These Countries Have Recorded The Most Number of Beauty Pageant Winners

Beauty contests have been around for several decades, be it local or international, and women chosen to win titles have only but a sense of pride and achievement which is evoked among the people or nation that the winners represent. Beauty, intelligence, talent, and poise are the main criteria on which contestants are judged until a ‘queen’ is proclaimed. We tend to look forward to beauty pageant events out of curiosity and sheer admiration for the different beauties who are courageous and determined in pursuing their lifelong dream. To spark your interest, more, we’d like you to take a quick look at how participating countries have fared since the invention of international beauty pageants and judge for yourself what makes some countries do so much better than the others.

Beauty, intelligence, talent, and poise are the main criteria on which contestants are judged until a ‘queen’ is proclaimed.

THE BIG FOUR

To understand what we’re talking about, let’s have a look at the major international beauty contests recognized worldwide, or the so called the “big four.”

Miss World

It is the oldest existing major international beauty pageant. It originated from the United Kingdom in 1951 and was created by Eric Morley.

Miss Universe

The annual international beauty contest started in 1952 through the California clothing company Pacific Mills. The pageant was eventually owned by a series of companies, from Kayser-Roth to Gulf+Western Industries, until it was acquired by Donald Trump. Now it is run by the Miss Universe Organization under the ownership of WME/IMG.

Miss International

The Miss International contest aims to promote world peace, goodwill, and understanding among nations. Miss International Beauty should act as the Ambassador of Peace and Beauty, demonstrating traits such as tenderness, friendship, benevolence, beauty, intelligence, among others.

Miss Earth

The annual contest was organized by Philippine-based Carousel Productions through the Miss Earth Foundation. It is a non-profit organization that is after the promotion of awareness and knowledge of current environmental concerns, and what actions can be done through media campaigns. It is the duty of the winners to deliver talks to schools and other organizations and work in collaboration with environmental groups.

Confidence breeds beauty.” – Estee Lauder

THE WINNING COUNTRIES

Now that you know what the major international beauty pageants are, let’s see which countries have been doing so well in bagging the “big four” titles since the time they were established. The countries were ranked based on the number of titles won and the number of runners up that came out. The rankings were then averaged to obtain the final ranking.

10^th – SWEDEN (6 titles; 14 runners-up)

Sweden has won three Miss Universe titles (1955, 1966, 1984)  and three Miss World titles. It is one of three countries to win back to back in Miss World on 1951 (Kiki Hakansson) and 1952 (May-Louise Flodin). Sweden is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe.

9^th – PUERTO RICO (8 titles; 11 runners-up)

The country has proudly produced five Miss Universe titles (1970, 1985, 1993, 2001, 2006), two Miss International titles (1987, 2014), and one Miss World (1975).  The 1993 Miss Universe Dayanara Torres married singer Mark Anthony some years after she took home the crown, but the relationship ended in divorce. Puerto Rico is a United States territory situated in the northeastern Caribbean Sea.

8^th – COLOMBIA (5 titles; 22 runners-up)

Colombia won the Miss Universe contest in 1958 and 2014, and the Miss International contest in 1960, 1999, and 2004. Just when the country hoped for a back-to-back win in the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, the host made a huge mistake of announcing the wrong winner. The crown did not belong to Miss Columbia who turned out to be the 1^st runner-up. The Republic of Colombia is a transcontinental country located mostly in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America.

Pageants teach the exact same skills that sports do: goal-setting, ‘can-do’ attitude, and performance under pressure. But in pageants, you wear much better shoes.”-  Valerie Hayes

7^th – UNITED KINGDOM (7 titles; 20 runners-up)

The country has won five Miss World titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1974,1983) and two Miss International crowns (1969, 1972). Though it has yet to win a Miss Universe nor a Miss Earth title, it is one of three countries to win back-to-back Miss World titles. The United Kingdom is a sovereign country in Western Europe situated in the north-western coast of the European mainland.

6^th – INDIA (8 titles; 15 runners-up)

With the country boasting of lovely Bollywood actresses, it is no wonder why India has snagged five Miss World crowns (1961, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000), two Miss Universe (1994, 2000), and one Miss Earth (2010) titles. Like Sweden and the United Kingdom, it has one two consecutive international titles and in just one year (1994). India is located in South Asia and is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populated country, and the most populous democracy in the world.

5^th – BRAZIL (6 titles; 36 runners-up)

Brazil is one of three countries to win titles in all the big four pageants. It bagged two Miss Universe (1963, 1968) and two Miss Earth (2004, 2009) titles. Aside from these, it won one Miss International (1968) crown and one Miss World (1971) title. Indeed, the country has something to be proud of because of its having conquered all four titles. Brazil is the biggest country in Latin and South America and the fifth-largest country in the world by area and population.

4^th – AUSTRALIA (7 titles; 23 runners-up)

The country has three Miss International (1962, 1981, 1992), two Miss World (1968, 1972), and two Miss Universe titles (1972, 2004) titles under its belt. Although the country has yet to win a Miss Earth title, it has recently reached the top five of the 2015 Miss Universe through its candidate Monika Radulovic. Australia is part of the Australian continent mainland, Tasmanian island, and several smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest country in the world in terms of total area.

3^rd – PHILIPPINES (12 titles; 21 runners-up)

The Philippines is one of three countries to have won titles in all four major beauty pageants. The country boasts of five Miss International (1964,1970, 1979, 2005, 2013), three Miss Universe (1969, 1973,2015), one Miss World (2013), and three Miss Earth (2008, 2014, 2015) crowns, aside from its several runners-up placements. It is the home of the 2015 Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach who had a controversial coronation when the host initially made a mistake in naming another contestant as the winner. The Philippines is hosting the 2016 Miss Universe contest at the Mall of Asia Arena in January 2017. The Southeast Asian country is composed of 7,641 islands grouped into three regions.

You’re filmed that one very special day of the pageant, and you want to make sure you’re as ready to go as you can be.”– Olivia Culpo, 2012 Miss Universe

2^nd – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (14 titles; 58 runners-up)

USA contestants have almost always made it to the semifinals. It has won eight Miss Universe (1954, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1980, 1995, 1997, 2012) crowns, three Miss International (1974, 1978, 1982) and three Miss World (1973, 1990, 2010) titles. Olivia Culpo was the recent titleholder in 2012. Back in 1973, USA’s first Miss World Marjorie Wallace was dethroned for allegedly failing to do the basic requirements of the job. The United States of America is a federal republic composed of fifty states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and other possessions.

1^st – VENEZUELA (22 titles; 40 runners-up)

The country known as the “Land of Beauty” boasts of seven Miss Universe titles (1979, 1981, 1986, 1996, 2008, 2009, 2013), seven Miss International crowns (1985, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2015), six Miss World titles (1955, 1981, 1984, 1991, 1995, 2011), and two Miss Earth winnings (2005, 2013). It is the first country to win consecutively in Miss Universe. With the country having beauty schools where young girls are trained to become beauty queens, it is no surprise therefore that its hard work is paying off with its frequent victories in the big four pageants. The federal republic is situated on the northern coast of South America.

So, which countries have the most beautiful people? What is it about the women of these winning countries that make them stand out? Which country will be victorious this year? Your guess is as good as ours.