HTML5
The HTML tag is used for specifying which language and version the document is using. This is referred to as the document type declaration (DTD).
With the introduction of HTML5, the tag is mostly useless, as HTML 5 does not require a reference to a DTD. Having said that, for legacy reasons, the HTML5 specification recommends including the header at the top of all HTML documents.
In HTML5, the declaration is much simpler than in previous versions of HTML:
Usage Example
The declaration must go right at the top of the page, before any other HTML code.
Page content...
Note that the declaration is case-insensitive.