HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, is the standard markup language used for creating web pages, enabling the structuring of content with elements such as tags and attributes. It has various applications including web development, navigation, and documentation, featuring multiple tags that define the document's structure, such as <html>, <head>, and <body>. HTML has evolved significantly with the introduction of HTML5, which supports new form controls and semantic tags, but it also has its limitations such as being primarily static and requiring separate pages for similar content.