Priyanka Chopra was born on 18 July 1982 in Jamshedpur, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), to Ashok and Madhu Chopra, both physicians in the Indian Army. Her maternal grandparents were Ms. Madhu Jyotsna Akhouri, a former member of Bihar Legislative Assembly, and Dr. Manohar Kishan Akhouri, a former Congress veteran. She has a brother, Siddharth. Actresses Parineeti Chopra, Meera Chopra and Barbie Handa are her cousins. She was educated at La Martiniere Girls School, Lucknow, St. Maria Goretti College, Bareilly, Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Lowa, Army School, Bareilly. She is trained singer in western classical music.
In 1998 she won the local "May Queen" beauty pageant at Bareilly. At the age of 18, she won the Femina Miss India World title. She was crowned Miss World 2000 and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty—Asia & Oceania at the Millennium Dome in London on 30 November 2000. Her screen debut and first song recording occurred in the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan. In 2003, Chopra made her Bollywood film debut in Anil Sharma's The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. Her first single, "In My City", debuted in the US on 13 September 2012 in a TV spot for the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football. After signing Quantico in 2015 she becomes the first South Asian to headline an American network drama series and the first South Asian actress to win a People's Choice Award for her role in Quantico. In 2016, the Government of India honored her with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award. In 2017, Chopra made her Hollywood debut in Seth Gordon's action comedy Baywatch.
In 2009, Chopra became the first Indian actress to cast a foot impression at the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Florence, Italy, The actress became the first Indian actress to feature in a school textbook. Her life is described in a chapter of Roving Families, Shifting Homes, a book taught at Springdales School, Delhi.
In addition to her acting career, Chopra is noted for her philanthropic work. She has worked with UNICEF for the last ten years and was appointed as the national and global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights in 2010 and 2016 respectively. She promotes various causes such as environment, health and education, and women's rights and is particularly vocal about gender equality and feminism.