BAGHDAD,— The Miss Iraq beauty pageant is taking place Saturday for the first time in more than 40 years. The contest is being held in a bid to boost tourism for the country.

The Iraqi Beauty Pageant contest started in 1947. All of the beauty contests are still held in Baghdad in Al-Alwaiyah center. Sources disagree on the location. According to the website The History of the Miss Iraq Pageant: “The 2011, 2012, 2013 Miss Iraq Pageants were held in Kenya. 2014 Miss Iraq was held in Istanbul-Turkey, the 2015 edition will take place in Cyprus on December 16”.

In 2013, the Kurdistan capital city of Erbil started holding the first beauty contest for Kurdish speakers only organized by a Lebanese management group.

The final round of the Iraqi 2015 contest was postponed from October, after some local tribal leaders expressed their opposition to women taking part in such an event.

At least two contestants have withdrawn the contest after receiving threats.

As seen on the photo, some Iraqi candidates for Miss Iraq beauty contest pose at the ancient archaeological site of Babylon, outside the modern city of Hilla, south of the capital Baghdad on December 17, 2015.

The beauty contest, which is the first one in more than 40 years, will take place on December 19, 2015.

Source: eKurd