Although this pageant was created in 1987 in Uruguay, the event was only opened to other countries in 1995. Initially, until 1994, the contest elected only Uruguayans. Starting in 1995, the competition opened and acquired the name Miss Atlántico Internacional, spanning several nations around the world.
Initially created to be held together with the Festa Internacional del Jerarquía, in 1998 it was transferred to the city of Punta del Este.
From 1999 onwards, television broadcasts reached all over Uruguay, 64 channels from 32 countries in America, and in some parts of Europe. Approximate audience at the time reached 20 million viewers. It has had several locations within the country over the years.
Little or almost nothing is known about the editions made between 1987 and 1994.
The first Uruguayan candidate to win the beauty pageant was Mariela Imbrenda in 1987.
Ambra Gullà from Ethiopia was the first African candidate to compete in the contest in 2001. Two years earlier, Ambra won Miss Italia nel Mondo, for having Italian origins.
The first Europeans to participate in the event were the candidates from Italy (Floriana Aisoni) and Spain (Isabel García) in 2000. The Italian representative in 2001, Nicoletta Ferrarini was the one who defeated the most candidates in his contest, a total of 17. She was also the first European to win the competition.
The 2014 contest was postponed by 1 day because of the heavy rain that hit the beach resort of Punta del Este. The event went to the open sky.
Michelle Ann Gildenhuys of South Africa South Africa was the first and only African to win the contest in 2011. Michelle is the sister of Sheree-lee Gildenhuys, a 2012 candidate who finished second. Place. Michelle also competed in Miss Supranational 2012, stopping 17th. Place, placing in the Top 20. Uruguay was also the first country to win two consecutive crowns in 1995 and 1998.
China and South Korea were the first countries in Asia to participate in the contest in 2005.The representatives were Tizi Huang and Lee Soo-a, respectively. Both had no placed.
Karina Pinilla, third in 2009 from Panama, became Miss Supranational 2010 1 year later. Mireia Lalaguna from Spain Spain, winner of the 2014 contest, also won Miss World 2015.
The winner of the 2015 contest Reyna Prescott, from Panama, died in 2019 victim of breast cancer. Yesenía Barrientos from Bolivia Bolivia, winner of the 2017 contest, placed 2nd in the 2019 Coffee Queen contest.
The contest brings together annually delegates from more than 15 countries from different parts of the world.
The objectives that led to the creation of the competition are below :
- the holding of an international feast at the Feria del Jerarquía;
- innovation in terms of current beauty contests;
- Internationalization, not only of candidates but also of the media abroad;
- Get a serious and continuous work for nations to accomplish their national stages;
- Make each country promote the competition in order to aggregate more members;
- Promote several cities of Uruguay with pre-final activities of the event.