Asia's The Beautiful Woman Alive Atlas
In a fit of ambitious curiosity and anti-jingoism, we sought out a Woman We Love... in every country on the planet. Not necessarily the sexiest, but still — a resource.


Forget Miss Universe. Well, not altogether. But what's the point of a beauty pageant, really? Shouldn't the women of the world be celebrated for who they are, even if they do happen to look damn fine in a bikini? That's what we thought, anyway, when Esquire.com sought out early in 2010 to find exactly what we found in Minka Kelly, this year's Sexiest Woman Alive, in 193 other women: something different, something beautiful, something that reveals a little bit more about who we are. Put it all together with a little help from the editors of Esquire's 17 international editions and, yeah, you've got some sashes, but also presidents, human-rights activists, models with legitimate hearts of gold, and this one incredible actress from India. Our list is highly subjective and far from scientific — feel free to find your country in the thumbnails below and suggest alternatives — but it's kinda like the United Nations: just useful enough to keep college kids studying it. And now, introducing our ambassadors...

Afghanistan  

Malalai Joya



Albania

Angela Martini

Algeria

Kerima

Andora

Melissandre Fuentes

Antigua and Barbuda

Stephanie Winter

Argentina

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Armenia

Anna Condo

Australia

Isabel Lucas

Austria

Nicola Mar

Azerbaijan

Mehriban Aliyeva

Bahamas, The

Shakara Ledard

Bahrain

Maryam Yusuf Jamal

Bangladesh

Anika Kabir Shokh

Barbados

Rihanna

Belarus

Tanya Dziahileva

Belize

Felicita Arzu

Benin

Chantal Boni

Bhutan

Tshering Yangzom-Tashigang

Bolivia

Carla Ortiz

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ivana Milicevic

Botswana

Tirelo Ramasedi

Brazil

Gisele Bundchen

Brunei

Maria

Bulgaria

Rali Ivanova

Burkina Faso

Georgie Badiel

Burma

Aung San Suu Kyi

Burundi

Khadja Nin

Cambodia

Somaly Mam

Cameroon

Calixthe Beyala

Canada

Rachel McAdams

Cape Verde

Lura

Central African Republic

Monique Bozize

Chad

Kaltouma Nadjina

Chile

Siboney Lo

China

Liu Wen

Colombia

Sofia Vergara

Comoros

Sakina M'sa

Costa Rica

Maria Teresa Rodriguez

Côte d'Ivoire

Marguerite Abouet

Croatia

Monika Jakisic

Cuba

Daisy Fuentes

Cyprus

Demetra Olymbiou

Czech Republic

Zina Tovickova

Denmark

Helena Christensen

Djibouti

Fathia Ali Bourrale

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Dania Ramirez

Ecuador

Lady Mina Lastra

Egypt

Hanan Turk