| Miss World 2006, the 56th Miss World pageant took place in Warsaw, Poland on Saturday, September 30th. The venue was Sala Kongresowa, the main 2,897-seat auditorium at the Palace of Culture and Science. It was the first time ever that the pageant was held in a European city other than London, United Kingdom, having previously been held there in 2002 after the Nigeria Controversy. The pageant officially concluded after Tat´ána Kucharová from the Czech Republic was crowned Miss World 2006 by outgoing titleholder Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir of Iceland.
A total of 104 countries competed in the pageant, the third largest number behind 2004 (107) and 2007 and 2003 (both 106). All contestants were divided in six regional groups: Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Caribbean, Northern Europe and Southern Europe. Gdynia was the host of the Miss Beach Beauty contest, Gizycko hosted the Miss Sport contest and Wroclaw hosted the Miss Talent competition. The fourth event was Beauty With a Purpose. [Wikipedia] |
