HTML is a markup language used to structure and present content on the web. It uses tags like <p> and <h1> to divide text into paragraphs and headings. The <body> tag is used to define the main content area and attributes can be used to set properties like background color. Common tags include <p> for paragraphs, <h1>-<h6> for six levels of headings, and <font> for changing text properties.