# Miss World 2009

Miss World 2009 was the 59th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 12 December 2009.
Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia crowned Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar as her successor at the end of event. It is the first time that someone from Gibraltar won Miss World.

## Background
### Selection of participants

Contestants from 112 countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Six of them are runners-up after the withdrawal of the original contestant in their respective countries and territories.

#### Replacements

Due to the media attention following the allegations against her, Rachel Christie decided to withdraw from the and relinquish her Miss England crown. She was replaced by Katrina Hodge. Alessandra Alores of Germany was disqualified due to several nude pictures of her on the Internet. She was replaced by Stefanie Peeck. Sofia Rudieva of Russia was allowed to compete in Miss Universe 2009 by the Miss Universe Organization, but the Miss World Organization did not accept her as a contestant due several nude pictures of her on the Internet. She was replaced by Ksenia Shipilova. Cinthia D'Ottone of Uruguay was replaced at the last minute by Claudia Vanrell due to D'Ottone's health related issues. Trần Thị Hương Giang was appointed to represent Vietnam at Miss World 2009. She is the 2nd runner-up of Miss Vietnam Global 2009.
Ris Low, Miss Singapore World 2009, backed out of the finals at Miss World 2009. Her decision came after a slew of negative media reports in which she incurred the ire of the public for her poor English. Later, news of her conviction for credit card fraud in May also surfaced, after she stole credit cards worth $6000. She was sentenced to two years' probation for credit card fraud. There was a national petition for her to step down. Then, Ris Low was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The first runner-up Claire Lee, declined to represent Singapore due to a back injury which prevents her from standing for long periods of time, and also as Ris Low accused her of backstabbing her, and she withdrew from the pageant immediately. Claire Lee also rebutted Ris Low's allegations on her blog. On 9 October, ERM World Marketing announced Pilar Carmelita Arlando as the new Miss Singapore World 2009, who represented Singapore at the Miss World contest. She was criticised by many netizens for not knowing who's the first president of Singapore, not knowing how many years Singapore has been independent, and claiming that the Merlion, a symbol of Singapore, became extinct in 1965, unaware that the Merlion is a fictitious animal.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss World 2009 | Gibraltar – Kaiane Aldorino |
| 1st runner-up | Mexico – Perla Beltrán |
| 2nd runner-up | South Africa – Tatum Keshwar |
| Top 7 | Canada – Lena Ma  Colombia – Daniela Ramos  France – Chloé Mortaud  Panama – Nadege Herrera |
| Top 16 | Brazil – Luciana Bertolini  India – Pooja Chopra  Japan – Eruza Sasaki  Kazakhstan – Dina Nuraliyeva  South Korea – Kim Joo-ri  Martinique – Ingrid Littré  Poland – Anna Jamróz  Sierra Leone – Mariatu Kargbo  Vietnam – Trần Thị Hương Giang |

### Continental Queens of Beauty

| Continental Group | Contestant |
| Africa | South Africa – Tatum Keshwar |
| Americas | Mexico – Perla Beltrán |
| Asia & Oceania | South Korea – Kim Joo-ri |
| Caribbean | Martinique – Ingrid Littré |
| Europe | Gibraltar – Kaiane Aldorino |

## Pageant
### Selection committee

* Julia Morley – Chairwoman of the Miss World Organization
* Priyanka Chopra – Miss World 2000 from India
* Zhang Zilin – Miss World 2007 from China
* Mike Dixon – Musical Director
* JJ Schoeman – Designer
* Lindiwe Mahlangu-Kwele – CEO Johannesburg Tourism Company
* Graham Cooke – MD World Travel Group
* Warren Batchelor – Executive Producer of Miss World 2009

