LAS VEGAS - TANZANIAN-BORN Ida Ljungqvist has been crowned Playmate of the Year, making her the first non-white woman to take the title said reports on Tuesday.

"We go through, literally, and test thousands of girls to find the Playmates of the Month (and) when you pick, then, the best of the 12 (it's) very, very special," said Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

Ms Ljungqvist announced on stage taking the title was "a dream" and launched into a high pitched squeal to prove she was awake.

"I was working at Bebe's on Rodeo Drive and now I'm in these beautiful suites and wearing diamonds and beautiful clothes, it's a dream come true," she said.

Ms Ljungqvist, who dedicated the win to her late mother, is already well-travelled and accomplished with a degree in fashion design and marketing.

She is fluent in English, Swedish and Swahili which she learned while travelling the world with her Swiss father, who worked for UNICEF reported ninesmsn.com.au.

Mr Hefner credited 2007 Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood and his former "number one" girlfriend Holly Madison for discovering Ms Ljungqvist in Beverley Hills.

Ms Ljungqvist is the fiftieth Playmate of the Year.