Cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, remote working environments and distributed digital infrastructures have driven the evolution of the perimeter-based security model to its limits. To counter this, Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) has become a contemporary cybersecurity paradigm based on the principle of “never trust, always verify,” which would involve ongoing checks, authentication, and authorization of users, devices, and applications. The paper provides a summary and covers all the key points of the ZTA, such as its principles, logical structure, security models and implementation. The study applies some of the main concepts, such as least-privilege access, micro-segmentation, continuous verification, policy-based access control and real-time security analytics. Additionally, the paper covers the use of ZTA in different industries, including IoT, cloud computing, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), and identity-centric security solutions.  A comparative analysis of the research contributions in the recent years is conducted to assess the recent advances, issues, and barriers of ZTA adoption. The survey points out other areas for further research including lightweight cryptography, dynamic trust evaluation, automated orchestration, scalability, interoperability, regulatory compliance. The survey provides a detailed reference guide for researchers, practitioners and policymakers to grasp and apply the principles of ZTA in the modern cyber security environment.