Laravel is an open-source PHP framework designed to make web development easier and faster by providing tools and features that simplify common tasks like routing, authentication, and database management. It follows the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture, which helps developers organize and structure their code more effectively.

Key features of Laravel include:

1. Routing: Simplifies the creation of web routes.
2. Blade Templating: A lightweight templating engine for creating dynamic content.
3. Eloquent ORM: An elegant, object-relational mapper for interacting with databases.
4. Middleware: Provides an easy way to filter HTTP requests.
5. Security: Offers built-in features like CSRF protection, password hashing, and authentication.
6. Artisan CLI: Command-line tools for automating tasks.
7. Queues & Jobs: Manages background jobs and task queues.
8. Testing: Built-in tools to write and run tests for applications.

Laravel's ease of use, extensive community support, and powerful features make it a popular choice for building modern, scalable web applications. And if you’re gearing up for an interview, don’t forget to check out this Laravel interview questions and answers for some great tips and insights.