# Miss World 1981

Miss World 1981, the 31st edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 12 November 1981 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. The winner was Pilín León from Venezuela, the first titleholder from her country since 1955. She was crowned by Miss World 1980, Kimberley Santos of Guam. Another Venezuelan, Irene Sáez, had been crowned Miss Universe 1981 in July, making Venezuela one of the few countries to hold both major international titles (Miss Universe and Miss World) in the same year. The Continental Queens of Beauty were awarded for the first time.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss World 1981 | Venezuela – Pilin León |
| 1st runner-up | Colombia – Nini Johanna Soto |
| 2nd runner-up | Jamaica – Sandra Cunningham |
| Top 7 | Australia – Melissa Hannan  Brazil – Maristela Grazzia  United Kingdom – Michele Donnelly  United States – Lisa Moss |
| Top 15 | Argentina – Helen Natali  Belgium – Dominique van Eeckhoudt  Canada – Earla Stewart  Ireland – Geraldine McGrory  Japan – Naomi Kishi  Mexico – Dora Pontvianne  Trinidad and Tobago – Rachael Ann Thomas  Zimbabwe – Juliet Nyathi |

### Special awards

| Award | Winner |
| Miss Photogenic | Australia – Melissa Hannan |
| Miss Personality | Mexico – Dora Pontvianne |

## Contestants

67 contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Hometown |
| Argentina | Helen Natali | 21 | Villa María |
| Aruba | Gerarda Roepel | 24 | Oranjestad |
| Australia | Melissa Hannan | 19 | Mosman |
| Austria | Beatrix Kopf | 21 | Lustenau |
| Bahamas | Monique Ferguson | 18 | Nassau |
| Belgium | Dominique van Eeckhoudt | 19 | Waterloo |
| Bermuda | Cymone Tucker | 21 | Smith's Parish |
| Bolivia | Carolina Díaz | 17 | Pando |
| Brazil | Maristela Grazzia | 17 | São Paulo |
| Canada | Earla Stewart | 22 | Pembroke |
| Cayman Islands | Donna Marie Myrie | 20 | George Town |
| Chile | Susanna Bravo | 19 | Santiago |
| Colombia | Nini Johanna Soto | 18 | Bucaramanga |
| Costa Rica | Sucetty Salas | 18 | San José |
| Curaçao | Mylene Gerard | 21 | Willemstad |
| Cyprus | Elena Andreou | 19 | Nicosia |
| Denmark | Tina Brandstrup | 21 | Copenhagen |
| Dominican Republic | Josefina Cuello | 24 | Santo Domingo |
| Ecuador | Lucía Vinueza | 19 | Guayaquil |
| El Salvador | Martha Alicia Ortíz | 19 | San Salvador |
| Finland | Pia Nieminen | 20 | Tampere |
| France | Isabelle Benard | 19 | Vernon |
| Germany | Barbara Reimund | 18 | Stuttgart |
| Gibraltar | Yvette Maria Bellido | 18 | Gibraltar |
| Greece | Maria Argyrokastritou | 22 | Athens |
| Guam | Rebecca Arroyo | 21 | Mangilao |
| Guatemala | Beatriz Bojorquez | 23 | Guatemala City |
| Holland | Saskia Lemmers | 23 | Amsterdam |
| Honduras | Xiomara Sikaffy | 20 | San Pedro Sula |
| Hong Kong | Winnie Chin | 18 | Hong Kong Island |
| Iceland | Ásdís Hannesdóttir | 23 | Reykjavík |
| India | Deepti Divakar | 22 | Bengaluru |
| Ireland | Geraldine McGrory | 22 | Derry |
| Isle of Man | Nicola-Jane Grainger | 18 | Dalby |
| Israel | Ninnette Assor | 22 | Tel Aviv |
| Italy | Marisa Tutone | 17 | Turin |
| Jamaica | Sandra Cunningham | 24 | Kingston |
| Japan | Naomi Kishi | 18 | Kawasaki |
| Jersey | Elizabeth Walmsley | 18 | Saint Helier |
| Korea | Lee Han-na | 19 | Seoul |
| Lebanon | Zeina Challita | 19 | Beirut |
| Lesotho | Palesa Joyce Kalele | 18 | Maseru |
| Malaysia | Cynthia de Castro | 20 | Malacca |
| Malta | Elizabeth-Mary Fenech | 19 | Żebbuġ |
| Mexico | Doris Pontvianne | 18 | Tampico |
| New Zealand | Raewyn Marcroft | 18 | Waikato |
| Norway | Anita Nesbø | 20 | Akershus |
| Papua New Guinea | Jennifer Abaijah | 19 | Port Moresby |
| Peru | Olga Zumarán | 22 | Lima |
| Philippines | Suzette Nicolas | 24 | Manila |
| Puerto Rico | Andrenira Ruíz | 19 | San Juan |
| Singapore | Sushil Kaur Sandhu | 20 | Singapore |
| Spain | Cristina Pérez Cottrell | 18 | Málaga |
| Sri Lanka | Sonya Elizabeth Tucker | 20 | Colombo |
| Suriname | Joan Boldewijn | 18 | Paramaribo |
| Sweden | Carita Gustafsson | 20 | Gothenburg |
| Switzerland | Margrit Kilchoer | 22 | Geneva |
| Tahiti | Maimiti Kinnander | 20 | Huahine |
| Thailand | Massupha Karbprapun | 21 | Bangkok |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Rachael Thomas | 21 | Diego Martin |
| Turkey | Aydan Şener | 18 | Kilis |
| United Kingdom | Michele Donnelly | 20 | Cardiff |
| United States | Lisa Moss | 23 | Shreveport |
| Uruguay | Marianela Bas | 23 | Montevideo |
| Venezuela | Pilin León | 18 | Maracay |
| Western Samoa | Julianna Curry | 17 | Apia |
| Zimbabwe | Juliet Nyathi | 24 | Bulawayo |