfonso | 21 | Quito |
| Egypt | Angie Abdalla | 18 | Alexandria |
| El Salvador | Cynthia Cevallos | 21 | San Salvador |
| Estonia | Triin Rannat | 20 | Tallinn |
| Finland | Vanessa Forsman | 22 | Porvoo |
| France | Mareva Galanter | 22 | Papeete |
| Germany | Diana Drubig | 19 | Leipzig |
| Ghana | Akuba Cudjoe | 19 | Accra |
| Great Britain | Cherie Pisani | 21 | Clacton |
| Greece | Sofia Raptis | 19 | Athens |
| Guatemala | Monica Penedo | 19 | Sacatepéquez |
| Guyana | Morvinia Sobers | 20 | Georgetown |
| Honduras | Sofia Guerrero | 21 | Atlántida |
| Hong Kong | Anne Heung | 24 | Hong Kong |
| Hungary | Anett Garami | 19 | Soltvadkert |
| India | Gul Panag | 20 | Chandigarh |
| Ireland | Vivienne Doyle | 22 | Galway |
| Israel | Rana Raslan | 21 | Haifa |
| Italy | Gloria Bellicchi | 20 | Parma |
| Jamaica | Nicole Haughton | 24 | Kingston |
| Japan | Satomi Ogawa | 21 | Misato |
| Lebanon | Clémence Achkar | 19 | Beirut |
| Malaysia | Jeanette Ooi | 23 | Kuching |
| Malta | Dorianne Muscat | 21 | Qormi |
| Mauritius | Micaella L'Hortalle | 23 | Port Louis |
| Mexico | Silvia Salgado | 20 | Monterrey |
| Namibia | Vaanda Katjiuongua | 23 | Windhoek |
| New Zealand | Kristy Wilson | 20 | North Otago |
| Nicaragua | Liliana Pilarte | 23 | Managua |
| Nigeria | Angela Ukpoma | - | Imo |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Cherilyn Cabrera | 24 | Saipan |
| Panama | Yamani Saied | 20 | Panama City |
| Paraguay | Carmen Morinigo | 22 | San Pedro |
| Peru | Fabiola Lazo | 18 | Lima |
| Philippines | Miriam Quiambao | 23 | Quezon City |
| Poland | Katarzyna Pakuła | - | Lublin |
| Portugal | Marisa Ferreira | 20 | Santarém |
| Puerto Rico | Brenda Liz Lopez | 23 | Lares |
| Russia | Alexandra Petrova† | 19 | Cheboksary |
| Singapore | Cheryl Marie Cordeiro | 23 | Singapore |
| Slovakia | Aneta Kuklova | 19 | Lučenec |
| South Africa | Sonia Raciti | 21 | Johannesburg |
| South Korea | Choi Ji-hyun | 20 | Seoul |
| Spain | Diana Noguiera | 24 | Pontevedra |
| Suriname | Serafija Niekoop | 21 | Paramaribo |
| Sweden | Emma-Helena Nilsson | 24 | Östersund |
| Switzerland | Sonia Grandjean | 19 | Dietikon |
| Taiwan | Wan-Fei Wang | 21 | Taipei |
| Thailand | Apisamai Srirangsan | 24 | Nakhon Pathom |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Nicole Simone Dyer | 25 | Diego Martin |
| Turkey | Oznur Dursun | 24 | Istanbul |
| Turks and Caicos | Shantell Stubbs | 21 | Cockburn Town |
| Ukraine | Zhanna Pikhulya | 18 | Kyiv |
| United States | Kimberly Pressler | 21 | Las Vegas |
| Uruguay | Veronica Gonzales | 19 | Montevideo |
| United States Virgin Islands | Sherece Smith | 25 | Charlotte Amalie |
| Venezuela | Carolina Indriago | 18 | Valencia |
| Yugoslavia | Ana Karić | 19 | Belgrade |
| Zambia | Esanju Kalopa† | - | Muchinga |

### Withdrawals

During the contest:
* Guam - Miss Guam 1999, Tisha Elaine Heflin had to withdraw a few days before the preliminary competition, after being discovered that she was pregnant.