Gisele Caroline Bόndchen (born July 20, 1980) is a Brazilian model and occasional actress. According to Forbes, she is the highest-paid model in the world and also the sixteenth richest woman in the entertainment world,having earned $33 million in 2007 and $35 million in 2008 alone, adding to her estimated $150 million fortune. She is also listed on Guinness Book of World Records as the world`s richest supermodel. Bόndchen has been the face of more than 20 brands internationally and has appeared on more magazine covers than any other supermodel.Gisele Bόndchen was born in the Brazilian town of Trκs de Maio and grew up in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, to Vβnia Nonnenmacher, a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bόndchen, a university teacher and writer.[4] She has five sisters — Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin Patrνcia, Gisele`s junior by five minutes. Bόndchen is Roman Catholic, speaks Portuguese as her native language and English as a second language.[5]She is from Southern Brazil, a region whose population is largely composed of Brazilians of German descent. Bόndchen is of German ancestry from both sides of her family, which is integrated in Brazilian society for many Generations: her great-great-grandparents immigrated to Brazil from Germany. In regards to her ethnic background, Bόndchen said:“ I was born in Horizontina, a town in the backcountry of (Brazilian) state Rio Grande de Sul. The town was once mainly colonized by Germans. In the school which I attended, learning German was actually obligatory from third grade on. But being out of touch with the language for such a long time, I unfortunately forgot it. [...] I belong to the sixth generation of my family in Brazil.