Sharbat Gula

Place of Birth: Nangarhar, Kingdom of Afghanistan

Date of Birth: c. 1972

Ethnicity: Pashtun

Sharbat Gula (شربت ګله) is the subject of the 1984 portrait Afghan Girl, taken when she was twelve years old. The photograph was shot by American photojournalist Steve McCurry, and featured as the cover image for the June 1985 edition of National Geographic. The photo can be seen here.

Sharbet is an Afghan, whose village was attacked by Soviet helicopters in the early 1980s, during the Soviet–Afghan War. She was a refugee, living in Nasir Bagh, Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan, when the photo was taken. Her identity was made public in 2002, when she was photographed again. Sharbat was deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan in 2017, and in 2021 was granted asylum in Italy. Sharbat was married to Rahmat Gul, until his death. The couple has had five children.