This was the last time that a Miss Okinawa (Sachie Kawamitsu) participated in the pageant. Since the end of WW II, the United States had set up the U.S. Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands administration, which governed Okinawa for 27 years. In 1972, the U.S. government handed over the islands back to Japanese administration.
This was Congo-Kinshasa, Malta, and Yugoslavia's debuts. Daliborka Stojsic, Miss Yugoslavia was the first candidate from the Communist block to compete in a Miss Universe pageant in the 1960s. Stojsic was a semi-finalist and elected Miss Photogenic.
Martha Vasconcellos would be the second and last Miss Brazil to be crowned Miss Universe. Previously, Iêda Maria Vargas had won the title in the Miss Universe 1963 (1963) pageant. Brazil had a long tradition in beauty pageants since 1954, when Martha Rocha (1932-2020) was the first Miss Brazil to compete in a Miss Universe, placing 1st Runner-Up.