Miss Venezuela, Stefania Fernandez, was crowned Miss Universe 2009 on Sunday, giving her country its sixth title in the international beauty pageant.

Fernandez, an 18-year-old brunette, became the 58th winner of the title in a show broadcast live around the world from the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas.

Dressed in a full-skirted red gown, Miss Fernandez received her crown from the previous year's winner, Miss Dayana Mendoza, also from Venezuela. But the crown fell on the floor at one point as the two women hugged and danced together in joy.

During the final question-and-answer round, Miss Fernandez replied that she believed that men and women are now equal, and women around the world are on par with men.

The top 15 finalists had appeared in bathing suits before the final 10 were chosen for the evening gown segment.

It was the second consecutive year that a contestant from the oil-producing South American country, which is famous for its beauty queens, won the Miss Universe title.
   
Venezuela had produced five previous winners.  Fernandez was selected out of five finalists chosen from the total field of 83 contestants.

However, Asian beauties failed to make an impression on the judges this year, which included actor Dean Cain and supermodel Valeria Mazza, although Miss China, Wang Jingyao, and Miss Thailand, Chutima Durongdej, were named Miss Congeniality and Miss Photogenic respectively.

The closest that a contestant from this part of the world made an impact was Miss Australia, who was in the top five. But she did not make it to the top three when she was announced as the third runner-up.

Previous contests had seen beauties from Japan and India take the crown.

The first runner-up this year was Miss Dominican Republic, Ada Aimee de la Cruz.

Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Kosovo made the rest of the top five.