Miss World 1978

Miss World 1978 was the 28th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom on 16 November 1978.

At the end of the event, Mary Stävin of Sweden crowned Silvana Suárez of Argentina as the new Miss World, this was the second time Argentina has won Miss World.

Contestants from sixty-eight countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Paul Burnett and Sascha Distel. Distel also performed in this year's pageant.

Selection of participants
Contestants from sixty-eight countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two candidates were appointed to their position to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements
Silvana Suárez, the first runner-up of Miss Argentina 1978, was appointed to represent her country at Miss World after the original winner, Margarita Susana Heindrycks, was disqualified for being underage.  Pascale Taurua was originally crowned as Miss France 1978 and was to compete internationally. However, she decided to return to homeland rather than taking the title, and the title was given to Brigitte Konjovic, the first runner-up. Due to personal reasons, Konjovic was dethroned as Miss France, and the title of Miss France 1978 was given to the second runner-up Kelly Hoarau.

Malek Nemlaghi of Tunisia was initially disqualified after refusing to remove her yashmak and wear boxer shorts for the official photo-call. However, she was reinstated back into the competition after she agreed to remove her yashmak at the dress rehearsal.

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals
The 1978 edition saw the debuts of Dominica and Saint Vincent and the returns of India, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, Swaziland, Tunisia, and the Virgin Islands. Nigeria last competed in 1970, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, Swaziland, and Tunisia last competed in 1975, while the others last competed in 1976.

Bolivia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa withdrew in this edition. Angelyn Tukana of Papua New Guinea withdrew due to lack of funding. Yolanda Kloppers of South Africa did not compete after the Miss World Organization decided to ban the country from competing due to its apartheid policy.

Contestants
Sixty-eight contestants competed for the tile.