# Miss World 1978

Miss World 1978 was the 28th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom on 16 November 1978.
At the end of the event, Mary Stävin of Sweden crowned Silvana Suárez of Argentina as the new Miss World, this was the second time Argentina has won Miss World.
Contestants from sixty-eight countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Paul Burnett and Sascha Distel. Distel also performed in this year's pageant.

## Background
### Selection of participants

Contestants from sixty-eight countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two candidates were appointed to their position to replace the original dethroned winner.

#### Replacements

Silvana Suárez, the first runner-up of Miss Argentina 1978, was appointed to represent her country at Miss World after the original winner, Margarita Susana Heindrycks, was disqualified for being underage. Pascale Taurua was originally crowned as Miss France 1978 and was to compete internationally. However, she decided to return to homeland rather than taking the title, and the title was given to Brigitte Konjovic, the first runner-up. Due to personal reasons, Konjovic was dethroned as Miss France, and the title of Miss France 1978 was given to the second runner-up Kelly Hoarau.
Malek Nemlaghi of Tunisia was initially disqualified after refusing to remove her yashmak and wear boxer shorts for the official photo-call. However, she was reinstated back into the competition after she agreed to remove her yashmak at the dress rehearsal.

#### Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

The 1978 edition saw the debuts of Dominica and Saint Vincent and the returns of India, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, Swaziland, Tunisia, and the Virgin Islands. Nigeria last competed in 1970, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, Swaziland, and Tunisia last competed in 1975, while the others last competed in 1976.
Bolivia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa withdrew in this edition. Angelyn Tukana of Papua New Guinea withdrew due to lack of funding. Yolanda Kloppers of South Africa did not compete after the Miss World Organization decided to ban the country from competing due to its apartheid policy.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss World 1978 | Argentina – Silvana Suárez |
| 1st runner-up | Sweden – Ossie Carlsson |
| 2nd runner-up | Australia – Denise Coward |
| 3rd runner-up | Mexico – Martha Eugenia Ortíz |
| 4th runner-up | Spain – Gloria Valenciano |
| Top 7 | Switzerland – Jeanette Keller  United Kingdom – Ann Jones |
| Top 15 | Austria – Doris Anwander  Costa Rica – Maribel Guardia  Finland – Eija Laaksonen  India – Kalpana Iyer  Puerto Rico – María Jesús Cañizares  Sri Lanka – Manohori Vanigasooriya  United States – Debra Jean Freeze  Venezuela – Patricia Tóffoli |

### Special awards

| Award | Winner |
| Miss Photogenic | Mexico – Martha Eugenia Ortíz |
| Miss Talent | Philippines – Louvette Hammond |

## Contestants

Sixty-eight contestants competed for the tile.
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Hometown |
| Argentina | Silvana Suárez | 20 | Córdoba |
| Aruba | Rose-Anne Lejuez | 18 | Oranjestad |
| Australia | Denise Coward | 23 | Parkdale |
| Austria | Doris Anwander | 18 | Bregenz |
| Bahamas | Donna Marie McCook | 23 | Nassau |
| Belgium | Françoise Moens | 18 | Brussels |
| Bermuda | Madeline Francine Joell | 19 | Smith's Parish |
| Brazil | Laura Angélica Viana Pereira | 20 | Salvador |
| Canada | Brigitte June Hofmann | 18 | Hamilton |
| Cayman Islands | Wendy Lorraine Daykin | 18 | George Town |
| Chile | Trinidad Sepúlveda | 22 | Santiago |
| Colombia | Denise de Castro Santiago | 19 | Barranquilla |
| Costa Rica | Maribel Guardia | 19 | San José |
| Curaçao | Silvana Angely Trinidad | 21 | Willemstad |
| Cyprus | Mary Adamou | 19 | Nicosia |
| Denmark | Birgit Stefansen | 21 | Struer |
| Dominica | Mona Jno-Lewis | 19 | Roseau |
| Dominican Republic | Jenny Polanco | 20 | Puerto Plata |
| Ecuador | Antonieta Campódonico | 18 | Guayaquil |
| El Salvador | Iris Mazorra | 18 | San Salvador |
| Finland | Eija Laaksonen | 22 | Tampere |
| France | Kelly Hoarau | 18 | Le Port |
| Germany | Monika Greis | 23 | Heidelberg |
| Gibraltar | Rosanna Bonfante | 17 | Gibraltar |
| Greece | Ariana Dimitropoulou | 23 | Athens |
| Guam | Elizabeth Clara Tenorio | 22 | Asan |
| Holland | Ans van Haaster | 22 | Amsterdam |
| Honduras | María Elena Bobadilla | 21 | San Pedro Sula |
| Hong Kong | Faustina Lin | 22 | Hong Kong Island |
| Iceland | Ásdís Loftsdóttir | 20 | Vestmannaeyjar |
| India | Kalpana Iyer | 22 | Amroha |
| Ireland | Lorraine O'Conner | 24 | Cork |
| Isle of Man | Carole Ann Kneale | 20 | Douglas |
| Israel | Sari Alon | 19 | Tiberias |
| Italy | Loren Cristina Mai | 17 | Mantua |
| Jamaica | Joan McDonald | 22 | Kingston |
| Japan | Yuko Yamaguchi | 21 | Tokyo |
| Jersey | Chantal Gosselin | 21 | Saint Helier |
| Malaysia | Kartina Osir | 22 | Sandakan |
| Malta | Mary Cumbo | 18 | Birkirkara |
| Mauritius | Genevieve Chanea | 19 | Curepipe |
| Mexico | Martha Eugenia Ortíz | 18 | Mexico City |
| New Zealand | Lorian Tangney | 20 | Wellington |
| Nigeria | Irene Omagbemi | 20 | Lagos |
| Norway | Elisabet Klaeboe | 17 | Oslo |
| Paraguay | Susana Galli | 19 | Asunción |
| Peru | Karen Noeth | 18 | Lima |
| Philippines | Louvette Hammond | 17 | Quezon City |
| Puerto Rico | María Jesús Cañizares | 21 | San Juan |
| Saint Vincent | June de Nobriga | 23 | Kingstown |
| Samoa | Rosalina Sapolu | 23 | Apia |
| Singapore | Rosie Tan | 21 | Singapore |
| South Korea | Je Eun-jin | 19 | Seoul |
| Spain | Gloria Valenciano | 23 | Tenerife |
| Sri Lanka | Manohori Vanigasooriya | 20 | Colombo |
| Swaziland | Nyamalele Nilovu | 21 | Mbabane |
| Sweden | Ossie Carlsson | 21 | Stockholm |
| Switzerland | Jeannette Keller | 20 | Zürich |
| Tahiti | Moeata Schmouker | 18 | Puna'auia |
| Thailand | Orasa Panichapan | 20 | Bangkok |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Kathleen Thomas | 21 | Port of Spain |
| Tunisia | Malek Nemlaghi | 19 | Tunis |
| Turkey | Sevil Özgültekin | 18 | Istanbul |
| United Kingdom | Elizabeth Ann Jones | 20 | Welshpool |
| United States | Debra Jean Freeze | 20 | Mooresville |
| United States Virgin Islands | Enid Francis | 18 | Saint Croix |
| Uruguay | Mabel Rúa | 21 | Montevideo |
| Venezuela | Patricia Tóffoli | 18 | Coro |