Miss Syria

Miss Syria began shortly after the inauguration of Miss World in 1951; the competition did not face any opposition from the government of the Second Syrian Republic nor any religious figures.^[1] In 1952, Leila Tabriz Tuma, aged 18, won the first version of Miss Syria held in Damascus.^[1] However, she did not participate in any international competition due to private reasons which prevented her from travelling abroad.^[2] The following year, a Christian woman of Greek descent named Betchamer Minnie won the title.^[1]

Syria would be absent from the Miss World competition until 1965,^[2] when Raymonde Doucco was the contestant to represent Syria.^[3] The following year, a television presenter named Feryelle Jalal was awarded Miss Syria and took part in the 1966 competition.^[4] In 1967, Maha Bayrakdar was crowned the title, after which the competition stopped for many years.^[1] In an interview from her later years, Bayrakdar stated that she didn't like remembering the competition and felt ashamed about it.^[5][6]

In 2015, model Sarah Nakhla won the competition and represented Syria in that year's edition of Miss Arab World.^[7] In 2016, Nilay Noufal won the Miss Syria competition; however, she received criticism from viewers who described her as "ordinary" and undeserving of the title.^[8] In 2019, Yasmine al-Hawari won the contest.^[9]

In 2020, Syria made its debut in Miss Earth with the entry of model Tia Alkerdi, who won Miss Earth Syria.^[10] The country would be placed in the 2021 competition through the entry of Sanaa Atia.^[11]