HTML is a markup language used to structure and present content on the web. It provides tags to define headings, paragraphs, lists, links, and other common elements. HTML allows content to be device-independent and accessible. While early versions focused only on text, newer specifications like HTML5 introduced multimedia elements and APIs to make pages more interactive. Key features of HTML include its structural elements, hyperlinks, support for images and forms, semantic tags, accessibility attributes, and cross-browser compatibility.