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:


ALBANIA - Deta Kokomani

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.


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