Yii is a PHP framework that follows the model-view-controller (MVC) design pattern. It aims to separate business logic from user interfaces to allow each part to be developed and changed independently. The framework provides models to manage data and business rules, views to contain user interface elements, and controllers to link models and views. Yii was created based on other frameworks like Ruby on Rails, PRADO, and jQuery to provide a high-performance PHP framework for developing large-scale web applications.