Amelia Victoria Vega Polanco (born November 7, 1984 in Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic) became the first Dominican woman to be named Miss Universe, in 2003. At the age of 18, she was the youngest winner since 1994. Vega's father is a general medical practitioner with offices in New York City and Miami. Her mother, Patricia Polanco Alvarez, also born in Santiago de los Caballeros, was a previous national titleholder who represented the Dominican Republic at the 1980 Miss World pageant. Vega is the niece of the Grammy Award–winning singer Juan Luis Guerra.