Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language that can be used for a wide variety of applications including web development, data science, machine learning, and more. It was created in the 1990s by Guido van Rossum and is an interpreted, object-oriented language that is free and open source. People use Python because it is powerful yet easy to code in, has a large standard library, is portable across platforms, and supports both procedural and object-oriented programming. Common applications of Python include web development, data science, game development, automation, and desktop applications.