## Contestants

112 contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Hometown |
| Albania | Armina Mevlani | 18 | Tirana |
| Angola | Nadia Silva | 21 | Cabinda |
| Argentina | Evelyn Lucía Manchón | 23 | San Luis |
| Aruba | Nuraisa Lispiër | 24 | San Nicolaas |
| Australia | Sophie Lavers | 24 | Canberra |
| Austria | Anna Hammel | 22 | Linz |
| Bahamas | Joanna Brown | 18 | Grand Bahama |
| Barbados | Leah Marville | 23 | Bridgetown |
| Belarus | Yulia Sindzeyeva | 22 | Maryina Horka |
| Belgium | Zeynep Sever | 20 | Molenbeek-Saint-Jean |
| Belize | Norma Leticia Lara | 21 | San Pedro |
| Bolivia | Flavia Foianini | 20 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Andrea Šarac | 18 | Gacko |
| Botswana | Sumaiyah Marope | 23 | Ramotswa |
| Brazil | Luciana Reis | 24 | Belo Horizonte |
| Bulgaria | Antonia Petrova | 25 | Pernik |
| Canada | Lena Ma | 22 | North York |
| China | Yu Sheng | 22 | Anhui |
| Colombia | Daniela Ramos | 21 | Cali |
| Costa Rica | Angie Alfaro | 18 | Alajuela |
| Côte d'Ivoire | Dacoury Rosine Gnago | 21 | Yamoussoukro |
| Croatia | Ivana Vasilj | 21 | Zagreb |
| Curaçao | Chantalle Thomassen | 24 | Willemstad |
| Cyprus | Christalla Tsiali | 18 | Larnaca |
| Czech Republic | Aneta Vignerová | 21 | Havířov |
| Denmark | Nadia Pederson | 25 | Copenhagen |
| Dominican Republic | Ana Contreras | 25 | Bayaguana |
| Ecuador | Gabriela Ulloa | 22 | Esmeraldas |
| Egypt | Samah Shalaby | 23 | Cairo |
| El Salvador | Elena Tedesco | 18 | San Salvador |
| England | Katrina Hodge | 22 | Royal Tunbridge Wells |
| Ethiopia | Lula Gezu Weldegebriel | 20 | Addis Ababa |
| Finland | Sanna Kankaanpää | 24 | Turku |
| France | Chloé Mortaud | 19 | Bénac |
| Georgia | Tsira Suknidze | 19 | Chiatura |
| Germany | Stefanie Peeck | 22 | Schwerin |
| Ghana | Mawuse Appea | 23 | Legon |
| Gibraltar | Kaiane Aldorino | 23 | Gibraltar |
| Greece | Alkisti Anyfanti | 23 | Athens |
| Guadeloupe | Béatrice Blaise | 22 | Basse-Terre |
| Guatemala | Alida Boer | 24 | Guatemala City |
| Guyana | Imarah Radix | 24 | Georgetown |
| Honduras | Blaise Masey | 19 | San Pedro Pula |
| Hong Kong | Sandy Lau | 23 | Hong Kong |
| Hungary | Orsolya Serdült | 22 | Budapest |
| Iceland | Guðrún Dögg Rúnarsdóttir | 18 | Akranes |
| India | Pooja Chopra | 24 | Pune |
| Indonesia | Kerenina Sunny Halim | 23 | Jakarta |
| Ireland | Laura Patterson | 19 | Derry |
| Israel | Adi Rudnitzky | 20 | Tel Aviv |
| Italy | Alice Taticchi | 19 | Perugia |
| Jamaica | Kerrie Baylis | 21 | Surrey |
| Japan | Eruza Sasaki | 21 | Okinawa |
| Kazakhstan | Dina Nuraliyeva | 24 | Shymkent |
| Kenya | Fiona Konchellah | 20 | Nairobi |
| Latvia | Ieva Lase | 21 | Riga |
| Lebanon | Martine Andraos | 19 | Beirut |
| Liberia | Shu-rina Wiah | 22 | Monrovia |
| Lithuania | Vaida Petraškaitė | 23 | Kaunas |
| Luxembourg | Diana Nilles | 21 | Walferdange |
| Macedonia | Suzana Al-Salkini | 25 | Skopje |
| Malaysia | Thanuja Ananthan | 24 | Kuala Lumpur |
| Malta | Shanel Debattista | 23 | Pietà |
| Martinique | Ingrid Littré | 22 | Fort-de-France |
| Mauritius | Anaïs Veerapatren | 23 | Curepipe |
| Mexico | Perla Beltrán | 23 | Guamúchil |
| Moldova | Maria Bragaru | 18 | Chișinău |
| Mongolia | Battsetseg Batbaatar | 24 | Ulaanbaatar |
| Montenegro | Marijana Pokrajac | 22 | Podgorica |
| Namibia | Happie Ntelamo | 21 | Katima Mulilo |
| Nepal | Zenisha Moktan | 20 | Kathmandu |
| Netherlands | Avalon-Chanel Weyzig | 19 | Zwolle |
| New Zealand | Magdalena Schoeman | 19 | Christchurch |
| Nigeria | Glory Chukwu | 24 | Lafia |
| Northern Ireland | Cherie Gardiner | 18 | Bangor |
| Norway | Sara Skjoldnes | 18 | Skien |
| Panama | Nadege Herrera | 22 | Panama City |
| Paraguay | Tamara Sosa | 20 | Asunción |
| Peru | Claudia Carrasco | 21 | Cusco |
| Philippines | Marie-Ann Umali | 22 | Batangas City |
| Poland | Anna Jamróz | 22 | Rumia |
| Portugal | Marta Cadilha | 24 | Viana do Castelo |
| Puerto Rico | Jennifer Colón | 21 | Bayamón |
| Romania | Loredana Salanta | 18 | Bistrița |
| Russia | Ksenia Shipilova | 18 | Kokhma |
| Scotland | Katharine Brown | 22 | Dunblane |
| Serbia | Jelena Marković | 21 | Užice |
| Sierra Leone | Mariatu Kargbo | 24 | Freetown |
| Singapore | Pilar Arlando | 20 | Singapore |
| Slovakia | Barbora Franeková | 21 | Žilina |
| Slovenia | Tina Petelin | 24 | Maribor |
| South Africa | Tatum Keshwar | 25 | Durban |
| South Korea | Kim Joo-ri | 21 | Seoul |
| Spain | Carmen García | 22 | Granada |
| Sri Lanka | Gamya Wijayadasa | 23 | Malabe |
| Suriname | Zoureena Rijger | 18 | Paramaribo |
| Swaziland | Nompilo Mncina | 23 | Mbabane |
| Sweden | Erica Harrison | 18 | Stockholm |
| Tahiti | Nanihi Bambridge | 19 | Papeete |
| Tanzania | Miriam Gerald | 21 | Mwanza |
| Thailand | Pongchanok Kanklab | 18 | Bangkok |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Ashanna Arthur | 22 | Port-of-Spain |
| Turkey | Ebru Şam | 18 | Solingen |
| Uganda | Maria Namiiro | 21 | Kampala |
| Ukraine | Evheniya Tulchevska | 19 | Dnipro |
| United States | Lisa-Marie Kohrs | 22 | Malibu |
| Uruguay | Claudia Vanrell | 22 | Montevideo |
| Venezuela | María Milagros Véliz | 23 | Guacara |
| Vietnam | Trần Thị Hương Giang | 22 | Hải Dương |
| Wales | Lucy Whitehouse | 22 | Barry, Vale of Glamorgan |
| Zambia | Sekwila Mumba | 23 | Kabwe |
| Zimbabwe | Vanessa Sibanda | 21 | Harare |