Miss Universe 1978

In a statement by Griff O'Neill of the Miss Universe Inc. in October 1976, it was stated that Singapore was one of the locations being considered for the Miss Universe pageant in 1978. According to the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, although they were interested in hosting the Miss Universe pageant for Singapore's publicity, they were also considering whether the expense was proportionate to the promotional impact they would get, and its importance.^[1]

Two months after announcing that Miss Universe 1977 would be held in the Dominican Republic, Mexican Minister of Tourism Guillermo Rosell de La Lama announced on 11 March 1977 that the Miss Universe 1978 pageant would be held in Acapulco, Mexico on 24 July 1978 after Miss Universe accepted Mexico's invitation.^[2][3]

Contestants from seventy-five countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two candidates were selected to replace the original dethroned winner.^[4][5]

The following celebrities judged the final competition:^[7]

• Christiane Martel – Miss Universe 1953 from France
• Dewi Sukarno – Japanese socialite and former first lady of Indonesia
• David Merrick – Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer
• Line Renaud – French singer and actress
• Miloš Forman – Film director from Czechoslovakia
• Ursula Andress – Swiss actress and sex symbol of the 1960s
• Melba Moore – American singer
• Roberto Cavalli – Italian fashion designer
• Wilhelmina Cooper – Founder of Wilhelmina Models
• Anna Moffo – American opera singer
• Mario Moreno "Cantinflas" – Mexican comedian and stage and film actor

Seventy-five contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown
American Samoa	Palepa Sio Tauliili[8]	21	Pago Pago
Argentina	Delia Muñoz	17	Buenos Aires
Aruba	Margarita Tromp[9]	26	Oranjestad
Australia	Beverley Pinder[10]	23	Melbourne
Austria	Doris Anwander	18	Bregenz
Bahamas	Dulcie Millings	18	Nassau
Barbados	Judy Miller[11]	20	Saint Michael
Belgium	Françoise Moens	18	Brussels
Belize	Christina Ysaguirre	20	Belmopan
Bermuda	Madeline Joell	19	Smith's Parish
Bolivia	Raquel Roca	18	Guayaramerín
Bonaire	Corinne Hernandez	19	Kralendijk
Brazil	Suzana Araújo	20	Dionísio
Canada	Andrea Eng	22	Vancouver
Chile	Marianne Müller	18	Santiago
Colombia	Shirley Sáenz	18	Bogotá
Costa Rica	Maribel Fernández	19	San José
Curaçao	Solange de Castro	20	Willemstad
Denmark	Anita Heske	20	Copenhagen
Dominican Republic	Raquel Josefina Jacobo	17	San Cristóbal
Ecuador	Mabel Ceballos	18	Guayaquil
El Salvador	Iris Mazorra	18	San Salvador
England	Beverly Isherwood	19	Bolton
Finland	Seija Paakkola[12]	19	Oulu
France	Brigitte Konjovic	18	Paris
French Polynesia	Pascaline Tumia Teriireoo	19	Papeete
Greece	Marieta Kountouraki	21	Thessaloniki
Guam	Mary Lois Sampson	22	Mangilao
Guatemala	Claudia María Iriarte	20	Guatemala City
Holland	Karen Gustafsson	21	Rotterdam
Honduras	Olimpia Velásquez	20	Tegucigalpa
Hong Kong	Winnie Chan	22	Kowloon
Iceland	Anna Björk Edwards	19	Reykjavík
India	Alamjeet Kaur Chauhan	23	New Delhi
Ireland	Lorraine Bernadette Enriquez[13]	19	Dublin
Israel	Dorit Jellinek	19	Haifa
Italy	Andreina Mazzoti	21	Brescia
Japan	Hisako Manda	20	Osaka
Lebanon	Reine Antoine Semaan	17	Beirut
Lesotho	Joan Libuseng Khoali	21	Maseru
Malaysia	Yasmin Yusuff	22	Kuala Lumpur
Malta	Pauline Farrugia	22	Żebbuġ
Mexico	Alba Margarita Cervera[14]	19	Yucatan
Morocco	Majida Tazi	18	Rabat
New Hebrides	Christine Spooner	18	Luganville
New Zealand	Jane Simmonds[15]	21	Auckland
Nicaragua	Claudia Herrera	19	Masaya
Northern Mariana Islands	Julias Salas Concepción	17	Saipan
Norway	Jeanette Aarum	19	Oslo
Panama	Diana Leticia Conte	20	Panama City
Papua New Guinea	Angelyn Muta Tukana	21	Bougainville
Paraguay	Rosa María Duarte	26	Asunción
Peru	Olga Zumarán	19	Lima
Philippines	Jennifer Cortes[16]	17	Manila
Puerto Rico	Ada Perkins	18	San Juan
Réunion	Evelyn Pongerand	19	La Possession
Saint Vincent	Gailene Collin	22	Kingstown
Scotland	Angela McLeod	20	Fife
Singapore	Annie Lee	20	Singapore
South Africa	Margaret Gardiner	18	Cape Town
South Korea	Jung-eun Shon	23	Seoul
Spain	Guillermina Ruiz	21	Barcelona
Sri Lanka	Dlirukshi Wimalasooriya	27	Colombo
Suriname	Garrance Rustwijk	18	Paramaribo
Sweden	Cécilia Rodhe	17	Gothenburg
Switzerland	Sylvia von Arx	20	Appenzell Innerrhoden
Thailand	Pornpit Sakornvijit	23	Bangkok
Trinidad and Tobago	Sophia Titus	18	Port of Spain
Turkey	Billur Lutfiye Bingol	19	Istanbul
United States	Judi Andersen	20	Honolulu
United States Virgin Islands	Barbara Henderson	23	Christiansted
Uruguay	María del Carmen da Rosa	21	Salto
Venezuela	Marisol Alfonzo	21	Caracas
Wales	Elizabeth Ann Jones	20	Welshpool
West Germany	Eva Marie Gabrielle Gottschalk	26	Berlin