Azra Akin, with a luminous smile won the Miss World title from a group of 92 delegates, at the annual pageant held on December 7, 2002 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. She also won the pageant's Best Gown award. She was born in the Dutch town of Almelo and was raised in Netherlands by Turkish parents. 

She is a model and a dancer. At 17, she won the local leg of the Elite Model Look competition, and at the 1998 finals in France, she won an award for her hair at a special event, and was one of the last fifteen standing onstage. In 2003, she won a gold medal when she participated in the British reality TV show.