Miss Brazil Larissa Ramos was crowned Miss Earth 2009. The competition was held at the Boracay Ecovillage Resort Convention Center, Philippines. She beat out 80 contestants. This is Brazil’s second win (the most) in the nine-year history of the pageant.miss-brazil-2009-as-miss-earth-2009

The new Miss Earth beauty is a 19-year-old Biology student.

The rest of her court are Miss Philippines Sandra Seifert as Miss Air (First Runner-up), Miss Venezuela Jessica Barboza as Miss Water (Second Runner-up) and Miss Spain Alejandra Echevarria as Miss Fire (Third Runner-up).

Countries who made the rest of the top 16 are Thailand, Poland, Martinique, Colombia, France, Georgia, India, Korea, Northern Ireland, Paraguay, Singapore and South Africa.

The reigning Miss Earth titleholders dedicate their year to promote environmental projects and to address issues concerning the environment. In 2006, the Miss Earth pageant started to co-host the United Nations Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth, an annual international environment awards established in 2005 by the United Nations to recognize outstanding environmental achievers and leaders at a policy level.

MANILA - Brazil's Larissa Ramos was crowned 2009 Miss Earth during the coronation night at The Boracay Ecovillage Resort and Convention Center on Boracay Island Sunday night, besting 79 other beauties from around the world.

Ramos succeeded 2008 Miss Earth Karla Paula Henry from the Philippines.

The Philippines' Sandra Seifert was named Miss Air (1st Runner-up), Venezuela's Jessica Barboza was hailed Miss Water (2nd Runner-up), and Alejandra Echevarria of Spain got the title Miss Fire (3rd Runner-up).

For this year's final round, the final 8 candidates from Brazil, Philippines, Venezuela, Spain, Colombia (Alejandra Castillo Múnera), Martinique (Pascale Nelide), Poland (Izabela Wilczek) and Thailand (Rujinan Phanseethum) were asked to pick photos that represented international issues about the planet.

Each candidate was given 30 seconds to express her thoughts on a particular environmental subject.

Ramos chose the photos showing the problem of air pollution. She stated: "I come from a country that has the largest rainforest in the world. It is also known as the lungs of the world -- Brazil. But we cannot just say that we are the lungs of the world because my country also produces a lot of air pollution as well."

Miss Earth is considered one of the 3 largest beauty pageants in the world.

What makes the beauty competition unique though is that the participants themselves are involved in environmental causes, with the titleholder dedicating her yearlong reign to promote environmental projects and address issues concerning the environment.

The 2009 coronation night was hosted by television personality and host Marc Nelson, model Borgy Manotoc and former VJ Sarah Meier.