71st Miss Universe: Meet the contestants from Europe
Out of over 80 contestants at the 71st Miss Universe pageant now happening in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 25 came from Europe.
Switzerland returned to the competition after a 3-year break while for some reason several countries such as Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, and Sweden withdrew.
Latvia, which was expected to compete for the first time since 2006, made the last-minute decision to not compete after its representative tested positive for COVID-19 before departure.
Countries still waiting for their first win are Albania, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Turkiye, and Ukraine.
Sweden still leads in Europe with three Miss Universe winners followed by Finland and France with two wins each. Germany, Greece, Netherlands, and Norway have each captured one victory in the past.
Russia and Spain got one win each respectively in 1974 and 2002 but were dethroned.
Is it about time for another European winner? Its last victory was in 2016 with France's Iris Mittenaere.
Meet the contestants:
ARMENIA - Kristina Ayanian
BELGIUM - Chayenne Van Aarle
BULGARIA - Kristina Plamenova
CROATIA - Arijana Podgajski
CZECH REPUBLIC - Sára Mikulenková
FINLAND - Petra Hämäläinen
FRANCE - Floriane Bascou
GERMANY - Soraya Kohlmann
GREAT BRITAIN - Noky Simbani
GREECE - Korina Emmanouilidou
ICELAND - Hrafnhildur Haraldsdóttir
ITALY - Virginia Stablum
KOSOVO - Roksana Ibrahimi
MALTA - Maxine Formosa Gruppetta
NETHERLANDS - Ona Moody
NORWAY - Ida Hauan
POLAND - Aleksandra Klepaczka
PORTUGAL - Telma Madeira
RUSSIA - Anna Linnikova
SLOVAK REPUBLIC - Karolina Michálčiková
SPAIN - Alicia Faubel
SWITZERLAND - Alia Guindi
TURKIYE - Aleyna Şirin
UKRAINE - Viktoria Apanasenko
The 71st Miss Universe pageant will air live from the New Orleans Morial Convention Center on January 14. India's Harnaaz Sandhu will crown her successor at the end of the event.
Photos: Miss Universe
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