Miss Universe 1996

Miss Universe 1996 was the 45th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on 17 May 1996. This was the last time that the Miss Universe was run by ITT Corp.

Alicia Machado of Venezuela was crowned by Chelsi Smith from the United States at the end of the event. 79 contestants competed in this edition. This is the second time that Las Vegas to host Miss Universe since 1991. She is the fourth Venezuelan woman to win Miss Universe following Maritza Sayalero in 1979, Irene Sáez in 1981, and Barbara Palacios in 1986.

Selection of participants
Contestants from 79 countries and territories competed in this year.

Elmira Tuyusheva won Miss Russia 1995 and was supposed to compete in Miss Universe. However, she decided to break her contract with the Miss Russia organization just 1 month before Miss Universe to pursue her career as a model and actress. As none of the Miss Russia 1995 pageant runners-up were eligible to replace her duties due to several reasons, the organizers decided to pick Ilmira Shamsutdinova as the official delegate of Russia in Miss Universe 1996. Shamsutdinova was Miss USSR 1991 but the Soviet Union split into fifteen countries that year.

Contestants
Seventy-nine contestants competed for the title.