The pageant was the first since the death of pageant owner
Eric Morley, whose widow
Julia Morley assumed responsibility for the event. The pageant had 95 contestants, the highest number of Miss World participants at that time.
Selection of participants Replacements Jacqueline Bracamontes of Mexico, won Nuestra Belleza Mundo México 2000 and supposed to compete, however she decided to enter Nuestra Belleza Mexico 2000 and won the contest, but as she won 2 contests
Lupita Jones president of
Nuestra Belleza México, decides to appoint Paulina Flores Arias to compete. Miss Moldova 2000, Irina Babusenko withdrew from the competition due to her being underage. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Mariana Moraru.
Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals This edition marked the debut of Belarus, England, Moldova and Northern Ireland, and the return of Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Denmark, Namibia and Taiwan; Barbados and Denmark last competed in
1995, Namibia last competed in
1997, and the British Virgin Islands, Curaçao and Taiwan last competed in
1998. Guyana, Latvia, Liberia, Seychelles, Sint Maarten, Swaziland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Zambia, withdrew from the competition. == Results ==