A 21-year-old anthropology and law student from Iceland was crowned Miss World on Saturday on China's tropical resort island of Hainan.

Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir was chosen from among 102 contestants at the 55th annual pageant.

The dark-haired winner was born in the capital city of Reykjavik, but grew up in the small town of Seltjarnarnes.

Birna spent her summer holidays working as a police officer at an Icelandic airport.

Second place went to Dafne Molina Lona, 23, from Mexico. Ingrid Marie Rivera Santos, 22, from Puerto Rico, came in third after tens of thousands worldwide voted by e-mail, short message service (SMS) and telephone.

Viewers had selected two candidates from six regions of the world for the top five of the finals. Three more candidates reached the final round from additional contests.

The 55th Miss World beauty pageant was broadcast live from the town of Sanya's Beauty Crown Theater to about 2 billion viewers in 200 countries across the globe.

The two-hour show was emceed by Hong Kong hostess Angela Chow and U.S. television star Tim Vincent.

Editor: Donald