Sharbat Gula (born ca. 1972) is an Afghan woman who was the subject of a famous photograph

Photograph

A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

 by journalist Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry is an American photojournalist best known for his photograph, "Afghan Girl" that originally appeared in National Geographic magazine.-Early life:...

. Gula was living as a refugee in Pakistan

Afghans in Pakistan

Afghans in Pakistan are mostly refugees who fled Afghanistan during the 1980s Soviet war as well as diplomats, traders, businesspersons, workers, exchange students, tourists and other visitors. As of March 2009, some 1.7 million registered Afghan nationals were reported to be living in Pakistan,...

 during the time of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan

Soviet war in Afghanistan

The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...

 when she was photographed. The image brought her recognition when it was featured on the cover of the June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine

National Geographic Magazine

National Geographic, formerly the National Geographic Magazine, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society. It published its first issue in 1888, just nine months after the Society itself was founded...

at a time when she was approximately 12 years old. Gula was known throughout the world simply as "the Afghan Girl" until she was formally identified in early 2002.