Miss World 1996

Miss World 1996, the 46th edition of the Miss World pageant, took place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, India on 23 November 1996.

At the end of the event, Irene Skliva of Greece was crowned as Miss World 1996 by Jacqueline Aguilera of Venezuela. Skliva was the first Greek to win the title.

Contestants from eighty-eighty countries and territories participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Richard Steinmetz and Ruby Bhatia.

Judges

 * Andre Sekulic
 * Linda Pétursdóttir – Miss World 1988 from Iceland
 * Vijay Mallya
 * Marlene Cardin
 * Aamir Khan
 * Aishwarya Rai – Miss World 1994 from India
 * Sanath Jayasuriya
 * Ninibeth Leal – Miss World 1991 from Venezuela
 * Tom Nuyens – Mister World 1996 from Belgium
 * Parmeshwar Godrej

Returns

 * Last competed in 1970:
 * Last competed in 1991:
 * Last competed in 1993:
 * Last competed in 1994:
 * Last competed in 1993:
 * Last competed in 1994:
 * Last competed in 1994:
 * Last competed in 1994:

Withdrawals

 *  – Nicole Symonette could not compete due to financial problems with the Miss Bahamas Committee that ran Miss Bahamas for both Miss World and Miss Universe and thus was only able to send a representative to Miss Universe 1996.
 *  – Due to financial problems

Controversy
The event was organised by ABCL which was led by Amitabh Bachchan. The beauty pageant saw resistance by several groups due to the perceived culture clash. However, due to support of the local government, the event was held successfully.